Have you ever felt like there are not enough hours in the day? Are you all juggling between the stress of deadlines and maintaining a healthy and balanced life? Well, the daily work commitments might cause you constant struggle, which even makes you struggle to find even a minute to breathe and plan healthy meals for yourself.
All you do is just grab a coffee on the go, scarf down a bun on your desk, and by dinnertime, even the idea of chopping down the vegetables feels like a huge marathon. Does this all sound familiar to you? Can you relate to all this? If you are constantly on the go, and not able to keep up your good health, you’re not alone. Millions of people juggle daily with their busy schedules and often their healthy eating habits fall by the side.
But what if we tell you that maintaining a healthy and nutritional diet is not time-consuming? With just a few strategies and tips, you can fuel your body with the best food items, even when you have a packed schedule.
Challenges of Travel Eating
Hitting the road or even the sky, constantly, can feel to be an exciting adventure. However, it plays with your healthy diet. Here are some top challenges you may face while traveling:
Unfamiliar Hygiene Standards
You may not be able to figure out the hygiene standards being followed while preparing the food or not. The standards of preparing food may differ from country to country. Street food, however, tempting, can be the most risky food proposition, if hygiene practices are not to par.
Uncertain Ingredients
When you’re traveling, you may face linguistic barriers or unfamiliar menu options. This not only makes it difficult for you to understand what’s there on your menu but even makes it difficult to keep track of your dietary considerations or restrictions.
Limited Options
When you travel, you don’t have many options, and hence you need to rely only upon on-the-go restaurants and ready-to-eat meals, which might not be a healthy choice available.
Portion Control
Well, restaurants often do provide notoriously large portions, making it tempting for the eater to consume the entire portion, ultimately leading to overeating.
Unpredictable Schedules
While you’re traveling, sightseeing and transportation often consume your time, which in turn leads to taking your regular mealtimes off track. This is not just an unhealthy practice but sometimes even leads to skipping meals altogether.
Cost of Healthy Options
Healthy options are sometimes the most costlier that you end up not buying them. The proteins, fresh fruits, and vegetables often make it an expensive option, especially in tourist places.
Travel-Friendly Nutrition Tips
Conquering the entire world doesn’t mean that you need to starve or play with your health unnecessarily. Here are some reasonable tips on how you can keep your health on track even when you’re traveling:
Pack Smart Snacks
When you’re packing snacks for travel, make sure you always pick up non-perishable and travel-friendly snacking options such as nuts, dried fruits, granola bars, energy bites, and more. These snacking options act as a convenient pick-me-up when you’re traveling.
Utilize Apps and Other Resources
Today, certain apps and resources might prove to be helpful when you’re in search of healthy restaurants or even grocery stores near your location. Consider ordering the needful in advance to your accommodation to avoid hassle later.
Read Menus Carefully
When you are in your town, you tend to know about the menus, what will be served to you and everything. However, when you’re in a different place, make a habit of reading the menus carefully to analyze certain terms such as “grilled”, “baked”, or even “steamed”.
Say “No” to Sugary Drinks
Well, sugary drinks might make you lethargic and even prove to be unhealthy for you when you’re traveling. It’s better, if you would choose healthier options such as lemon water, coconut water, or even unsweetened tea or coffee, which will keep you sealed up while you’re traveling.
Sample Travel Meal Ideas
Breakfast
Grab-and-Go
Breakfast is incomplete if you do not include oatmeal with nuts and seeds, yogurt with granola and berries, whole-wheat bagel with nut butter and banana slices, and hard-boiled eggs with whole wheat crackers.
Hotel Buffet
If your hotel is ensuring your breakfast, make sure you opt for yogurt with fresh fruits and granola, smoked salmon with a side of avocado, or scrambled eggs with whole-wheat toast.
Lunch
Cafeteria/Restaurant Choices
Fish sandwich or grilled chicken on whole wheat bread, salad with grilled chicken or tofu, lentil soup with a side salad.
Dinner
Restaurant Finds
Grilled fish with steamed vegetables, bean stew or lentil with whole-grain bread, vegetarian curry with brown rice.
Conclusion
So, now, do you wish to resign yourself from unhealthy living and travel woes to fruitful health and ample excitement while on the go? With just a little mindfulness and with our travel-friendly tips, you can navigate these challenges and maintain a healthy and balanced life. This fuels your adventure as well! After all, shouldn’t feeling the best with good health be a part of every journey?
