It’s easy to give up your diet or healthy eating meal plan while traveling. Whether the trip is for business or pleasure, the constant rush of activities may result in tasty unhealthy beverages or snacks.
But traveling is no excuse to stop eating healthily. If anything, your body needs a healthier and more balanced diet when traveling as it has to learn to adjust to differences in your daily routine.
So, how do you stick to a meal plan and eat healthy while traveling? Here are some of our top tips to help you:
1. Prep Food Before You Leave
If you want to eat healthy while traveling, then it’s a good idea to plan your trip in advance and pre-make some of your meals. It would help if you considered pre-making meals like sandwiches and wraps before setting off on your journey. It will not only save you time and money, but it also saves you the hassle of having to prep on the way.
Prepping meals in advance is a brilliant way to make sure that healthy options are always available for you.
2. Do Your Research
Before setting off on your travels, you need to do some research. You should find out if there are any restaurants/cafes on the route or nearby that offer healthy alternatives. If not, you should consider taking some healthy and nutritious meals with you.
Knowing what to expect while traveling can make sticking to a healthy-eating meal-plan so much easier. Researching ahead of time allows you to better plan and prepare your meals for your activities.
3. Know What You Can and Can’t Eat
If you’re traveling by plane and can’t take food items with you, or you don’t want to cook while traveling, then you’ll have to rely on local restaurants and cafes for food. While this can save you time, it is often more expensive, and the food they serve is usually not as healthy as if you were cooking for yourself.
If you want to stick to a meal plan while traveling, then it’s a good idea to work out what types of food you can eat before setting off. It’s easy to be tempted by something unhealthy on a menu, so having an idea of what you can and can’t eat is a brilliant idea.
If all else fails, try and stick to the healthiest foods on the menu to stay healthy while traveling.
4. Consider the Weather
If the weather is likely to be hot, then it’s a good idea to plan and prepare some cold meals like salads and sandwiches to take with you. However, if the forecast says it’s likely to be cold, then it’s a good idea to take some warm meals with you too. It’s important to stay warm when it’s chilly outside.
It’s also important to remember to keep any perishable foods cool. Travelers don’t have to alter the type of food they eat; they simply have to take the right tools with them. An insulated lunch bag or cooler box packed with a range of healthy meals and snacks is a great idea.
Unless you can take a working refrigerator on your travels, you’ll need to choose meals that won’t spoil in the cooler box. Things like soups, pasta with canned sauce, and guacamole keep reasonably well out of the refrigerator. You could also take some veggie sticks and celery too.
5. Plan Simple Meals
Remember, everything is more complicated and takes longer when cooking while traveling. Something that would have taken a few minutes to cook at home could take a few hours or more. To avoid spending all of your free time preparing and cooking meals, choose simple meals to prepare and cook.
You’re much more likely to stick to your meal plan if it’s simple to cook and enjoyable to eat.
Final Words
We all love the idea of traveling to new and exciting destinations around the world, but sticking to a meal plan while traveling is often more complicated than it sounds. Avoid the temptation to stop at fast-food restaurants when you get hungry. If you want to eat healthy when traveling, then follow some of our top tips above.
