Five Tips For Eating On The Run

These days many people have jobs or lifestyles that keep them on the run. Nutrition and eating healthy is tough enough as it is, but when you add to that a hectic ever changing schedule, it becomes even harder to get a routine going. It doesn’t matter if you are traveling, sitting at a desk, or at home everyday, in any situation the key is to plan! Below are some tips to help save you some stress and calories!

Five Tips for the Road

1. Bring foods that travel and don’t take up a lot of space with you. Bars, nuts, trail mix, or protein powder in a plastic baggie usually work well. Even carry a little cooler with you.

2. If you have to grab something from a convenient store there is no need to go down the candy or chip aisle. Most stores carry very similar products. Sandwiches, jerky, nuts, wheat crackers, are usual products that would be some of our better choices. When getting something to drink go right to the water, don’t even look over the other beverage selections.

3. Going through the fast food drive-through is quick and can sometimes not be avoided. We all know what fast food restaurants offer, there is no need to study the menu, have it in your head what you are going to order so you are not temped to splurge. The grilled chicken sandwich or salad, and the regular hamburger are usually the best options. Don’t order the value meals or the triple stackers! Have you ever seen Super Size Me?

4. At a sit down restaurant skim the menu looking for choices that have the words grilled, baked or sautéed in them, and avoid thoroughly reading the options that include the word fried in them. When there are more options available it is too tempting to make the wrong decision, especially when we’re famished. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you go to eat, if you eat everything on your plate you have eaten too much. Order half orders, appetizer portions, or take leftovers home. This way you can enjoy the pleasure of eating out, but don’t have to suffer the consequences of taking in double the amount of calories that you should.

5. Remember to choose foods according to your Diet Type. Lions and Otters need to pick snacks or foods-on-the-go that contain adequate protein, such as nuts, seeds, jerky, and meats. Some convenience stores even sell hard boiled eggs now. Or better yet, make your own ahead of time and store in your fridge! Good choices for Monkeys and Giraffes include more the lower fat dairy, whole grains, veggies, and fruit type items. Bears can mix it up and have a little of both.

There are many excuses that people will use to explain why they couldn’t stick to a healthy meal plan, but in the end, it’s just an attempt to make ourselves feel better about it. We’ve all done it, myself included. Whether it’s being on vacation or on the road for work, we use it as a justification. In any case, it comes down to us and the choices we make. We are in control, we just have to take responsibility for it! Start planning now! We can help you with this if you need someone to coach you along. Just give us a call or make an appointment online.