Eating Healthy and Staying Active on the Road

[SarahS]

Is it possible to go on vacation and stay on your diet? We know that making healthy food choices and staying active can be tough when you're on the road -- it often seems like the only meal options are fast food or plane food, and it's hard to stick to an exercise routine when your gym or favorite workout tapes are an ocean away. Do you have tips for staying healthy on the road? Share them here!

And don't miss our thoughts on the subject:

Eat Healthy and Stay Active on the Road
Fast Food Fixes: A Rest Stop Survival Guide
Get in Shape Vacations
Poll: How Do You Stay Healthy While Traveling?

[travelmel]

It is definitely not easy to stay on track! I travel a lot for business so I plan based on how long my trips are. If I'm going to be away for a day or just a weekend, I eat healthy throughout the week prior so I won't feel too guilty for grabbing that extra roll. If I'm going away for a full week, however, I try to research places I'll likely eat with colleagues ahead of time so I can make fast, healthy choices when I get there -- and if weather permits, get a lot of walking in when I arrive!

[tinkerbell]

I definitely try to eat healthy while on the road or on vacation ... but if I do eat dessert I try to take the stairs instead of the elevator, do lots of walking and try the gym at the hotel or on the cruise ship. One of these days, I would love to take a "spa vacation" where all you do is eat health food, take yoga and aerobics classes and have spa treatments.

[soliteyah]

Personally, I'm a BYO kinda gal. Anytime I go on a long car ride, I stock up on bottled water and snacks (fruit, pretzels, etc.) so that I won't get desperate and subject myself to icky rest stop food! Ditto for flights -- I tend to bring baggies of Cheerios and pretzels to munch on, and I always make sure I grab some bottled water in the airport before boarding so I'm not restricted to the paltry little cups you get on the plane.

I will say SO and I got a bit desperate on a road trip a few months back, and we ended up at a Burger King. He was eyeing a Whopper, but I put a quick stop to that; we ended up splitting a chicken salad between us instead.

It would be nice if organic food were more readily available outside of specialty stores, but at the moment I consider eating organically to be a lost cause when I'm on the road -- unless I bring my own...

[Canadian]

Unfortunately you can't carry fruit, vegetables, etc when you cross the border from Canada to the US. So for road trips in that country we're limited to what we can buy along the way. We bring a huge supply of bottled water to refill our travel cups, nuts in tins and raisins in sealed bags. Also breakfast food with low sugar content.
We head for the nearest small town supermarket and buy a bag of carrots, some celery, any fruit that looks fresh and some cheese. We carry a cooler and cutlery, also zip plastic bags and we stop at a picnic place, wash our fruit and veg and cut it up for the next day or two. In winter, we leave that till our first motel. Tinned tuna, salad in bags, whole wheat bread can all be bought at markets along the way and make a decent supper or picnic.
I try to avoid lunch meats as they usually have a high salt content.
We also carry a heating cup which will hard boil eggs (with a lot of patience) and this can make a nice snack or a sandwich.
It may be an acquired taste, but I'm quite fond of cold baked beans out of a tin and this is a good source of fibre even if it's not at the 5 star level on the "good food" charts.
But the combination of apple and cheese is hard to beat for a handy lunch!

[Host Bonjour]

If I am away from home on holiday or basically for some other important reason, it's practically the only time I DON'T worry too much about food/diet etc. Usually, I have a different routine; if I am on a holiday, quite likely I am on the move a lot and so whatever I am putting in - even if it's not so good - is getting worked off. And after all, it's a holiday!! It's not going to last forever so unless one has serious health concerns to abide by that should be adhered to at home or away, I kind of think that one should allow oneself to ENJOY things they just don't normally have at home, either because it is not available, not "the same" or just not on the diet regimen. So many holiday locations now too offer sport clubs to those committed to workout routines and if there isn't a club - a good swim, hike, round of golf or set of tennis will do the job quite well. I've never come home from a trip with a "problem" and this from a former "food restricter" that even during the final months of my restricting, i.e. before I ended up in hospital, I let myself eat in Europe - cakes, chocolates and all sorts of good foods in Europe.

I can't hardly think of a trip where there wouldn't be opportunities to exercise or decide what you want to eat if you indeed wish to stay the course of your diet, but, if you want to just vacation from your diet, you probably know enough now about nutrition and making smart choices so you can still have a lovely meal but not feel guilty or, if you truly are disciplined and can give yourself a break (WITHOUT TAKING HEALTH RISKS!!!) then just have what you want, try to get mobile each day - and, er, um, there are some exercises at night that burn calories ::::cough::::: and that'll ALSO help burn calories.

Like I said before, if you've already been practicing better eating at home, you're likely to carry that with you on holiday. But, that doesn't mean that if you are somewhere "jonesing" for something decadent that you shouldn't just go ahead and have it! For me, Paris isn't Paris without the 'chocolat' and 'crepes' etc...........in german I look for the word Konditerai - in Italy, Gelateria or Pasitcceria - gotta know where to get my chocolate on!

And maybe lastly, unless you have mobility issues, skip the tour bus and get yourself a-wandering! Walking is probably one of the best overall exercises for folks of most ages (so to is swimming but their might not always be a beach or pool around but you can ask) and you get to see and do more when you walk. Maybe not so much on a Cross-country here in the USA - certain stretches would be devoid of food, drink or people. Same in the Aussie Outback, only WORSE - so DON'T do that!

I think that while one is enjoying one's trip, somehow simulateously one is moving and grooving in some fun new place and so everything will be fine. Scratch that if you are on a culinary trip - I take no responsibility except to say that many of the world's finest chefs are NOT fat. Ditto for chocolatiers.

Always be mindful of what you eat but don't let it spoil the fun; remember, a lot of what you are used to you might even find on your trip so be prepared to make alternate choices! Have fun - the treadmill will be there waiting for you when you get home - even IT needs a break (the motor) and what's the sense of going away to eat the same food anyhow? Just don't EAT the whole cake and all will be fine

[CarolineC]

I don't like to take a "vacation" from eating healthy. To me, it's a slippery slope to telling yourself "I'll eat whatever I want today and start my diet tomorrow beause I'm on vacation/at a party/had a crappy day..." every other day until you wake up one morning and can't button your jeans.

My tip? I let myself eat what I want, but limit my portions. I can try new foods on vacation and not worry about gaining 10 lbs. when I know that alll of my meals each day have been reasonably-sized, and I don't get insane cravings if I let myself have just one cookie or beach martini.

Also, I take advantage of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are offered in my current destination. In Jamaica, the pineapples were to die for, and I must've eaten three or four a day -- but I stayed away from a second plate at my resort's buffet line because I was munching on the juicy yellow fruit!

[Angel06]

Hi Caroline,
I totally agree with you, i am also doing the same, i suggest everyone that have everything you like but in limited quantity...

[mannu]

Hi,
I am also agree with you.you are absolutely right.
thanks

[robb01]

definitely agree with you

[whatisanaphrodisiac]

Hello, the best in these trips is to eat fruits that have not hurt the stomach, you will help to keep the figure and do not cause sudden illness, of course they are long trips and if you eat the best food is full of good information sites serving healthy meals

[aussieroo1]

Wow. Well, it's really hard to stick with a healthy lifestyle when traveling to new places. When I'm on vacation, I also tend to pig out. The only 'healthy' tip that I could follow is getting enough hours of sleep.

[katrin]

Its an isnpiring foruma and I am gonna send the link to my other friends

[Host Bonjour]

I posted way earlier in this thread about how I eat on a vacation (mind you I have never taken a cruise with the endless food) and so what I eat always did tend to be whatever was on the "plat du jour" menu type thing as a way of staying on budget etc. Also, I mostly traveled overseas, wherein most people eat WAY MORE HEALTHIER than Americans so the menu options were always easy to choose from. Also, I'm an anorexic so I am ALWAYS conscious of what I eat because it's a compulsion that is HELL to live with. But yet I have to eat. So for me, a vacation actually *IS* allowing myself to eat a little more and I've never had the problem as someone put it, of "NOT BEING ABLE TO BUTTON MY PANTS" after a trip because each and every trip I take also includes TONS of walking every single day or I'd skip the dessert or whatever and eat more like I eat at home which is not much and/or very healthy, low fat and more Meditteranean style than the obscene way people eat here in the USA. Vacation is vacation and if you can't do a few things a little differently like enjoy the local food that is made, then why go? I drink lots of water overseas - in fact that's one of the things I enjoy the most, because some of the water that is available overseas is some of the tastiest I've had an cannot be bought here in the USA. I'm watching the Tour de France now and seeing "Vittel" signs everywhere and wishing I could have a bottle of their water right as I'm watching! Better yet, Badoit!

It is hard to find organic food abroad unless you buy off of farm stands and even then, you don't know if the farmer used pesticides unless you can ask in the local language if they were. Farm stands can be hard to find, depending upon where one is. I subscribe to the "when in Rome" theory and eat as the locals eat which is to say, eat normally but maybe treat myself now & then and oh gee, I've probably walked it off every day anyway. My clothes still fit me fine when I go home and I can resume my usual eating but have things I CANNOT get unless I am abroad - seizing the moment - there's a lot to be said for that as well, when traveling. Maybe SELF CONTROL is the real problem when it comes to eating healthy and being away from home. Because I've never come home overweight and resent the implication that came after my post which indicated otherwise. I've been eating healthy since my eating disorder was brought under *control* and continue to do so, and can even allow myself the indulgence of the splurge of sweets & treats because I do otherwise eat healthy all the time.

Vacations start & end but healthy eating is an all the time practice. Eating can be controlled on the road too......it's only a problem whe OVER-INDULGENCES start to kick in and then the clothes don't fit and buttons won't close. Just common sense. You don't go away and leave your lifestyle behind - you might take some leave from it, because you might not have a choice - but there are still good choices to make, and treats to be enjoyed in a POSITIVE WAY. You simply do the best you can and have fun on your trip. Eat as best as you can but leave some room for fun in there too. Otherwise, why go?

[Dating Site Free to Join]

oh my, it's difficult to maintain a very good weight while on vacation. I can't prevent myself from eating so much.