How to Eat Healthy Anywhere
/The holidays are filled with traveling for many, myself included. Traveling can be a time when people don't eat so well or they 'stop their diet'. Sound familiar?
Earlier this week, I spent days traveling, adjusting to different time zones and want to share how I managed to eat a healthy, plant-based diet along the way and how you can eat healthy when you travel for the holidays too.
Normally when I'm flying, I'm well prepared with food… dried McDougall soups, oats in little baggies with raisins and cinnamon and sometimes I even fly with baked sweet potatoes in my bag!
This trip however, I didn't have any food but, this healthy, plant-based, vegan gal wasn't worried! Why not? Because I know it's possible to eat decently healthy just about anywhere!
Here's a breakdown of the last few days of my life/travels from the west coast to the east. I share with you what I ate when I couldn't prepare food for myself for days.
Day 1: Thanksgiving in a hotel and food from Shari's restaurant. What the hell did I eat?
The only restaurant open on Thanksgiving day was Shari's. If you've never eaten at a Shari's, just think Denny's restaurant (with famous pie!) and you're about close.
I ordered a dry garden salad and a veggie burger with no cheese or dairy and it was delicious! (Not exactly Thanksgiving food but I had had quite a few Thanksgiving meals prior that month). I knew I'd be hungry later and options were limited (and expensive) at the hotel, so I bought another salad and veggie burger to go.
Day 2: Breakfast and lunch at the airport and dinner with family at a Mexican restaurant.
Rise and shine at 3:30 am and through airport security by 5 am. Breakfast at the airport -- a dry multi-grain bagel and a mixed fruit cup. I also bought an Odwalla granola bar for a snack on the plane.
I landed in Chicago after a 4 hour flight and grabbed a salad from Saladworks in the airport. It included a mescaline type lettuce mix, garbanzo beans, white beans, pasta, green beans, carrots and olives. I added a very tiny amount of fat-free italian dressing because they didn't have any plain vinegars. It was yummy and the beans and pasta made the salad filling.
Finally -- New York accents, honking horns and soft pretzels (lol that I didn't eat). After a celebratory glass of wine with my mama bear and aunt, we met our family for Mexican food in Staten Island.
Chips and salsa fluttered the table as soon as we sat down but I did NOT want to eat chips! Tortilla chips have been one of the hardest foods for me to stop eating. So, I ordered warm tortillas (not fried) and a side a guacamole. When everyone was chowing down chips, I rolled up a tortilla filled with salsa and guacamole. Mission 'don't eat chips even though staving' -- accomplished!
For dinner I ordered the vegetable burrito with rice and black beans with no cheese or dairy products. It was delicious and I even had some left-over for breakfast.
Tips for Eating Healthy Anywhere
1. Don't expect to eat perfectly (unless you have to my advanced heart disease and other friends!). This is another reason why it's so important to eat healthy in your home and in your kitchen. Eat extremely well at home on the regular, so when you do travel, eating a little 'less perfect' isn't as big of a deal.
2. Don't go completely 'off' the diet. EAt as well as you possibly can. Eating a whole-foods, plant based diet 75% of the way (dry bagel, Odwalla bar, oily veggie burrito) is so much better than eating a plant-based diet 15% of the way (oily eggs and bacon, fries and cheese burgers).
Take Control Now Question
Have you ever really poorly while traveling or used traveling as an excuse to eat unhealthy? Or, have you successfully eaten well on the road?
Share your thoughts by clicking 'comment' below.