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Tasty Travel Tips

Finding Healthy Meal & Snack Options While Traveling

Finding healthy meal and snack options while you travel can be a challenge. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, when you’re out of your normal routine, it can be too easy to make poor food choices. Between irregular schedules and eating out, the best way to set yourself (and your family) up for success is to plan your approach to eating while you travel. These three local women offer up great tips on planning ahead, practicing portion control, and opting for healthy seasonal and regional selections!

Plan Ahead

Kim Brooks, Cleveland

“When traveling, I try to plan ahead. It’s easy to make unhealthy choices if I don’t mentally prepare myself to stay on track. Here is my usual game plan:

Breakfast:  I try to avoid the hotel buffet by requesting a fresh egg white and veggie omelet with a side of fruit.
Lunch:  Salads with a protein are a great option at most restaurants. And I like to ask for dressing on the side to have more control over portion.
Dinner: An entree containing a protein, two veggies, and no bread is my personal go-to on vacation.
Drinking lots of water throughout the day also helps me avoid overeating at dinner time.
Snacks:  I keep things like almonds, protein snack bars, granola, and fruit handy in my purse or beach bag for an energy boost.”

Practice Portion Control

Heather Smith, East Brainerd

“We absolutely love traveling as a family. And while it can be challenging to eat well while away from home, we encourage each other to make good choices.

We find that sharing meals is a great way to manage portion control, and it cuts costs as an added bonus! This is very helpful when restaurants offer massive portion sizes, and we don’t have anywhere to store leftovers because we are traveling. We rarely waste food or overeat thanks to this strategy.

We also always opt for small and mini serving sizes when we are indulging in sweet treats while traveling. That way, we don’t feel deprived, but we aren’t loading our bodies with sugar.”

Photo by Rich Smith

Savor Seasonal & Regional Selections

Jonesy Wood, St. Elmo

“When we are on vacation, we love to hit up all the local markets to see what’s in season and to find unusual yet healthy items that we don’t have here in the States. It’s actually one of our favorite things to do while traveling. Plus, it’s taught our kids to appreciate food, culture, and health. It’s taught them to not be afraid of ‘different’ foods, and we encourage them to always try a few bites of something new before they make an opinion on it.  When we eat out, we look for family-owned restaurants and a simple menu with local ingredients. I encourage everyone to have an open mind and think outside the box before pressing the easy button.”

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