Healthy Eating While Traveling:
5 Tips When You Are On The Road

Healthy eating while traveling has become more and more difficult. I like to call it “captive eating” because it happens when I am imprisoned somewhere without good food choices and I am really hungry.

I encountered one of my favorite scenarios of captive eating. I was stuck on an airplane and completely famished. In exchange for part of my life savings, I could buy the airline’s version of a fresh choice meal, which contained fruit, yogurt, and a breakfast bread. Upon further inspection, I realized that the fruit was OK, the yogurt had high fructose corn syrup, and the bread was a Danish that contained partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Delicious.

In my desperation, I flagged down the flight attendant and asked her for two extra bags of peanuts to get me through the flight. I was lucky they had the peanuts. The passenger next to me settled for the $3.00 vacuum sealed chocolate chip cookie.

I scraped through that situation, but found captive eating was happening to me when I was at the movie theater, at a baseball game, or at the mall. The venue had food, I had none, and I would pay large sums of money to fill my body with whatever garbage was available.

What did I do to maintain healthy eating while traveling?

1. I forced myself to plan ahead for a longer trip, and I put a secret stash of food in my purse for anytime. I usually have a single serving size whole almond bag or a Clif Luna bar rubbing elbows with my wallet and keys. A cereal bag can come in handy too, but I don’t usually carry one for myself. As a mother of three, I’ve seen enough Cheerios to last a lifetime.

2. If I don’t have anything healthy to eat in my bag, or I need a real meal when I land, I will ask a flight attendant for some thoughts. They are very knowledgeable about airport food. This tactic can also be applied at the shopping mall by asking a store employee.

3. At a hotel, ask the receptionist or concierge about nearby places to find healthy food.

4. Keep “instant” products in your suit case. Packages of just add water instant oatmeal and dried fruit can make a healthy snack. I’ve even thrown a jar of peanut butter in my suitcase for longer family trips.

5. Do the best you can and don’t worry about it. You may not be able to completely maintain a healthy eating program while traveling. But just remember to get back on track when you return home.

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