7 Tips for Healthy Snacking While Traveling
We all know that eating well while traveling can be a challenge. It is so easy to reach for unhealthy snacks on the go. Whether you are gearing up for a long flight or a road trip, here are my tips for making healthy choices while traveling.
Order Well, Snack Smart, Stay Active
Traveling can be stressful, especially when you are trying to eat healthy, but there are some simple things that you can do to stay on track. First, pay close attention to your food orders. By mindfully choosing the healthier options off of menu’s, you can reduce your calorie intake significantly! Second, use snacks to your advantage. Snacks are a great way to sneak in extra nutrition and can also help you eat less at your next meal. Finally, stay active. Staying active throughout your travels will help offset the extra calories that you are getting from food.
Avoid High Calorie Meals When Eating Out
Restaurant meals can be high in calorie, fat, and sodium, making it difficult to eat healthy when eating out! One easy way to control calories is to pay attention to the menu terms! Avoid menu items that include words like “battered, fried, saucy, etc” as these foods will be higher in calories! Instead, look for menu terms such as “grilled, seared, fresh, etc” as these menu options will contain fewer calories.
Bring a Cooler for Fresh Snacks on a Road Trip
Having vegetables to snack on are a great, low carb snack option that add volume to your snacks without adding a lot of calories. In order to make the most of that snack, try pairing a vegetable base with a protein to round out the macronutrients and keep you fuller for longer. If you are riding in a car, try packing a cooler box with fresh snacks to choose from. Some cooler box snack ideas are sliced vegetables with hummus, celery with peanut butter, bell peppers with cream cheese, carrots and guacamole, or cucumber slices with Greek yogurt ranch dip. Other more beach friendly snack ideas include trail mix, Moon Cheese baked cheese bites, nuts, beef jerky, roasted chickpeas, or popcorn with almonds which are all low in carbohydrate, high in protein, and easy to travel with.
Keep Healthy Snacks Handy
When we are hungry, we tend to eat what is convenient and it becomes difficult to make healthy food decisions. One way to overcome this is to keep healthy and balanced snacks on hand throughout the day! Snacks like roasted chickpeas, trail mix, protein bars, beef jerky, rice cake with peanut butter, popcorn, and nuts are easy to toss in a purse or bag. By keeping foods like these with you to snack on throughout the day, you are making healthy choices the convenient choice!
Don’t Be Too Restrictive
Tip: Allow yourself to eat sweets! We tend to binge on what we restrict in our diet. If you restrict brownies for example and never allow yourself to enjoy their flavor, you are more likely to overeat brownies the next time you have them because you never know when you will get to enjoy them again! By allowing these foods that you restrict, you will be able to enjoy them in moderation knowing that you can have more tomorrow if you would like to. The next step to avoiding overeating fun foods is to avoid eating out of the bag or container! You are more likely to overeat when you are serving yourself from a bag that serves 10 people. Instead, serve yourself a singular portion of chips onto a plate or ice cream into a bowl. Then, sit down and enjoy your food free of distraction. We tend to eat less when we actually pay attention to the food that we are eating!
Be Active to Avoid Constant Snacking
One way to minimize snacking all day when on vacation is to get out of your room! When the food is readily accessible, we are more likely to graze on it. We also tend to graze on snacks when we are bored or idle. The prevent this, find outlets other than food that get you out of your room and satisfy that boredom such as going for a walk, reading a book by the pool, or doing an activity outdoors.
Don’t Be Too Hard On Yourself
The most important thing to keep in mind when traveling is that it takes more than one meal and more than one day to “derail you.” If you make the effort to choose healthy menu items, pack balanced snacks, and stay active throughout your travels you will minimize the “diet damage” that would otherwise occur. Then, get back into your normal routine when you get home so that you can continue making progress.
Hey! I’m Lauren
I’m a registered dietitian and my goal is to give you tips and tricks to make healthy eating fun, easy, and even delicious!