HOW TO EAT HEALTHY WHILE TRAVELING

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Traveling soon? Perhaps a long-awaited vacation? Business trip? Something completely different?

No matter where you’re going, you’re probably going to appreciate some quick and easy healthy food ideas. These can help you stay on track and help you bring, and find, real food. While these tips can all be used right here at home, this is extra-important when you’re traveling. Traveling can throw your regular healthy habits off when you’re skipping time zones or even just being in a different place.

As a health coach, I have a senses of pride when my clients skip junky convenience foods. Let me give you some great strategies that can help you do this while you are on the road.

Pro-tip: When booking your hotel room, ask if you can have one with a mini-fridge. This will help you store some of your healthy snacks and groceries while you’re there.

BRINGING YOUR OWN HEALTHY SNACKS

Well, this is important because not only will it keep you from becoming a “hangry junk-seeker”, but it can also hold you off until you’re able to stop at a proper grocery store for say…actual real food!

Hear are a bunch of my favorite on-the-go snacks to have in your bag and/or cooler:

  • If you’re going to have a cooler, or eat them within a couple of hours, try fresh fruit or boiled eggs (don’t forget the ice packs)
  • Unsalted nuts and seeds (I love walnuts and pumpkin seeds)
  • IDLife Nutrition Bars or Organic Bars of your choice
  • Sliced veggies (carrots, celery, cucumber, broccoli, etc.) with a dip (hummus or guacamole) you can even buy single serving packs at Costco
  • Find good quality protein bars or make your own before heading out
  • Good quality, whole food, no sugar added granola
  • Savory snacks like roasted chickpeas or kale chips
  • High quality protein powder to make your own smoothies (I like IDLife Nutrition vegan vanilla bean). Be sure to also pack a mini-blender, like a Magic Bullet, if needed
  • Freeze avocados and then travel with them in poster tube. Only do this in the US as traveling with avocados can be against some FTC rules and regulations.
  • And don’t forget your drinks. Bring some water with you. If flying, choose water in the airport or on the plane.

HOW TO FIND HEALTH FOOD AT YOUR DESTINATION

Of course, you can always Google your destination and search for grocery stores or healthy restaurants. But there are a couple of websites and apps that may be helpful for you.

  • FindMeGlutenFree – A website that searches for gluten-free restaurants around the US
  • HealthyOut – An app that helps you find restaurants that cater to your dietary preferences, be they gluten-free, low calorie, low-carb, etc.
  • FoodTripping – Designed for road trips, this app helps you find alternatives to fast food

KEY TAKE AWAYS

Travelling often comes with unnecessary junk food that can derail your healthy lifestyle. Planning ahead and being prepared can be simple, and help you keep your health goals on track even when you’re out and about!

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HOW TO EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGGIES

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Yes, it seems everywhere you turn, health and wellness experts are telling you to eat more fruits and veggies.

You totally get it.

Yes, they’re full, and I mean FULL, of nutrition (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, etc.).

Yes, people who eat more fruits and vegetables live longer, healthier lives. Not to mention protecting their bodies and minds from just about every chronic disease out there.

Yes, eating more vegetables can help you maintain a healthy body weight, and even lose some fat (as long as you don’t bread and fry them, or cover them with cream sauce).

Your question is not “Should I eat more fruits and vegetables”, but “How can I actually do it?”

Believe me, as a health coach, I am chock full of amazing, creative, and delicious ways to help you eat more fruits and veggies.

Before we dive in, always start from where you are. If you are not used to any fruits and veggies, try for just two a day. Build up from there. Don’t get overwhelmed thinking you need to overhaul your entire diet in one day. Wherever you’re at now, I challenge you to increase it by two per day.

Now let’s dive into my helpful ideas on exactly HOW to add more fruits and veggies to your diet!

SNEAK THEM IN TO OTHER DISHES

OK, this one may be, shall we say, “sneaky”, but I am all about your health so hear me out.

Some dishes are super easy to enhance with a a bit of strategically placed produce.

  • Add 1/2 apple, a handful of frozen spinach, or extra berries into your smoothie
  • Dice or shred up an extra bit of carrot, broccoli, zucchini, or pepper into your soup
  • How about chicken, tuna, or salmon salad? Dice up a stalk of celery and throw it in
  • Love to bake? How about substituting 1/4 cup of the sugar for 1/4 of unsweetened apple sauce?
  • Used to having a small salad? How about making it a bigger one?
  • Making tomato sauce? Add in some extra mushrooms  or peppers

MAKE THEM TASTE MORE DELICIOUS WITH A MEAL

  • Use veggies as your sandwich bread by making a lettuce wrap
  • Don’t be afraid to spice them up! Try sauteing them for 10 minutes with a drizzle of oil and flavor them with pepper, garlic, ginger, or cumin
  • Replace white rice with cauliflower rice. Make a fried cauliflower rice meal using coconut oil, cauliflower rice, carrots, onions, garlic, celery, mushrooms and egg and add some coconut aminos for flavor.

OPTING FOR THEM AS SNACKS

  • Why not throw a banana, apple or clementine into your lunch bag?
  • Ditch the chips and dip – instead try some carrot, celery, broccoli, cucumber, or cauliflower with a dip like hummus, guacamole, or babaganoush?
  • Love sweetened yogurt? Try whole fat plain Greek yogurt and some of your own berries
  • Need some protein? Add some sugar free all natural almond butter to a green apple or a green tipped banana

YOUR CHALLENGE

Take two of these suggestions and try them tomorrow. Just add two more fruits and veggies to the number you are at today. Two more.

And if you’re not an instant fan, well, try again. Research shows that sometimes it takes our taste buds several tries before actually liking a new flavor. Try it, you might find some new faves.

Got kids? These suggestions will work for them too. It will be even more fun if they have mom and dad trying it with them.

HOW HORMONES EFFECT YOUR ENERGY AND WEIGHT

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Are willpower and self-control the real solution to low energy and high weight?

Maybe not…

It actually might be your hormones.

And we’re not just talking about sex hormones here, we’re talking about the hormones that directly affect your blood sugar, metabolism, and appetite. Things that actually control your energy and weight.

Let’s go over a few of the critical links between your hormones, and how they effect your energy and weight. The links may be stronger than you think.

WHAT ARE HORMONES

Having healthy, happy hormones is all around the “health waves” these days.

And for good reason! Your hormones are part of the master control system of your entire body.

Hormones are compounds made by one part of the body that are used to communicate with another part. For example, insulin is made in the pancreas. When your blood sugar gets too high, insulin is released into the bloodstream. Then it goes to your muscles and other cells to tell them to absorb the sugar out of the blood. If there is still too much sugar in the blood, it tells them to store it as fat.

Your hormones control not only your blood sugar, but also your metabolism and your appetite (plus a host of other things). You probably know that having health blood sugar, metabolism, and appetite is a foundation for your optimal energy and weight.

So how can your hormones get out of whack to zap your energy and pile up the pounds?

 

COMMON HORMONAL IMBALANCES

In optimal health, your hormones would work great, and you’d have ample energy and be at a great, healthy weight.

But often there are problems with this whole setup. One common issue is that there may be too much or too little hormone released to have the desired effect. This is known as hypo- or hyper- “hormone” (i.e. hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism).

Another common issue is that even if the right amount of hormone is released, the cells they communicate with can start ignoring them. This is known as “resistance” (i.e. insulin resistance).

As you can imagine, if your hormones have such critical jobs, including controlling blood sugar, metabolism, and appetite, they can definitely cause issues with your energy and weight.

 

HORMONES AND ENERGY

Your metabolism is key for controlling your energy. Metabolism itself is basically how much energy (calories) you burn. One of the main players of this is….you guessed it! Your thyroid hormones.

Your thyroid releases hormones that affect the metabolism if all the cells in your body. If it’s too low and your metabolism goes down (hypothyroid), you may feel cold, hungry, and tired. If it’s too high and your metabolism is too high (hyperthyroid), you may feel hot, jittery, and lose weight.

What you actually want is an ideal metabolism, ideal energy use, ideal temperature, and, ideal weight.

 

HORMONES AND WEIGHT

Your weight may be controlled by hormones more than you think! Insulin controls your blood sugar and whether that sugar is going to be stored as fat or not. When your blood sugar is too low, you may start craving sugar or carbs.

You also have hormones that control your appetite! How hungry and full you feel are controlled by the hormones ghrelin and leptin. When those get out of whack you may find yourself wanting to eat because your body thinks you’re hungry and not satisfied… even if that’s not true.

Craving food (especially sugary food) and not feeling full are going to be huge drives for you to eat more. Even if your body doesn’t truly need it, the hormonal signals tell you that you do.

And don’t forget that stress hormone cortisol. When it is too high for too long, it tells your body to store fat. And not just fat, belly fat!

 

SUMMARY AND WHAT YOU CAN DO

Your body is very complex and uses hormones to control  huge number of functions. They control your blood sugar, metabolism, and appetite, amongst others. These directly affect how much energy you feel, how much you weigh, and even where your body fat is stored.

Here are a few “hormone stabilizing” tips that might help you with your energy and weight:

  • Get regular exercise to use up excess blood sugar before your insulin has your body store it as fat
  • Try stress-relieving activities like deep breathing, meditation, or even coloring to reduce your (belly-fat inducing) cortisol
  • Support your thyroid with iodine-containing sea vegetables, fish, legumes, or even an egg
  • Balance your blood sugar with extra fiber from raspberries, avocados, or flax seeds
  • Reduce your blood sugar spikes by replacing your juice or soda with fruit-infused water
  • If you need some support with your energy levels and/or weight, contact me, Jodie Lin, for a strategy session to see how I can help you.

REFERENCES

https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-thyroid

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/fast-weight-loss-changes-hunger-hormone