What healthy foods can I eat while I'm on the road?

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What healthy foods can I eat while I’m on the road?

We think that it’s great that you’re taking steps to try to eat healthy while traveling. It is challenging, but possible. We would suggest a few things that you can do to help ensure that you are eating the best that you can while on the road.

First, natural food and health food stores are becoming much more commonplace, and these stores usually offer a wide array of “ready to eat” meals. These meals can serve as great healthy meals when a person doesn’t have the luxury of preparing meals at home. We suggest, therefore, that in the different places to which you travel that you look into finding these types of stores; they are abundant in cities and also becoming very prevalent in more rural areas.

When you are at these types of stores (or if you can’t find them, when you are at a grocery store), you can also stock up on some healthy snacks that you can have with you during the day: nuts, seeds, apples, bananas, snack bars, and pre-cut vegetables make handy, portable and nutritious snacks. You may want to even buy some bottled water that you can keep in your car or hotel room, as having better tasting water often inspires people to drink more of it than having to rely upon their hotel room bathroom faucet as a source of water (and of course, water presents a healthier option than sodas and sugar-laden energy drinks).

When your choices are limited to fast food restaurants, you can try to find the ones that offer healthier options. For example, a restaurant that offers custom made, fresh sandwiches may provide a healthier option than those that sell previously-prepared fried chicken or hamburgers. Choosing whole wheat bread over white bread, leaner meats and asking them to add extra vegetables (and hold, or at least limit, the mayo), will help you create a sandwich that will offer you more nutrients and less extra fat and calories. Additionally, more and more fast food restaurants are also beginning to offer a wider array of salad entrees as well, which can be a good option for ensuring that you enjoy your recommended servings of vegetables throughout the day.

Except for cream-based soups, you should also consider the category of “liquid foods” as a potential benefit during your road travels. Many soups in many restaurants are made on a daily basis - sometimes from fresh stock. Juice bars serve a variety of freshly squeezed fruits and vegetables, and also smoothies containing fresh yogurts. There are also many healthy “cup-of-soups” that are extremely easy in a hotel or motel room.

Happy travels, and happy healthy eating!