You might be a foodie who loves exploring different cultural cuisines, but at the same time, you wish to maintain a healthy eating lifestyle, especially when you’re on the move.
When traveling for a family vacation or business trip, ignoring your healthy eating habits is par for the course. You might feel compelled to compromise your eating habits due to unhealthy cuisines, limited food options at the airport, or irregular meal times.
Plus, the travel-related stress and jet lag might make you break into hives once you reach your destination. Hold your fire, as here’s what you need to do!
Fortunately, even if you’re flying halfway around the world, you can still stick to your diet plan and achieve your health goals. The key is not to push yourself and feel restricted but to give yourself multiple options for eating a balanced diet.
So, let’s explore these five tips on healthy eating while traveling, backed by experts.
1. Plan Your Eating Routine Before You Hit The Ride
Imagine you’re at the airport waiting for your plane and suddenly, your stomach starts rumbling with strange, hungry voices.
Only if you had planned your meal in advance, could you have picked up some protein bars or dry fruits without worrying about looking around every corner of the airport to find the right meal.
Planning your daily eating before a business trip or a family vacation can help prevent unhealthy and impulsive eating. You won’t make food choices based on convenience or cravings and you’ll also save money.
So, before you start packing your bags for long-distance traveling, make sure to pre-plan what you’ll eat during your journey and after you reach your destination.
A quick heads up! You can check local food stores in the area where you’ll land or contact some locals through socials and educate yourself on the availability of healthy food and their cost as well.
2. Pack Some Ready-to-Eat Snacks
Most individuals need 10 to 35% of their calories from proteins, 45 to 65% from carbohydrates, and 20 to 35% from fats, depending on their age, gender, weight, and overall health. Meeting these daily nutritional requirements, especially when traveling, is like walking on thin ice.
You come across unfamiliar cuisines, limited food options and irregular meal times. Therefore, one way to ensure healthy eating is to bring along non-perishable, ready-to-eat snacks, depending on the length of your flight and the stay at your destination.
If you’re on a business trip for a day or two, you can pack dry fruits, protein bars, premeasured dry smoothie bags, and much more. However, make sure that you purchase protein or energy bars with a low sugar content and a higher protein content and other healthy nutrients.
Another tip! If your hotel or flat has a refrigerator, pack one or two meals, like rice with shredded chicken and some veggies sprinkled on top.
3. Keep a Reusable Water Bottle
Throughout our transition, drinking enough water slips through our cracks due to multiple distractions such as exploring new places or engaging in activities during the business trip or vacation.
Generally, an average healthy male needs to drink 3.7 litres of fluid whereas a female should drink 2.7 litres daily so as to maintain your overall well-being.
Note that staying hydrated is important for maintaining cognitive function, and overall well-being. Therefore, carry a 1-litre reusable water bottle when traveling to ensure access to clean drinking water wherever you go.
A key highlight! Try to avoid alcohol as it not only has a negative impact on your health but also disrupts sleep patterns and adds unnecessary calories.
4. Check Out Nearby Grocery Store or Connect With Locals
Once you’ve reached your destination, you can explore a nearby grocery store and explore some healthy food options. Also, if you have access to the cooking facility or a small kitchen in your hotel, it’s a win-win!
You can buy fresh vegetables and protein-rich foods from the store and even cook a small, simple meal for yourself in your temporary kitchen.
Small grocery stores have a curated selection of products with convenient opening hours so you can visit them whenever you want.
Not to mention, if you have any difficulty finding grocery stores or choosing food alternatives, you can connect with the locals in the market. They’ll help you in finding cost-effective alternatives to your meals and give you some more healthy food choices.
5. Explore Healthy Food Options & Street Foods In Advance
Being a food lover, we know that you can’t miss the cultural cuisines and local food when you’re on the road. However, while you’re enjoying street foods, maintaining a healthy balanced diet is crucial.
So, make sure not to overeat high-fat foods as they can be dangerous for your health. Or, if you’re eating high-calorie food, you can share it with someone or balance your meals with a lighter dinner.
One important tip is to look for street food vendors offering freshly cooked food rather than pre-prepared, stored fried foods. You can also consider adding plenty of vegetables, such as salads or skewers, to balance your meal.
Takeaway
In a nutshell, we all understand that healthy eating on the road for food lovers is quite challenging, but with proper planning and research, it is possible.
All you have to do is preplan your meals, pack some unperishable snacks, and enjoy the local cuisines while maintaining a balanced diet.
Whether you’re rushing for the plane, having multiple flights, going on a business trip or heading on a family vacation, these tips can save you from getting stressed about maintaining your health goals.