Eating Healthy and Travel

I just realized this is timely for many people who are traveling this upcoming holiday, but it’s on my mind because we just got back from a weekend trip.

Travel is another hard area for me.  I love traveling and part of the fun for me is eating out and picking up gas station snacks.  Plus when we are visiting friends or family, I don’t have control of the menu.  Here are a few tips I have picked up and ideas I’ve had (though we won’t talk about well I implement them):

• Water, drink more, and buy it if you have to. *Anecdote below
• Take snacks with you.  This trip, I took along granola bars and Hershey kisses (the lowest point chocolate I’ve found).  It definitely helps me with the temptation to buy candy bars.
• Take healthy food with you.  I take cereal that I always eat at home.  I hate using points on breakfast.  I don’t love most breakfast foods, and the ones I do like are high in calories and fat.  Depending on the length of the trip, I pack a cooler and take sandwich stuff, carrots and fruit along too.  That gets complicated with replenishing ice and if you are stopping at more than one location, but sometimes it’s worth it.
• McDonald’s Ice Cream Cones.  Yummy, low-cal, low-fat, inexpensive and the cone seems to cleanse the palate so that you are not left craving more.  We get plain sundaes for Bethany because they are less messy.  When we’ve been on the road a long time and nothing else sounds good, these hit the spot.
• Grilled chicken sandwiches and salad.  I like Wendy’s (their Grilled Chicken sandwich has a low point Honey Mustard sauce) but most fast places have these now.  Just make sure to get reduced fat dressing and small salads that are primarily vegetables, not fattened up with cheese, eggs, bacon and other yummy things.
• Control your portions.  When you don’t have control over what you are eating, try to control your portion sizes and load up if there are fruit or vegetable dishes.  Now, when it comes to my grandma’s chicken noodles and mashed potatoes, this advice flies right out the window.
• Set yourself up for success.  Do some research on your route, and plan your stops.  Beware of what you buy at the grocery store ahead of time, trying to save money.  I have shot myself in the foot by buying snacks that I know we’d like on the road, disregarding the fact that they are high calorie/high fat foods I wouldn’t keep in the house.  A bag of chips might be cheaper than French fries but it’s isn’t any better for my diet. :P
• Discipline and Endurance.  I need more of this when traveling then I do at home.  There is so much more temptation driving down the road then there is at home, where I would have to load up the girls and seek it out.  Decide before you go to make good decisions, and plan a couple of splurges if it will make the trip more fun for you. ;)

Feel free to chime in with your own favorite ways to cut calories or dollars while traveling.

*Buying water – I personally feel compelled to buy something if I stop at a gas station to use their restroom.  My mom says she taught me this because we usually traveled on minor highways and several times she saw signs at the gas stations that said “If you want us to be here the next time you are, please buy something”.  (That’s probably not a direct quote, but you get the idea.)  For years I bought a Pepsi, even if I didn’t really want one.  It finally occurred to me that if I really wanted water, it is ok to pay for a bottle.  At some point my health needs to matter more than money.  When I travel with Al, we try to utilize rest areas to avoid extra expenses, or fill up the gas tank instead of buying snacks.