How to Eat Healthy While Traveling

Eating healthy while traveling can be intimidating. The potential to feel sluggish and bloated due to the lack of good food choices in airports doesn’t have to be a part of your travel plans. As we all know, eating healthy on the road can be a challenge. However, if you've gotten in the habit of eating healthy and preparing most of your own food, it is easy to leave your house prepared for the journey you have planned for yourself. It will take a bit of pre-travel preparation on your part to make things a bit easier, but I promise you it is absolutely worth it.

One thing to take in to account is how long you will be traveling for. Will you need breakfast, lunch, and dinner before you arrive at your destination? Are you flying internationally and will need several days worth of food and snacks? Or is your flight under 3 hours so you'l likely only need some snacks?

Think about how much food you usually eat in the time span you'll be traveling for and plan accordingly.

Some helpful tips:

1. It is always good to eat a healthy filling meal with lots of vegetables and protein prior to your travel. If you know you've got a long time span ahead of you, fill up at home first.
2. If you have a layover, when eating at restaurants in airports be sure to look for health conscious salads and other grilled meats and vegetable options. Always ask for olive oil and vinegar for your dressing and skip whatever dressing comes on the salad (they are usually not healthy options).
3. Be sure to drink plenty of clean water while traveling. Your body needs the additional fluids to stay hydrated in the dry air inside of the airplane. Bring your own (empty!) stainless steel water bottle that you can fill up again on the other side of security. Bottled water you can buy provides nothing special, and in fact all those plastic water bottles do harm to the environment.
4. Turn your carry-on into your lunch box. Instead of packing your toiletries in your carry-on bag, fill it full of good food. You can always buy more toiletries whoever you go, but good food can be harder to find. Plus, if your bag is packed with all thing that you like to eat, you'll not only save money, you'll also save time not waiting for food and you'll feel healthier when you arrive at your destination.It truly starts with planning! If you are prepared you won’t be at the mercy of airplane meals or roadside food services. Packing a variety of snacks that easily transport can be as easy as packing all of your other belongings.

My favorite travel snacks:

1. Homemade trail mix. You make your own trail mix blends at home using only foods you like to eat. Not only will it be more fun to mix up your own, it's less expensive and better for you. My favorite is to mix up goji berries, cacao nibs, coconut flakes, and almonds.
2. Beef Jerky. The saving grace of many consistent travelers, beef jerky is a great source of protein and it easy to pack and carry. Make sure to find a brand that doesn't use MSG or other artificial colors and flavors, most of the kinds you can find in gas stations aren't of the best quality, but there are some great ones out there now.
3. Fresh fruit & veggies. Apples are the best for traveling as they are relatively hardy and not likely to be mashed to a pulp when your bag get shoved under the seat, and they aren't super messy like oranges can be, but really, just pick your favorite and bring a few along with you. Bringing baggies full of raw vegetable is a sure-fire way to make sure you eat healthy on the go. Carrots, snap peas, radishes, and sliced bell peppers are my favorite and happen to be perfect for snacking.
4. Individually packed nut butters. Want to have some almond butter on your apple? Lots of companies are now packaging their nut butters into individual packets that are perfect for travel. Trust me, they won't let you take the whole jar of peanut butter through security...it technically counts as a liquid/gel and they'll make you throw it out.
5. Healthy Meal Replacement Shake and shaker bottle. This is hands-down my MUST HAVE item for traveling. I typically have my big bag packed in my suitcase, and some of the individual packets in my carry on to use when I need them. So many times I've been places where there was nothing for me to eat (due to my food sensitivity issues), so having access to a nutrient dense shake mix that has protein, fiber, phytonutrients and more all in one has saved the day more times than I can count. If you use a shake that tastes good just mixed with cold water, then you don't need to worry about trying to travel with a blender.
6. Bonus tip: snack bars! Bars are super easy to travel with, they pack well and provide a good source of energy when you need it. Try and pick bars that are higher in protein and lower in sugar. These are my favorites:
1. WB Kitchen Paleo Bars & Cookies
2. Wild Zora Bars

Check out and download a FREE ebook with other tips for eating healthy while traveling. 

Even with all of these preparations, eating healthy on the road while traveling can be difficult. You may find that eating less while traveling is helpful, in fact you can use traveling time as opportunity to fast a bit, or experiment with Intermittent Fasting. It is a good way to give your digestive system a break for a bit. 

Though it can be challenging to find healthy foods outside of the home, do not be discouraged, simply stock up before you go!

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