Staying Nourished While Traveling
Happy Summer sweet friends, our heat index was officially 115 degrees in Waco yesterday. We are in the thick of the warm summer months. Which means traveling for most of you! Meanwhile, I will be soaking up the A/C and living vicariously though each of you heading to airports and interstates.
I know that traveling can be a bit of a challenge when it comes to knowing how to fuel yourself well, so that you can feel your best and enjoy all that you have been planning over the past few months. That’s why I wanted to create this resource for you. Let me start off by saying, I’m a recovering “all or nothing” thinker myself when it comes to health. And this was especially evident when I traveled. I was like you know what, I eat healthy all the time and this is my weekend to go all out and eat everything I’m normally “not allowed” to eat. And then what happened? I binged, felt lethargic and exhausted and couldn’t truly enjoy my trip. My mood was all over the place and it just wasn’t a pleasant experience. Since then, I have adopted the 80:20 mentality and incorporate other practices to support my health while away from home. I do my best to prioritize key areas while I am traveling to make sure I don’t compromise the quality of foods while still enjoying myself.
Travel Tips:
- Pack + Plan Snacks Ahead of Time: We always take a gallon ziploc bag to put in our carry-on’s to hold pre-packaged snacks. This allows me time to shop and source quality snacks before we leave so that we don’t have to settle for airport or gas station foods that are filled with ingredients, sweeteners, fillers we wouldn’t normally eat. I also try to prioritize protein + fats to keep me full and satisfied for longer, and whole fruits. Some of our favorites are:
- *Paleo Valley Beef/Turkey Sticks
- Chomps Sticks
- Epic Bars
- Rx Bars
- Atlas Protein Bars (20g of protein!)
- Go-Macro Bars
- Avocados
- Apples
- Pears
- Cheese sticks
- Hard Boiled eggs
- Airbnb/Hotel Considerations:
- For an Airbnb type arrangement, consider planning and shopping for your meals ahead of time. Either packing for the road or finding a local grocery store nearby to shop at when you arrive. We have done both.
- If we are staying in a hotel, I take some time to look around for restaurants we would like to try. This helps prevent last minute choices for something that may not be as nourishing. But again, there is grace here. You’re on vacation. Try to prioritize protein and fat first, then carb. This will help you stay fuller longer. When dining out it can be helpful to take some digestive enzymes with you to help breakdown the food.
- Stay Hydrated. Dehydration is one of the biggest factors when traveling, it’s easy to forget to drink water. But this can reduce cravings, fight fatigue, and is also VERY important if you are drinking caffeine or alcohol.
- We always take reusable stainless steel water bottles with us.
- Consider supporting your liver when drinking alcohol. Dandelion Root tea daily is one simple, travel-friendly way to do this.
- We like to take electrolyte packets with us to help hydrate on a cellular level and support our minerals. Or at the very least, some unrefined salt to sprinkle into our water.
- Redmond Relyte Packets
- The cutest refillable travel salt shakers
- Get Moving. Movement can be especially helpful for digestion and keeping your BM’s moving. I don’t know about you but traveling tends to make me feel backed up. Maybe you can go for a nature hike a couple times while you’re visiting, or a stroll around the small town after dinner to help your blood sugar. Even doing some yoga in your hotel room. Anything to get you moving is great for blood sugar, digestion and immune health.
- Prioritize Rest. I know sleeping in a place that isn’t your own bed can be challenging for some so here are some tips I use to ensure I am able to get quality sleep while taveling.
- *Blue Light Glasses popped on an hour before bed to stimulate melatonin production and help my body wind down.
- *Eye Mask to block out any additional light coming in. We sleep best when we have a dark, cold environment.
- *Ear Plugs. If you need to block out noise, snoring or even a tv in the background. These can be helpful.
- Beef up the Immune support. Between the stress and close contact with a lot of other people, our immune system can take quite the hit. Here are a couple things I use to gently support my immune health.
- *Whole Food Vitamin C capsules
- Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat Tea. This not only soothes a sore throat but it can also support our gut lining which helps reduce inflammation and internal stress. Did you know that 70% of our immune system is located in our gut! So simply supporting gut health can do wonders for your overall health.
I hope these tips were helpful for you and I hope you enjoy your next vacation!
Until next time,
Denae
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