Whenever traveling fast food chains are what most of us feel we must resort to. In actuality there are plenty of healthy options that don't include fast food. And to be honest there are plenty of fast food chains that offer healthy alternatives, you just have to have the willpower to order them in front of those glistening French fries!
The Weight and Wellness Center at Tufts Medical Center in Boston has provided the below list of tips and foods we recommend while traveling. If you would like help reaching your weight loss goals, don't hesitate to give us a call.
Tips for eating healthy while traveling
1. Pack your own snack/meals
- Pack a cooler for road trips – fresh fruit, waters/seltzers, hummus, vegetable sticks, multigrain pita chips, whole wheat wraps, Greek yogurts, string cheese etc.
- Pack portable foods in your bag/purse: 100 calorie packs of nuts, protein bars, Snack Attach Mix, dried fruits etc.
- Bring a water bottle
3. Make a mental plan
- Each night before traveling/while away think about the day ahead and where you plan on getting your meals from.
3.There’s an app (or blog) for that
- Realize everywhere you go there is a healthy option; it is up to you to look for it and choose it. Let your Smartphone be your guide. There are many apps out there that are free or inexpensive that can help you find healthy food choice near you:
- HealthyOut: The app covers more than 500 cities and lets you search for restaurants and meals by cuisine type and nutritional tags like paleo, gluten-free, heart-healthy, high-protein, and more. The app tells you which dishes at surrounding restaurants fit your criteria, along with the nutritional information. You can then select from delivery, pickup, or dine-out options at the venue of your (healthy) choice.
- TravWell: This app from the Centers for Disease Control helps you plan for safe and healthy international travel. Build a trip to get destination-specific vaccine recommendations, a checklist of what you need to do to prepare for travel, and a customizable healthy travel packing list. The app also lets you store travel documents, keep a record of your medications and immunizations, and set reminders to get vaccine booster doses or take medicines while you’re traveling.
- Can I Eat This?: Also from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this app allows you to select the country you are in and answer simple questions about what you are thinking about eating or drinking. No more Montezuma’s revenge!
- Happy Cow (free for iPhone): Essentially a “Yelp” for meat-adverse diners – gives options for vegan, vegetarian, and vegetarian-friendly restaurants in your area, rates them by price, and details the type of food and what animal products are offered/omitted. Provides reviews and pictures, so you can browse the menu and decide on what you want on the ride over!
- VegOut: vegan, vegetarian or are simply seeking a veggie-friendly restaurant, VegOut will find a suitable eatery in your desired location, sorted by distance
- GateGuru: serves as the leading light to locate the best food, shopping and service options within any airport at the touch of a button
- Fooducate: apps uses an algorithm based on information on a product’s package: the nutrition facts panel and the ingredient list and provides a letter grade.
- Locavore: Locavore will make searching for in-season, local food a breeze by pinpointing farms, farmers’ markets, and CSAs nearest you
- Food Tripping: This app finds your location (in the US) and give suggestions on healthy restaurants around you.
- Eat Out Well: This app, from the American Diabetes Association is excellent for searching menu items and their nutrition facts at chain restaurants.
- Smart Fast Food Nutrition Plus Calculator App: Eating out guide and nutrition calculator in one app.
- Clean Plates: A website that serves up eating tips and recipes for free.
- Healthy Dining Finder: This blog provides ideas on how to order out healthy, menus from various restaurants and scrumptious recipes.
4.Visit a convenience store that carries healthy snacks
- Pharmacies (CVS/Walgreens), 7-11, airport kiosks etc all carry healthy snacks at the front of the stores now. You will find: hummus packs, tuna & crackers, fruit bowls, cheese & cracker packs, seltzers, yogurts, nuts, string cheese etc.
- Stock up and bring back to room, on the plane or in the car
Ideas for healthy snacks while you're traveling
- Mini cheeses
- Hummus packs
- Veggie snack packs
- 100 calorie almond packs
- Greek yogurt
- Tuna salad packs
- Individual servings of peanut butter
- Sleeve of nuts
- Protein bars
- Hard boiled eggs
- Fresh fruit
- Individual bags of popcorn
- Individual bags of whole grain crackers
- Dried fruit/vegetables
- Individual dark chocolate
- Flavored water
- Seltzer
Posted November 2017
The above content is provided for educational purposes by Tufts Medical Center. It is free for educational use. For information about your own health, contact your physician.