Travel is one of my passions, although it can be a challenge to stay on a healthy eating plan while doing so. There is much to enjoy about partaking in the local cuisine when traveling, so I certainly make some accommodations to do so – “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. That said, I also don’t want to undo all of my progress and set myself up for failure when I return from vacation. Thus, I offer some insights into how we handle eating on the road.
Vacation eating pitfalls
Travel days – low-quality and expensive food available in airports, airplanes, travel hubs, etc.
Dependent on restaurants – Staying in a hotel leaves you mostly dependent on going out to eat or ordering delivery.
Alcohol – a common indulgence on vacation, but can lead you to overeating and/or snacking.
Peer pressure – when traveling with friends, you may not have as much control over where you eat or what gets ordered to share among a table of friends.
Unknown restaurant options – if traveling to a new location, you may not be aware of the available dining options locally.
No use for leftovers – if you’re lucky, your hotel may have a small refrigerator, but likely no microwave to re-heat leftovers.
Tips and strategies for eating on vacation
Pre-game with protein. A high-protein meal goes a long way to stabilize your appetite for the day. In contrast, high-carbohydrate meals lead to a pattern of frequent hunger and cravings. I load up on protein in the morning – that keeps me full for the travel day and also serves to empty the fridge before we leave.
Be fat-adapted. Being able to efficiently tap into your fat stores gives you an incredible feeling of freedom from hunger. On travel days, after loading with protein in the morning, I will often just not eat for the remainder of the day until we get to our destination and can secure a quality meal. I’m not wasting any money on lousy airport restaurants or airplane food.
Bring your own snacks. Bring some quality snacks (high protein, of course) on the plane, train, automobile, etc.
Stock up at a local grocery store. If we are going to have a kitchen available to us, our first priority after acquiring a rental car is to find the local Costco and load up on food for several days. That way, we have full control over what we are eating for at least some meals.
Study menus ahead of time. When dining out, do some research ahead of time to select a restaurant with decent dining options. This strategy can also help you to select a reasonable meal option ahead of time so that you’re not distracted by the other choices when you’re feeling hungry.
Creative breakfasts with kitchenette. On one of our recent vacations, we purchased some simple utensils and coffee mugs, which allowed us to make scrambled eggs and sausage in our microwave. That saved us a ton of time and money by not having to find a breakfast joint every morning. Instead, we got an early start to our day’s activities.
Lunches on the go. Bring along some simple snacks rather than struggling to find dining spots on-the-go.
Limit to 2 meals per day. I prefer to eat 2 meals daily, rather than the conventional 3 meals. There may or may not be a small snack (see above) while we’re out and about, but I’d rather focus on 2 quality meals.
Split meals. Rather than ordering large entrees for each individual, share the entrees and eat family-style.
Moderate alcohol. Sure, it can be enjoyable to socialize and complement meals with alcohol. The key is to make sure that it doesn’t lead you to excessive snacking or making poorer choices with eating.
Stay active. Typically, people are doing more walking on vacation than they would in their work environments. Just regular walking can go a long way towards maintaining your weight while on vacation. Pro tip: the best time to walk is about 30 minutes after the start of a meal.
Stay busy. Staying busy keeps your mind off food – immersion in the local culture and activities may make you forget about and skip meals.
Stay hydrated. Independent of any environmental factors, hydration is useful to avoid overeating. It’s common for thirst to be perceived as hunger, so drinking fluids can prevent unnecessary snacking.
Recover with fasting. If you do happen to indulge on vacation, do something to correct it as soon as possible. My advice: If you’re going to feast, you’ve got to fast. After my recent vacation, I fasted 2 days – our travel day home (I stayed completely occupied on my laptop and with my book) and my 1st day back at work. Great tool to correct some souvenir pounds you might have acquired on the road.
