Whether you’re traveling for work or pleasure, have a long commute to work or work long hours, or are always driving kids from school to practice to home, you’re going to be eating on the go. Chances are this means stopping for fast food and/or snacking on high sugar/high carbohydrate/low protein/empty calorie snacks – think granola bars and chips. Sound familiar? Healthy eating on the go may seem impossible, but with the tips in this blog and a little time, planning, and preparation (notice a trend with planning and prep??), it is quite manageable, and you’ll likely feel much better eating healthy, whole foods rather than processed un-foods.
As previously mentioned, healthy eating on the go will take some time and preparation. Just like having healthy meals readily available, planning, shopping, and preparing and packaging foods to eat on the go will be the beginning steps of your routine. Because you’ll be on the go, you’ll also need ice packs and coolers to keep foods fresh. This routine might take you a couple of hours on a day when you have some free time (weekends or days off during the week), or you can spend an extra 30 minutes or so every day preparing for the next day. Suggestions include buying plenty of vegetables and fruits for the week and washing, cutting, and packaging them, preparing your own protein bars, and grilling or baking chicken breast to have on top of salad or with fresh vegetables. Perhaps you aren’t savvy in the kitchen or aren’t willing to spend the time preparing and packaging foods, so buying pre-cut and washed fruits (sliced apples) and vegetables (baby carrots, snap peas) might be your go to. They will cost slightly more, but if you’re in a time crunch, it’s totally worth it. Buying a rotisserie chicken and shredding it for salad is a great, time-saving option for lean protein, while separating out a can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and/or black beans into individual servings is a nice vegetarian alternative to add some protein to a salad. If you don’t have time to pack a cooler or can’t travel with a cooler (think airplanes), dried fruits and veggies, nuts, high quality jerky, and high protein/low sugar protein bars might be the way to go. These aren’t the BEST options for every day meals and snacks, but sometimes it’s the best option for the situation. And it sure beats scarfing down a hot dog and a bag of chips as you run to your terminal to catch your flight…. If you’ve not had time to prepare or pack anything, or maybe you left your cooler on the train you take to work every morning (face palm), local grocery salad bars can be life changing. Again this option will cost slightly more than if you’d prepared your own salad at home, but it’s better than spending money on low quality food from a drive thru. If you’re not a salad person, there are likely enough toppings available on the salad bar that you could make nice veggie bowl and buy some hummus for dipping the veggies. You can even make the best out of a fast food stop when necessary. A lot of fast food restaurants now offer salad, and most of them have some sort of grilled chicken option. Even ordering a kids meal and opting for fruit rather than fries is an OK option when you’re in a pinch. Anytime I travel by car, even if it’s just for a couple of hours, I pack a bag of healthy snacks like individual packets of almond or peanut butter OR single packages of nuts like almonds, single serving containers of applesauce, RX Bars or Larabars, apples, and bananas. If we’re taking a longer trip and pack a cooler, I’ll throw in some string cheese and some cut up and washed veggies, along with some deli ham for my husband. When we traveled to Hawaii for our honeymoon last Fall, it was a little more challenging because we flew (obviously), and there are restrictions on what you can bring in your carryon luggage. There are even more restrictions as to what you can and can’t bring into Hawaii (no fresh fruit or veggies), so everything had to be packaged and unopened. We’re currently planning a trip to Arizona, and we’ll be flying there as well. Luckily the flight is not nearly as long as it is to Hawaii, and I’ll be able to bring packaged pre-cut and washed veggies and fruit like apples or bananas on the plane in addition to some individual packages of almonds for myself or beef jerky for my husband. Just like we did in Hawaii, we’ll hit the grocery store first thing when we get to Arizona to buy some fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean protein sources. We try to prepare most of our own meals while on vacation not only to save money, but because we feel better when we’re eating quality foods that we prepare ourselves. I know, I know, who wants to cook on vacation?! We don’t typically fix anything fancy, but at least we know what we’re eating, and we’re not having to stop for fast food. We’ll also be doing a lot of hiking, so we want to make sure we have healthy snacks (and water!) we can pack to take on our hikes with us. There are ALWAYS healthy options when you’re eating on the go – you just have to be creative! Making sure to include vegetables and lean protein is key, and include fruits, a healthy fat, and whole grains if you want. Take a little time on a Sunday to plan and prepare meals and snacks for the week ahead, and have a backup plan for unseen situations like forgetting your lunch, or your kids’ soccer games running behind schedule. Just remember to do the best with what you have. Think positive, stay active, and smile. -A https://www.precisionnutrition.com/eat-well-on-the-go-infographic https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-eating-on-the-go
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Allison WerresWife, nutrition coach, dog mom Archives
May 2018
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