Tips for Eating Healthy While Traveling
Let’s face it: staying on track is a lot easier when we’re at home and in a routine. Traveling is a great way to enjoy time off, but can also be one of the easiest tickets to fall off track. And though it’s important to indulge every once in a while, it’s also important to remember the time, energy, and hard work you have put into your training. Don’t sacrifice the commitment you’ve made for short-term satisfaction. In fact, it’s more than possible to take a balanced approach to traveling so you can both help yourself stay on track with your training goals while also having fun. We’ve put together our top 5 tips for eating healthy while traveling.
1. Never get too hungry:
Keeping your blood sugar balanced is one key to keeping cravings at bay. Keep blood sugar balanced by starting your day with good quality protein, fat, and fibre-rich carbohydrates. So, while traveling, be sure not to skip breakfast and opt for a balanced meal. A veggie omelet with a slice of fibre-rich bread, or steel cut oats with a scoop of protein powder and mixed berries will help to set the stage for stable blood sugar levels throughout the day. This also helps to prevent us from over-indulging or choosing foods that hinder our training goals later on in the day.
If you know you will be out and about throughout the day—whether being a tourist or visiting with friends or family—be sure to pack healthy snacks. Energy bars high in protein full of good quality fats and fibre will help to curb the craving until you’re next healthy meal. And having protein powder on hand, in individual packages stowed away in your purse or in your car, that you can mix in a shaker cup with water is an easy way to prevent you from making less healthy choices now, or over-indulging later that evening.
2. Plan your meals:
If you’re visiting a new city, be sure to pop online before you jet-set. Search the area you’ll be traveling in for healthy restaurants or at least restaurants that allow for you to have healthy options. Make a reservation, and plan your day around it. This way, you’ll get the thrill of enjoying a brand-new dining experience without sacrificing your health. You may also want to plan what your “treat” or “cheat” will be for that day. For example, maybe you’ll skip out on the Bahama Mama on the beach so you can opt for sangria with dinner.
If you’re staying with friends or family, decide collectively what your meals for the time-line that you’ll be visiting will be. Offer to make one or more of the meals can be helpful for both you and your health goals, but also the people who are hosting. If the host wants you to bring the dessert, opt for a healthier dessert option, like fruit salad or low sugar treats. Who knows, maybe you’ll inspire someone to eat healthier, too!
3. Bring a water bottle with you, wherever you go:
Too often, we confuse our thirst for hunger. We may succumb to unhealthy cravings simply because we’re dehydrated! Staying hydrated is one of the easiest ways to stay on track, traveling or not. As an added bonus, adequate hydration will also ensure our digestion runs smoothly and energy is maintained throughout the day. So we can ditch any digestive drama, and have the energy we need to experience life’s pleasures while traveling.
4. Stick to your routine (as best as possible):
It may be challenging, but try to stick to the routine you’ve created for yourself that has helped you get you as far as you’ve come so far! This may mean starting your day with warm water with lemon, to boost digestion, energy, and mental clarity for the day ahead; beginning each day with meditation, or movement; or taking a probiotic supplement with breakfast. Decide where you’ll be and how you can instill your current routine into your life while traveling. Of course, this will help you to maintain your goals, but it will also make it that much more easy for you to get “back” on track once you get back home from traveling.
5. Keep a wellness journal:
When we write things down, we increase our awareness. A wellness journal can help us to become aware of our habits, including the things we eat, how we feel after we eat them, how much water we’ve drank, and our mood for that day. Keeping a wellness journal while traveling will help you to acknowledge all of the above. At the end of each day, evaluate your wellness journal. By doing so, you will be able to make connections about how you’re feeling and whether or not your health goals were met for that day.
Though staying healthy while traveling is a bit of a balancing act, it doesn’t have to be painful. We hope that with these 5 tips, you’ll be able to enjoy yourself while on vacation, while also feeling confident in the work you have put into yourself! If you employ these tips, let us know by tagging us #ReflexNation on Instagram and Facebook or following us @reflexsupplements.. We’d also love to know any tips you have while traveling that keep you in tip-top shape. Comment below!
