Healthy Eating While Traveling
Eating a healthy diet when you are traveling can be difficult. It is important to plan ahead. Below are strategies to help you.
Hotels
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Order healthy breakfast foods individually (a la carte). This will help you avoid the temptations at the buffet.
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Have breakfast in your room. Bring fresh fruit and mini-boxes of cereal. You can keep a small container of low-fat or skim milk cool in the ice bucket overnight.
Car Travel
If you have a long ride ahead, buy snacks before the trip. This will help you avoid the high-fat food choices on the road. Some good snack choices include:
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Pretzels
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Whole-grain bagels
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Breadsticks
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Fig bars
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Low-fat or nonfat yogurt
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Baby carrots or ready-cut carrot and celery sticks
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Dried fruit
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String cheese
Airplane Travel
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Some airlines offer peanuts or pretzels. Pick the pretzels, which contain little or no fat. The peanuts can have up to 93 percent of calories from fat.
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Limit the amount of alcohol you drink on the plane. Alcohol provides calories with no nutrients. It can make you hungry and dehydrated. Try mineral water with a twist of lemon or lime instead.
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Airplane meals are often high in salt and fat. But you can order a special meal in advance on most airlines. These meals tend to be healthier. Your options may include a low-salt or low-fat meal, or a vegetarian meal. Call the airline at least 48 hours before your flight.
