How to Eat Healthy While Traveling
Just because you hit the road for business or pleasure, doesn't mean that your health or diet has to suffer. Here are some top tips on how to eat healthy while traveling.
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You work hard all year long to eat well and stay in shape, right? Right!
Then comes the work trip. Or a much-needed vacation.
You no longer have a routine and access to your regular staples.
The good news is that you don’t need to throw your healthy efforts out the window when you hit the road.
Here’s how to eat healthy while traveling, and yes it is definitely possible and doesn’t need to be a total buzzkill.
PLAN
Oh, I love to plan a trip, almost as much as I like to actually take a trip. There's so much I like to research, but at the top of the list is where I'm going to eat.
Going to a city like Paris or even Washington DC or Havana can be a bit daunting when there are only a few days to take in the best meals.
On top of that, I still try and keep a clean diet by avoiding gluten, dairy, and sugar, which isn't always easy or achievable on the road.
Doing just a little research, however, can go a long way in keeping me feeling tip-top while traveling.
While I'm not vegan, I avoid dairy and do enjoy consuming a lot of vegetables, so I've found the Happy Cow app to be very helpful.
It lists vegan, vegetarian, and veg-friendly restaurants. It includes restaurants in 180 countries so has a pretty good footprint. I can always find some local restaurants serving up greens when I use the app.
Yelp, Chowhound, and TripAdvisor offer more mass consumption recommendations. You'll need to spend more time weeding through the reviews, but you can usually find a general consensus on the options available to help you eat healthy while traveling.
I am thrilled to see more and more countries around the world offering healthier food selections. Who knew that cities like Prague and Krakow have so many vegan, vegetarian and allergy friendly options?
It was fascinating to learn that just a few years ago the Czech Republic had to start listing up to 14 different allergies on their menus with a special numbered system. That even puts my health-centric Los Angeles to shame!
How to Eat Healthy While Traveling
Pack Healthy Snacks
As much planning as you can do, there's still going to be times that you're not going to have access to healthy food.
I always travel with some clean eating snacks so I'm never on a long train ride without food or in a European city during the random afternoon closures. A few of my favorite healthy travel snacks include:
Energy bars like the gluten free, dairy free, paleo one's from Bulletproof or Epic
My sugar-free curry lime nuts are usually gone by the end of my plane ride!
Plain raw, organic nuts. I buy them in bulk and then put them into smaller Ziploc bags for easy transport during the day
Celery or other raw vegetables with single-serve nut butter like Sunbutter or Justin's almond butter
I pack my kale rosemary super seed crackers because you can always use a good gluten free cracker
These protein packed energy bites come in handy when hunger strikes and these 2 ingredient healthy banana cookies are always a crowd-pleaser
Depending on where I'm going, I usually throw in some BPA-free cans or pouches of tuna, salmon, and/or sardines
After my flavorless trip to Cuba, I learned to carry some spices like Real Salt or Herbamare for guaranteed seasoning
Don't forget to keep in mind TSA and foreign country's regulations on what you can travel with and bring into a city.
Liquids are of course a no-no in your carry-on, but some countries have issues with outside nuts, fruit, and meat, so do your research before you load up on supplies.
Book Accommodations With a Kitchen
I really enjoy using AirBnB when I travel. I feel a little less like a tourist when I'm in a foreign country.
I used AirBnB when I was in Cuba and also when I was in Ischia, Italy.
It worked really well because I got to stay with friends in one place, but we each had our own rooms and bathrooms, and things move much swifter when everyone has their own space!
So there's the room convenience, but there's also the added kitchen amenity which really helps when I want to eat healthy while traveling.
I like to have breakfast at "home" to ensure a healthy start to the day. On top of that, it's a time and money saver to not have all of your meals out.
I also enjoy drinking a glass of local wine while watching the sunset and getting ready for dinner. Wine is grapes after all!
Having a kitchen also means visiting the local farmer's market. That's always one of my essential stops on any trip.
I love seeing what grows in the area and it's a bonus to discover a new fruit or vegetable.
Exploring the supermarkets in a foreign country is also fun for the same reason. Even if you're doing a local trip, it's always nice to be able to buy some fresh ingredients so you have a few healthy supplies at the ready.
If you're in a hotel, you can try for a kitchenette. I've also been known to remove items from the mini bar to put my own items in the little fridge. Filling a sink or a bucket with ice will also work as well.
Supplement
I believe you should get as much of your vitamins as possible from your food, but when you're away from home, it's not always easy.
The vegetable plates in Cuba consisted of onions and peppers!
That's why I always pack a few essential supplements when I'm traveling. Here are some of my favorites:
Super Food Protein Vitamin Powders like Sun Warrior or Ancient Nutrition Bone Broth Greens help round out your diet in case you miss any valuable nutrients at mealtime.
Probiotics help keep your digestion and gut on track. I like this one and this one. Neither need to be refrigerated, making it good for travel.
Melatonin beats Ambien for falling asleep naturally, without a weird hangover. No one wants to fight jet lag during vacation, so I find melatonin the best help for adapting to a new time zone. Of course, you should always consult with your doctor before taking any new medications.
Activated charcoal helped me a lot when I was indulging in the local, quite foreign, cuisines of India and Vietnam. It binds to toxins to remove them from your system. When I got food poisoning in Cuba, charcoal saved the day. Just be sure to take charcoal pills away from any other medication since it will bind to everything and remove them.
Extra Vitamin C can boost your immune system so you stay healthy and energetic while traveling.
What to Avoid
So remember all of those healthy things you do while you're at home? You should try and remember a lot of them while you're traveling too.
It's funny how people get vacation mentality and think that means they can turn into someone else when they're on the road.
If you have gluten issues at home, guess what, you still have it when you're away from home.
Worse still, is that your body isn't as strong when you're traveling so it isn't as adept at fighting off the inflammation that will develop when you put ingredients in your body that it doesn't like.
Processed food, sugar, and heavy amounts of booze are going to slow you down on your vacation, just as much as they do while you're at home.
You should enjoy your time away, but if you're going to indulge in a local sweet treat (I'm looking at you lovely Parisian macarons), then try to limit it.
Three cocktails at every meal is going to further dehydrate your jet-lagged body and zap your energy, so perhaps save the specialty drink for dinner.
And look for drinks with low sugar (and these other healthier drinking tips) to save your aching head in the morning. If you're going to party all night in Ibiza, then plan for a sleep-in the next day.
Enjoy
With that said, enjoy your time away! You can eat healthy while traveling and also have some fun.
Try some local delicacies that may be foreign to you.
Explore the farmer's market, talk to the locals, and don't be shy about explaining any food allergies. The world is a different place now and accommodations can be made for many.
With a little bit of planning and proper preparation, you can eat healthy while traveling, and not return home in need of another vacation to recuperate!
Happy and healthy travels to you!