Healthy Traveling

It's not easy making healthy choices when you are on the go. If you travel often or even once throughout the year, these tips can help you make a healthy plan for your travels.

I know when I travel I easily get sucked into convenience stores when we stop for fuel. They have all the quick things, the tasty things and more importantly the unhealthy things. In this post I share what I do to make healthy choices as I travel across the country.

The Car

I love to travel! Majority of the time....

My husband and I are always going on #trips throughout the year. Whether it's for work or for pleasure there is no doubt we are always up for an adventure. We used to fly when we traveled but lately we find ourselves driving pretty much anywhere we are going in the U.S.A. Our trips tend to be a four hour drive or better. What does that have to do with any of this? When you're a person who has to eat every two hours it has a LOT to do with it.

Travel Hack #1: Water

I never, ever leave the house without #water. I have a 33oz water bottle I always grab when I head out the door. I don't care if I am running to the grocery store that's less than two minutes away from my home. Water goes with me at all times, the end.

When it's a more lengthy trip, I will fill up a couple water bottles for myself and a couple for my husband. I do like to save money, so buying it at every stop is really unnecessary when I can fill up bottles from home. If you have a milk jug you can fill up or if you prefer it cold you can look for an insulated water jug on Amazon or Walmart for little cost so you can add ice and be able to refill your smaller bottles.

Your body needs water. When you travel you tend to drink less water than you would with your normal daily routine. When you aren't drinking as much water you become dehydrated. Being dehydrated while on #vacation spells out trouble. You become less energized, your skin becomes dry, your bowels don't move normally and most importantly you are more susceptible to getting sick. The more water you can drink while traveling your body will keep it's regular schedule and continue to function at its peak to keep you from getting sick while on the road.

Travel Hack #2: Snack bag

Find yourself a "snack bag." More than likely you have acquired a few of those #reusable grocery bags over the years. Those are the perfect size to fit all the snacks you will want for the road. If you don't have one they typically cost $1 at any grocery store. Another option for a snack bag would be a tote bag or cooler, especially if you pack anything that needs to be chilled.

Travel Hack #3: The snacks

What on earth kind of snacks do you pack?! Remember we are looking for things that keep us pushing toward our health goals. My favorite things to pack are listed below:

1. Protein - Protein drinks like #MuscleMilk or #PremierProtein shakes are easy to pack and don't have to be refrigerated. You can find these drinks at places such as; Walmart, Amazon, Costco and Sam's Club. Protein bars are not always good for you like they make them out to be. You must read the ingredients and know what to look for in a good quality protein bar. My favorite brands are Kirkland, Quest or Pure Protein bars. We are hunters so we have a lot of ground meat on hand already. Majority of people have trips planned in advance so you have enough time to thaw out meat, let the seasoning sit, and then dehydrate it into jerky. We have a six tray dehydrator that works perfectly! We found it on Amazon for around $99 and a #jerky gun for only $25.

2. Fruits - Easily packable #fruits that we enjoy on our trips are apples, pears, bananas, grapes and clementine's. These help curb my sweet tooth when I see all of the chocolate they have to offer at the gas station. I also like to pack a disposable grocery bag or two to put all of our trash in.

3. Vegetables - My favorite #vegetables to pack on trips are cauliflower, broccoli, celery and carrots. These are usually packed when we take a cooler (large or small). When I pack vegetables I have them washed, cut up and put in Ziploc bags to make it easier. I also like to take ranch. Now I don't like to use regular ranch dressing, it's full of fat and unwanted sugars. I like to get plain Greek yogurt and put ranch seasoning in it. This allows me to get a dose of protein in when I snack on veggies. Remember to check food labels for the amount of sugar per serving when choosing Greek yogurt.

4. Others - Cheese sticks, spice sticks (deer, elk and antelope are our favorites), swiss or cheddar cheese slices, wheat thins. Keeping these things chilled is necessary so make sure you have a cooler to pack all your cold stuff! I do enjoy making my homemade trail mix every now and then. This consists of [Cheerios, oven roasted peanuts, semi sweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, craisins (dried cranberries) or raisins.] This is such a good sweet and salty mix! It's addicting so make sure to pack a #serving cup to help you stick to a good portion.

Travel Hack #4: Move

I don't like to sit still for very long periods of time. I work from home and have the ability to move around as I please. Many people sit down, get to work and rarely get up. Since leaving my office position I was so worried that's what would end up happening to me. Fear no longer! I increased my step goal on my #Suunto fitness watch to 12,000 steps a day and have been regularly reaching or exceeding this step goal. This pushes me to move even more during the day and to prevent me from becoming a couch potato. I highly encourage you to do the same even if you do go to an office daily. How do I reach my goal when I travel and am sitting for a 16 hour drive to New Mexico? Every single fuel stop I go to the bathroom, because typically I've drank enough water that I have to, but I also come back to the car and stand outside and wait for my husband to finish fueling the truck. While waiting I march in place, do side taps, booty kickers, forward kicks, move my arms, do some squats. That's right, I'm the dork in the parking lot just bouncing around. I need to get my energy out! I have a deep need to reach those 12,000 steps every day and this is the only way I can come close to those steps when I'm in a car from 4:30am - 9:00pm.

Travel Hack #5: Restaurants

I feel like #food is the main reason why some people travel. When you go to different places and experience different #cultures in the U.S. we have to experience the food! If you're anything like me, you want to try everything on the menu. When you have so many options how are you supposed to pick just one thing? The perk of traveling with your husband is getting to try what he orders as well! Like it or not honey, your food is my food. We like to split foods so we can try more things or if you go during #happyhour you might just get lucky and get #halfpriced apps! Like they say, sharing is caring and when you eat smaller portions you are helping yourself while away from your regular routine. This makes it feel like you don't have to play "catch up" to your health goals before you left on your trip.

The Importance

Why do I like to be healthy when we travel?

A. It cuts down on travel costs. I can save money by packing foods I already have on hand. It's convenient. I like to be able to reach in the back seat and grab something as we are driving. I eat every few hours and if we aren't stopping for 3-4 hours I have the convenience of already having something with me.

B. It's filling. The fiber from the fruits, vegetables and protein help satisfy me more than processed foods.

C. My body appreciates me more. The more water I drink and fruits and vegetables I eat, the more energized I feel, hydrated and overall feeling like I'm still at home with my routine.

D. It's not wasteful. I don't waste my time looking at gas station shelves dreaming of all the unhealthy foods I love and like to eat and then feel guilty when I have wasted the foods I have already purchased. I go in, go to the bathroom and head back to the car.

E. I get my steps in. It's so important to me to move my body as much as possible when traveling to help keep my heart healthy and continue to boost my metabolism.

Not everyone is the same and it can be challenging to set goals and continue to achieve them when you are away from home. If you are ready to make the change you will put in as much effort as possible to crush your goals, even when you are traveling.