How To Eat Healthy On Vacation

Tips and tricks on how to eat healthy on vacation and stick to a nourishing diet. Make sure your next trip is fun and relaxing without going crazy at the buffet table with these helpful suggestions.

This is a post I’ve been crazy excited about writing, but honestly haven’t had 5 minutes to sit down and write it because I’ve been travelling so much! Unlike most people who can actually get work done on a plane, any mode of transportation makes me conk out completely. Planes are my equivalent of a sleeping pill (I know…I’m lucky).

But I’m finally home and ready to share my healthy eating tips with you guys! Since my life is pretty much a non-stop series of travels (Malibu, Mexico, Arizona), I’ve had to learn how to eat in a way that makes me feel awesome even when I’m not in my kitchen. It’s taken years of practice, but I’ve learned a few tips along the way.

But before we jump into my tips, I actually shot a video while I was in Arizona on what I ate for a full day there. This was a typical day of eats when I’m in not in my kitchen. As you can see…I eat A LOT.

Watch what I eat in a day while on vacation!

TIPS FOR HOW TO EAT HEALTHY ON VACATION

1. Pack snacks

This is basically the rule of life. When in doubt, pack snacks. But this is especially true on vacation when your next meal or snack isn’t nearly as structured as it is in your day-to-day life. To avoid going HAM on a bag of lays potato chips, pack some homemade or healthy pre-packed snacks. In terms of homemade, these are my favorites:

Blueberry Muffin Energy Balls
Healthy Trail Mix
Peanut Butter Granola Bars
SuperSeed Crackers

And for pre-packed I like to carry these around with me:

Dried Mango or Persimmons
Nuts – I like almonds
All-Natural Organic Fruit Leathers
Fresh fruit

2. Go grocery shopping

First thing I do when I travel somewhere is check out the closest grocery store. If this isn’t an option (aka Uruapan, Mexico), c’est la vie! But if you’re somewhere relatively metropolitan or have a car, find a grocery store. Try to pick up your usual suspects or non-perishables that you can keep with you wherever you’re staying.

If you’re staying in a place with a kitchen, pick up some staples. While we were in San Miguel and Scottsdale, we had kitchens so I picked up extra snacks (fresh fruit and veggies) along with breakfast food. Not only is this a budget saver, but it also ensures you’re getting in healthy food within a more relaxed schedule.

3. A Salad a Day

I try to stick to this rule while I’m travelling. If I can eat at least one salad a day (can range from a small side salad to a large dinner salad), I know I can feel good about myself. I focus on trying to get more veggies in, instead of obsessing about the not-so-great foods I may be eating (ahem tacos…)

4. Eat Breakfast In

If you have access to a kitchen, I highly recommend stocking up on breakfast food. Even if you don’t, there’s a lot of great options if all you’re working with is a fridge! When C and I were in San Diego a while ago, we did a Trader Joe’s run and ate overnight oats for breakfast everyday. We requested a fridge and were able to throw together an easy and healthy breakfast.

When I was in Arizona I brought some packets of Vega because I knew our rooms had blenders. Each morning I whipped up a green smoothie. My family may have thought I was crazy, but I felt good about it.

5. Scout menus

The control-freak in me likes doing this anyway, but a great way to prepare for meals out is to scout the menus if you know where you’re going. More often than not, you’ll find a dish or two that you know you’ll enjoy and is relatively healthy. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box either. I’m known to order two appetizers or an appetizer and two sides if I can’t find an entree I like. Mix and match to put together a meal you know you’ll enjoy.

(but please don’t be that person who requests every aspect of a dish to be changed, unless you have a life-threatening allergy…just saying).

6. Relax

It’s important to be open-minded while travelling. I know for some people who are on a more strict diet, vacations can be a bit nerve-wracking, but that’s not the point! It’s okay to deviate and get a little bit crazy. It won’t derail you from your overall lifestyle unless you let it. So if you went for that triple chocolate fudge cake for dessert, don’t punish yourself by skipping breakfast the next morning and throwing your whole day off. Indulge yourself, just don’t view it as a black and white thing. There’s always room for a little bit of everything.

Likewise, be mindful of the people you’re travelling with. Something that I’m trying to be more respectful about is ensuring that my food choices don’t impede on other people’s fun. If my family wants to go out for pizza, which I generally don’t feel awesome about eating, I’m not going to rain on their parade. I’ll load up on snacks and get a salad with dinner. It’s no biggie. And similarly, I find people are a lot more accommodating towards your food choices when you aren’t annoying about theirs. I think my family was a lot more open-minded about going to The Herb Box and True Food Kitchen when I didn’t put up a fuss about eating at Earl’s Greasy Eats…