Your Vacation: Eating Healthy and Keeping Fit

The following article is written and sent to me by Cole Millen. It provides useful tips for frequent travelers to continue eating healthy while being away from home. Please enjoy reading the article and feel free to share with us the dietary tips you implement at your trips. Thank you!

Your Vacation: Eating Healthy and Keeping Fit  

You’ve worked hard these past few months, working out and eating right. You’ve lost lots of weight and you feel great, too. But now you have the opportunity to travel—perhaps for a vacation or a family reunion. Is it possible to maintain a healthy lifestyle while on the road? With the right knowledge under your belt and a little advanced planning, the answer is a resounding “Yes!”

If you are traveling by air, there are many ways you can manage your trip to include your diet and fitness goals.  Before leaving for the airport, eat a good meal so you won’t be tempted by snack foods at the airport. Be sure to pack some healthy snacks, such as dried fruit or nuts, in case hunger strikes while you are on a long flight. If you eat a meal during a layover, stick with healthy fare such as baked chicken and salad.  To counter the sedentary nature of air travel, use the stairs instead of the escalator. While waiting for your flight, tour the airport rather than sitting down to wait for your plane to begin boarding. 

Finding a hotel with the appropriate amenities and services like a gym and an in-house restaurant will make keeping your diet and fitness goals much easier. Doing a little research into this part of your trip prior to your departure can really pay off. I was recently researching reviews for hotels and found a great site that listed hotels in Las Vegas regarding not only their amenities but also the restaurants in the area. This was extremely helpful in not only finding a hotel but also figuring out which of the restaurants in the area would have healthy options for me. Well-known hotel chains located in metropolitan areas are more likely to have restaurants and gyms, so target these areas first. These facilities often feature rooms with kitchenettes or at least a small refrigerator, making keeping healthy foods in your room a cinch. Hotels in large, metropolitan cities are also likely to have another important resource nearby—a well-stocked health food store where you can easily acquire healthy foods and snacks during your stay.

Once you arrive at your hotel, hop on over to the local health food store and stock up on goodies to make your vacation spot feel like home. Having familiar healthy foods on hand will help you avoid giving in to cravings for foods that are high in fat and calories.  You can throw together a simple breakfast consisting of instant oatmeal (easily prepared using hot water from the coffee maker located in your room), fruit, and yogurt. If you carry a small crock-pot with you on your trip, you can prepare simple meals right in the comfort of your hotel room. Chicken, rice, and vegetables are perfect foods for crock pot cooking.  

Choose your restaurant with care. Avoid all-you-can-eat restaurants, as well as restaurants with mascots. If appetizer items tempt you, consider staving off your hunger with a small snack in your hotel room before venturing out. When scanning the menu, search for the following watchwords as cues for healthy foods: baked, broiled, fat-free, grilled, steamed, and stir-fried.  Avoid menu items designated as basted, battered, bottomless, country style, creamy, or smothered. Be sure to add vegetables as a side dish, emphasizing those with the brightest coloring for enhanced nutritional benefit.

By following these suggestions, your vacation can be fun without sacrificing fitness!

Author: Cole Millen