Eating clean can be tough when you're traveling but it isn't impossible. If you travel to areas that have health food restaurants or supermarkets, then you are in luck. Unfortunately that isn't always the case so you have to be prepared for what is available. Depending on your mode of transportation, there are ways to prepare as much as possible for when you're going out of town. Below are some tips for eating clean while traveling.
Locate Supermarkets
Find the closest supermarkets and plan on visiting them to stock up on food in your hotel room. Google maps is a great resource for this. Simply type in a keyword and the city you'll be in and a list of stores should pop up. For example, type in "health food" plus the city. Compared to dining out, purchasing your own food at the market gives you much more control. Before you book a room, find out if a mini-fridge is available as well as a microwave.
Locate Types of Restaurants in the Area
Before you reach your destination, find out the types of restaurants that will be in the area. (Google maps will work here too.) Maybe there are familiar ones in which you already know how to order. If you're lucky, you may find some restaurants geared towards the health conscious individual. Make a note of where you plan on dining when you go out.
Pack as Much Food as You Can
You can prepare individual servings of healthy snacks which can hold you over until you can get to a supermarket or restaurant. If you're driving, it's easy to pack a cooler of healthy foods. If you're flying or other transportation, pack what you can in a carry-on bag until reach your destination.
Don't Stress Out
Chances are even if the restaurants around the area you travel too aren't the best, you can always find a way to eat somewhat healthy in them. Choose grilled items when available, double up on vegetable portions, etc. Just keep in mind that you may not be able to eat 100% the way you would like, but at least you have prepared beforehand.
Do you have any travel tips to share?
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We travel a lot because of my husband’s job, and I’m slowly getting better at eating clean on the road. If you have a favorite item/ingredient, such as a certain brand of natural peanut butter, bring it with you. I also make room in my luggage for my bullet-style blender. Staying in a hotel with kitchenette makes eating clean a lot simpler; we have a shopping list of mix-and-match staple items that will get us through a few meals so we can avoid restaurants some of the time.
Good tips, Eartha! When ever I travel, I always try to arrange for a hotel that has a kitchenette or at least a refrigerator. If I travel by car, I always bring a number of pre-prepared meals with me.
A few great resources for finding health food stores and healthy restaurants are LocalHarvest.org and EatWellGuide.org.
A tip I would recommend is to be extra strict with your diet before you travel. Make a real effort to completely cut out processed foods and cut down the overall amount of calories. Then when you do travel it is not as big an issue if you eat poorly.
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