7 Tips For Eating Healthy While Traveling

Each traveling experience is different. Sometimes it’s easy to stick to our healthy routines because we have healthy options around and other times, it feels like all our healthy habit go out the window. Traveling for special occasions or traveling overseas can cause us to bend the sugar-free rule. This makes eating healthy during our usual schedules that much more important. However, we do have a few tips that we live by to stay naturally sweet when traveling so that when we indulge, it’s worth it.

1.  Eat Before Leaving. Whether it’s a day trip or a full month long trip, eat before heading out. It makes a big difference. We may even be able to alleviate the need to eat until we arrive at our destination where healthy choices are more available. If we haven’t starved ourselves, we’ll be less likely to stuff the first delicious thing we see into our mouths.
2. Pack Filling Snacks. Packing snacks high in protein (nuts and vegetables) gives us a punch of energy and nutrition and keeps us full for longer. This really helps in keeping energy and blood sugar levels up. We love hearty raw candy recipes or no-bake bars because they are often sweet, easy to pack and feel like a tasty dessert!
3. Pack Treats Easy to Eat. Sometimes we don’t eat our carrots and guac or juicy orange just because they are messy or hard to eat.  We also hate being left with a bunch of peels or smelly trash we can’t get rid of. Pack foods that are easy to eat and easy to discard so you’ll plan to eat them.
4. Stay Hydrated! Water is often the answer to hunger or cravings. We all fall for the quick sugar fix when we “think” we’re hungry, but water is our friend!! We’ve found that drinking enough water helps us make better choices. Drinking water causes us not to eat as much.
5. Choose Healthy Foods. If we can’t bring our own snacks or we run out (often happens when flying long distances or not having anything on return trips home) we try to choose foods that are natural and healthy. Most airports are becoming more accommodating to us healthy eaters and have smoothies, nuts, pretzels, fruit or salads around! Look around. We are often pleasantly surprised!
6. Eat Frequently. Sometimes we are flying all day (or night) and then traveling by car or bus to our hotel at odd times of the day. Crazy travel times make it so that sometimes we miss meals or eat meals at random times. Having snacks that we can eat in between meals helps so we won’t binge when we do eat a real meal.
7. Eat and Enjoy. When traveling, it’s awesome to get the chance to enjoy foods or restaurants of the very best caliber. Preparing to eat nutritiously where and when we can allows us some freedom to enjoy not so healthy foods. Giving ourselves that room to enjoy special treats that we don’t always have the opportunity to enjoy allows us to enjoy the moment but not go overboard. It also reinforces the benefits of eating healthy throughout the remainder of a trip. At the end of the day, we don’t want to stress over food. We want to enjoy every special aspect of our travels!

For more healthy snack ideas that are kid and adult-approved, check out this post here. Traveling is so much more fun when we are healthy, happy and feeling good! Safe travels to you this season and enjoy your summer adventures!