Today’s Gimme 5 is about Eating While Traveling. It is so hard to eat the right things while traveling. The grab and go is so easy – unhealthy carbs become your best friend while traveling. (I think we had pizza in each state as we drove across country this pasts summer.) And it is so easy to eat out all of the time and over indulge in great food while traveling!  I have worked really hard the last 15 months to lose weight and change my habits. One of the hardest things to change is how I eat while traveling.

Today’s tips are about the changes (like NOT ordering the burger and fries) I have made that have worked for me to keep me from gaining weight – I’m not sure it helped me lose weight, but at least I didn’t gain any! With Spring Break coming up, I wanted to share these tips for eating healthy while traveling!

1. Plan ahead – I think this one is probably the hardest one to do on a consistent and regular basis. Think through whether there will be food where you will be while you are traveling (think plane, train, and automobiles) and where you will be going (airport, train station, or hotel). Will there be food on the plane? Will you have time to get anything before your flight or afterwards? Flying to the East Coast often means that I get in really late and often don’t have time for a regular dinner. I either have to bring something or plan to stop on the way to the place I am staying. All of this is a long-winded way of saying plan ahead.
2. Bring Your Own – Along with the first tip of planning ahead, I usually bring food along. I don’t really like the food on the plane – no snack boxes for me thank you very much! And I never know if I will be served a meal on the flight, so I usually bring almonds, yoghurt, cheese sticks, hard boiled eggs or something with protein on the plane with me. I also usually have a power bar or two stashed in my bag along with the all important DARK CHOCOLATE!
3. Appetizers are your friend – I have changed to ordering two appetizers rather than an appetizer and an entree. I usually order a salad or soup plus one of the smaller portions of an enticing entree. This results in less food being put in front of me and therefor, less of a temptation to overeat! It is very easy to keep talking and eating and drinking! Ordering smaller amounts is a great way to lessen the impact of eating out!
4. An Apple a Day – this really means eat fruit, not sweets. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an apple, but it does mean choose fruit. It is better to stick with fruit when it is offered or available. Usually at conferences at 2 or 3 in the afternoon there is a plethora of sweets offered along with fruit. Choose the fruit, not the cookies. I know it sucks to not choose the cookie but your body will love you for it later. Or, if you really want the cookie – be prepared to run another mile or two the next morning (or swim or whatever your exercise of choice is)!
5. Club Soda with Lime is Your Friend – OK, mea culpa — I love to drink! I love red wine. I love cosmos and martinis. But one of the worst things to do when traveling is to try to keep up with the sales team or other colleagues on a drinking basis. I find that these guys can drink forever and I, unfortunately, cannot. So, I have learned to substitute, substitute, substitute.  Working with sales, it seems like one long drinkfest with work thrown in occasionally. I have recently switched to water, gin & tonics, or light beers. Although red wine is still my favorite, I stick to no more than 2 glasses through out the entire evening. This is quite a change for me, but the nutritionist definitely said to watch the alcohol intake and it has made a big difference!

What has worked for you! If you have a tip for eating Healthy while traveling, please leave a comment!