Good nutrition and good health is non-negotiable. Whether you’re off to an out of town business meeting, visiting your in-laws, or taking a week-long vacation, your health should never be a compromise. When you travel actively you lose more calories than you usually do, and unhealthy eating fails to supply you with the sufficient energy you need. Would you really want to meet your in-laws while you’re cranky and tired?
Planning, Planning and Planning
Since it’s a very basic instinct to plan when you are traveling, add a couple of minutes to know your destination places. Search if there are groceries nearby. Know the route you will take. If the trip is long and there are no places to stop over and enjoy good food, prepare snacks for the trip before you leave the house. Another fun way you can take advantage of your trip is to search the internet for good, healthy restaurants to eat going and getting to your destination. It’s all in the planning.
Food on the GO
Snacking is one of the delights in traveling. So instead of munching on unhealthy things that once you pop, you can’t stop eating. Why not try something equally enticing but good for you?
In-Flight Snacks
Have you ever heard of the best snack to help jet lag? They are dried cherries. According to nutritionist Dr. Russel Reiter, "Tart cherries contain melatonin, which is then absorbed into the blood stream influencing your biological clock". Studies show strong evidence that taking melatonin on the day of travel and continued for several days reduce the number of days needed to form normal sleep patterns, lessens the time it takes to fall asleep, improves alertness, and reduces daytime fatigue. Much better than the ultra salty peanut snacks served on the flight!
Hit the Road, Jack!
Traveling by car calls for all the fun snacks that rev up your senses, but snacking on all the wrong food can make you feel uncomfortably sluggish and tired. This can just ruin your travel experience, or worse--can get you in danger if you’re the one holding the wheel.
Staying alert and satisfying those rumbling moments on road can be easily be solved with some great dried fruits like banana, mango or pineapple, or whole wheat crackers with peanut butter or a bag of assorted nuts. These high protein snacks help you maintain your blood sugar levels to keep you awake and also help your brain create neurochemicals that are responsible to keep you alert.
Eating Out
When ordering in a restaurant, ask questions--especially if the menu is not familiar to you. A good restaurant should be more than willing to give you a vivid explanation of each dish. Do order food that is prepared in a healthier method which is baked or steamed instead of fried. A must in ordering is soup and salad as your entrée. It’s a healthy start and the soup helps you feel full without taking in so much hard to digest food. Avoid ordering too much at once, even if you’re starving. If you want something along the way you can always make additional orders.
In a worst-case scenario, you may find yourself in the midst of fast food chains. Don’t despair; you can still try to eat healthy or at least healthier. Seek out deli-style fast food chains where you can order a sandwich on whole wheat bread, replace deep fried chicken with grilled chicken sandwiches, and skip extra calories by skipping the mayo. Drink juice instead of sodas. There are also a lot of fast food chains that have salad in their menu, so go ahead and rather indulge in that.
Travelling Abroad
When I travel to foreign countries where English is not the mother tongue, I find out how to say in the local language "No MSG". For example, when I travel to China developing and inspecting my latest inventions, I always say "Bu Yao Weijing" when ordering my food. I don’t know a whole lot of Chinese but I make it an effort to know this. Like Aspartame, MSG is an excitotoxin and plays havoc and on your body has no place there.
Remember no matter where you are or the time you have, your health is not a compromise. Enjoy traveling and eat and live a healthy life!
Brendan McCarthy is a health, fitness and nutrition expert and enthusiast and the author of the Jump Start 7 Day Weight Loss Program.. This revolutionary program gives you a step-by-step plan to help you lose weight, cleanse your body, look terrific and boost your energy levels; All through the natural goodness of juicing in just seven short days. Unlock the secrets to successful weight loss and healthy living. Indulge your senses on a delicious journey of great tasting, all natural juice cocktails especially formulated to help you naturally lose weight and feel great fast.