Healthy Traveler Essentials

Winter is nearly over!  Are you starting to feel the urge and nudge to leave the house and explore the world? With spring right around the corner, this means that many families will be traveling for spring break! Spring break is a time for fun in the sun and while this is certainly needed, we can be tempted to put all our health efforts aside in favor of convenience and entertainment. Some of you might feel comfortable with this, while others prefer to choose in an intentionally balanced way on vacation. Eating healthy while traveling isn’t impossible, but it does take a little planning. 

Pack way more healthy snacks than you think you need

If you’re traveling through an airport, you’ll likely encounter snack shacks and fast-food kiosks. Although it might be tempting to grab something quickly, most of these places only offer high-calorie, high-sugar, and high-salt snacks and pre-made sandwiches. This goes for most snacks offered on the airplane, too and while driving. Packing your own snacks allows you to control exactly what you’re eating by letting you decide serving size and the quality of your food. And bonus! TSA allows for snacks to be brought on the plane! Here are some healthy snack ideas: 

• Hard boiled eggs
• Berries
• Chopped celery with nut butter Justin’s has little squeeze packs of almond butter. Perfect for traveling!
• Apples with nut butter
• Nuts/Seeds: nuts are high in protein and good fats and – as with the fruit and veggies – nice and easy to eat on the go.
• Homemade trail mix
• Clementine’s with nuts/seeds
• Epic Bars
• Chomps Grass Fed Beef Sticks
• Power Balls
• Rhythm Superfood Kale Chips
• Precut veggies with single serve hummus or guacamole (Costco has hummus and guac single servings)
• Mama Chia Pouches (available Amazon, Target, Walmart, Online Natural Grocers)
• Biena Chickpea Snacks
• Lara Bar
• Mary’s Gone Crackers

Stay in vacation rentals: 

This allows for you to have more control over food choices and continue your daily routine as closely as possible. Plus it’s cheaper! Because rentals typically have a kitchen you can make your own meals. Experiment with how often you want to cook in vs. eating out. 

Stay hydrated: 

Staying hydrated with clean water is always important, but it’s especially important while traveling. Hydration is critical for all bodily functions including nutrient transportation, energy levels, and temperature regulation. This is especially true in hot climates. While you may be tempted to not drink much water while on the road or in the air as to avoid bathroom breaks, dehydration can lead to fatigue, brain fog, sugar or salt cravings, constipation, toxicity and more. 

• Hydration travel tip: Airports have water bottle fill stations – fill up a reusable water bottle with filtered water and continue to sip on that. If traveling by car, stop every few hours to get bottles of filtered water and have at least one bottle drank by the next stop. Or purchase gallons of water and refill your reusable bottle at each stop.
• Hydration Tip: Thirst is the first sign of dehydration. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink! 

 Scope out restaurants ahead of time:

Looking at a restaurant’s menu ahead of time helps avoid peer pressure to buy something unhealthy, it helps to prevent decision fatigue, and allows you to scope restaurants ahead of time for healthy options. 

Choosing healthy while on the road is more challenging, but with intentionality and planning you too can stay healthy AND enjoy your vacation. Creating the balance between healthy choices and “fun” choices will have you returning home much more energized and ready to jump back into the swing of things with ease. 

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