The first thing you need to understand is that eating healthy is 100% your own responsibility! Never expect anyone to automatically put what’s best for your health and goals into consideration when they make your food.

When you’re traveling and eating on a busy schedule, it can be difficult to find foods that are congruent with a healthy diet. My personal favorite technique is to plan ahead. Whether you’re looking to maintain your current physique, lose weight or you are a physique competitor, all of these tips below apply to you.

Make time to look up the local eateries in your area of travel. They can be a life saver if you run out of food or if the food you brought spoils or spills. It also gives you the opportunity to choose a healthy place to order food. 

That brings me to my next tip. Make time to prep some food in advance. This is a practice that is too often overlooked and much easier than most think. It’s beneficial whether you choose to make complete meals or just bring ingredients to fashion a meal on-site. The effort in your preparation will save you stress in the long run and help keep your mind at ease so you are not worrying about what you will eat next or scrambling to find a place to eat last minute.  

Time is the most important commodity. The more you can spare, the more there is for you to spend on your priorities. When you need to get food on-the-go, call up and order in advance so it’s ready to go when you need it! This will save you the time and stress of waiting in line. 

When you order from any eatery, make sure you are very specific about what you want. Restaurants main concern is typically taste, but that may not be yours. They will use butter, extra salt, various oils and other ingredients to make sure the food tastes good but that may not be congruent with what you need. For example, you may order order a chicken salad from the menu but you forget to ask what is on it, assuming that it will be healthy and fairly plain. You show up to the restaurant to pick up your meal on the go, in a hurry to get where you need to be next. You pay, leave and then show up to your appointment with just enough time to down your food before your appointment. You open the container and notice that there is cheese on your salad…and of course it’s grated and impossible to pick it all out in time. You also notice that they gave you ranch dressing,because you didn’t ask for oil and vinegar, which is located right behind the croutons. Both happen to be against your diet. So now you’ve got no choice but to eat this dry salad that’s littered with cheese and croutons. The same goes for breakfast foods. Restaurants and deli’s will cook their eggs, home fries and hash browns in butter and vegetable oil for flavor.  So you need to be specific about what you do and don’t want on your food. Before you hang up with them, have then reiterate what you ordered. I’ve been on the losing end of this ordeal before and it sucks so I always double-check. 

Eating while traveling can be difficult but by following my tips you will make it much easier on yourself. By knowing the eateries in your area, having some food prepared in advance, ordering in advance and double checking that they’ve gotten your order correct you will ensure your success. 

If you have questions you can reach me at cpalmer@relentlessfitnessandnutrition.com.

Until next time, Be Relentless.*