Eating Healthy On the Road

I'm back in action! This is my 4th official week of training for the Chicago Marathon in October and I thought it was time to make a post to the blog again. I'm going to try to post more frequently.

I’ve been put on a special assignment for work for a few months that involves a lot of traveling. I always get a little nervous about nutrition when I’m not at home and able to prepare all of my food. I used to be an all bets are off kind of a girl when it came to dinning out. I have to be extremely careful not to fall into that hole again.

Typically finding healthy food options while traveling can be very challenging. We are surrounded by a world full of fast food, salty and sugary snacks which are filled with endless amount of empty calories. With effort and willpower you can navigate your way around the trap and make sure you are eating foods that will give you nutrition and proper fuel throughout your day.

 Preparation

 Make a trip to the grocery store before you leave town. Stock up on some healthy snacks that you can carry with you while you travel like apples, bananas, almonds, protein bars, string cheese, carrots and water. This will come in handy when you get a burst of hunger and will prevent you from grabbing a salty or sugary snack.

Restaurant

When dinning at a restaurant for lunch or dinner always start with a side salad or light soup. This will cause you to fill up faster and avoid you from eating too much of a heavy calorie meal. Load up on the water. I always strive for at least 3 re-fills of my water while eating out.

Select foods that are prepared with healthier, low-fat methods. This is obvious but avoid fried foods.

Ask for the kitchen to skip butter and oil.

Skip the bread basket. If they ask if you want it tell them no, if they bring it out without asking simply ask them to take it away.

When I go out to eat I turn straight to the seafood section of the menu.  Nine times out of ten I will order shrimp, salmon, tilapia or any other type of fish with a side of veggies. If it comes with a startch, skip it and ask for another serving of veggies. If you don’t like fish chicken will be your best friend.

Always, Always Always skip desert! If you have a sweet tooth order some fruit.

I always jump for joy when I spot a Subway or Panera because I always know I will get a healthy meal on the go in minutes.

Convenience Store

So it’s about half way through the week and you went through all of your healthy snacks already and you are starving and the only place that is open is a convenience store.  Head straight to the cold vault and grab yourself some water (preferably Aquafina..hint hint). Then look around and see if they have any fruit,  veggies, cottage cheese, string cheese, yogurt available. Be careful with yogurt though make sure you read the label and make sure there isn’t 25g of sugar.  If there is greek yogurt available always choose that before regular yogurt.

Also almonds are your best friend, they are packed with protein and one serving size will keep your satisfied for at least an hour.

Other

To be honest sometimes I don’t even find a restaurant I want to go to. In those cases I head to the grocery store and opt for the salad bar and load up on some veggies or pick around for some healthy eats around the perimeter of the store.

You have to think fast and have a plan. When traveling (especially on business) you are so busy that you don’t have a lot of time to think about eating healthy. You have to be prepared and go into it with confidence.

Following these tips will ensure you don’t come back home with a couple of new friends named LBS. Make sure you are getting plenty of rest and try to get exercise in.