Eating Healthy While Traveling
 

Do you try to eat healthy while you are traveling? Do you take a break from your diet and splurge if you can? I am not asking those those of you with specific medical needs related to food. That's a no-brainer! Also, when I say "diet" I don't necessarily mean a weight loss
program.

If not, what do you do to stay on track? What things do you keep on hand and how do you eat out without living off of salads?

Eat healthy? On vacation?
Heck, heck no!!

That's what the rest of the "unvacation" year is for! ;)

I try to always eat lean protein, heart healthy fats, and whole grains whether on vacation or at home.

Beer is a whole grain.

Everything in moderation...except wine!!

What's a diet ??? I eat better than most anyway, this is a non-issue w/me.

I do alot of walking when I'm on vacation, so I can afford to splurge a little when I travel. After all, eating out and trying new restaurants is half the fun of going on vacation!
kenm

I do live off salads. I leave them off :)

Seriously, I order vegetarian. Or what I think is vegetarian. For example, ravioli with a salad - not to feel too guilty, yes, a salad.

Go Travel, do you think Tiramisu can be healthy? Oh, yeah, calcium in cheese!

Well, since you did not specify vacation... and most of my travel is business I will respond.
I TRY very hard to eat healthy. I find it is almost always an issue with willpower vs. finding healthy food.
I never eat b'fast out when I travel. I eat granola bars, slimfast drinks, whatever... anything that keeps me from eating at a restaurant.
I am considering packing my own salad dressing, since that seems to be the downfall of most salads.
I make awesome low calorie dressings that I plan to freeze and vaccume pack in single servings. Sounds crazy, huh?
I also pack low cal snacks to keep me out of the minibar.
My biggest problem is ME!
I am a 'foodie' on a generous expense account. VERY dangerous combination.
Before you criticize me, understand that I travel almost every week and have gained 40 pounds over ten years of travel. :O

We try to eat a lot of slda., or even when we do Chinese, or Thai alot of time they do have brown rice instead of the normal white ( and forget the fried rice :- / ). or any fried food for that matter, but we enver eat much of that at all.
And splurging on ice cream or some goodie once or twice won't kill u, as the one writer said we do alot of walking too when on vac., home or anywhere we are. Happy eating!

I love food and my goal is to eat my way around the world ;) That said, I also try to eat a reasonably well-balanced diet and have reasonable portions. Plus on vacation I am generally way more active than at home, so any additional desserts I have are taken care of. I don't live on salads at home, although I do love a good salad. I am sort of spoiled as a Californian though - salads in other places rarely seem to be as interesting. If I see another salad with iceberg and a few carrot shreds floating in ranch dressing, I think I will scream.

TxTravelPro... care to share your low-cal salad dressing recipe?

I vote for Subway Subs. Use mustard and whole wheat. Skip the soda and have some red wine.

Since our vacations are for long periods of time...like our up coming 4 week trip, we do have to watch it some. We don't eat out, but we will splurge on some really good steaks now and then, maybe a few more desert treats but then we do a lot of hiking and I usually stay the same weight or less on vacation.

Utahtea

When traveling, some things to remember: First, beer and wine, since created from grains or grapes, count as fruits and vegetables.

Any item touching a fruit or vegetable becomes automatically low calorie if consumed more than 100 miles from home (that includes garnishes on plate, fruit skewers in frozen drinks on a beach, hot fudge sundae with cherry on top)

The stress of dealing with airport security and airline annoyances consume at least 100 calories per minute - it is important to make that up so as not to become malnourished on vacation.

I like the way you think gail!

Kennedy...
I whip up all sorts of 'dressings' using prepared sauces and dressings.
One of my favorites at the moment is Newman's Reduced Calorie Honey Mustard thinned down a little with Apple or Orange juice. It is great on a salad of baby spinach, grapes and honey tangerines.
I also really like to heat a few tablespoons of good quality Fig preserves into white balsamic vinegar.
I use this on a salad of baby spinach with sliced pear, pine nuts and a sprinkle of gorgonzola.
I often pour off the oil on regular dressings, too. My favorite is Kraft Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette. I carry it when I know I am going to have a taco salad.
A good recipe is for a curry/honey dressing:
2T Balsamic
2T Rice Wine Vinegar
2T Honey
1t curry powder
2t dijon mustard
I use this for a simple salad of spinach, apple, almonds, raisins.
I also like Lowreys Hawaiian Marinade on a spinach/citris salad.
If I can only carry one bottle (vs making up packages) I would carry Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette. Very sweet but it requires just a small amount and it just a dream on spinach with strawberries, almonds and gorgonzola.
There are so many possibilities that are not artificially healthy, they are just not that bad.
I am not sure why fine restaurants do not try to develop dressings that are just as good as what they normally serve, just lower in fat and calories.

When I travel for work, I eat pretty healthy (same as home) with the occasional splurge. But when I travel for vacation, it's a whole different story - I splurge in a big, big way! And I drink way more than I do at home too.

But at the same time, I'm usually walking, hiking or biking most of my vacation so in the end I usually lose a few pounds.

And I agree - beer is a grain, wine is a fruit and all that stuff that comes with your drinks doesn't count as calories because the alcohol kills them all!

We're generally healthy eaters. We love to cook and love good food, but never eat crap (even on vacation), so even when we splurge it's usually not unhealthy.

The exception would be ice cream and wine, both of which is consumed at roughly 10 times the normal quantity while vacationing

Oh and I never gain weight on vacation. Maybe it's the accelerated rate of consumption....

I eat healthy on vacation same as always. It's positive not a negative thing for me. I like fresh, clean, simple kinds of foods. Certainly I enjoy local and regional specialties.

I try to walk as much as possible when getting from Point A to Point B, and if there is a workout facility or a place to jog, I'll try to fit that in as well.

I've tried doing trips where I was more vegetarian than not, and it was okay....but most likely you will not find me proactively eating "healthy" while on vacation!

I eat a TON while on vacation. Good food is part of the splurge for me. But I tend to eat very healthy by habit- fish, proteins, LOVE salads with tons of stuff on them and just vinegar for dressing, tofu....

And I never eat at fast food joints like McDonalds or Burger King unless I'm stuck waiting in an airport with nowhere to go for hours and I'm starved. If you take a "vacation" from naughty fast food and processed food, you're probably better off, even though you might induldge on lots of meals at restaurants and some desserts.

I hate fast food at home or on vacation. I love good food and the fact that I don't have to cook it or clean it up. I start out trying to be good and bang it is all down hill about half-way through my vacation. I bring pepcid ac with me now. I love to drink the frozen drinks that are equivalent to a million calories with a splash of rum. I only drink these on vacation :) I agree beer is a whole grain that is how I get my fiber on vacation!! :)
Truthfully, the older I get, the more I try to stay away from over doing it. It is too hard to lose and too easy to gain these days. So, yes I do watch it, but I also enjoy myself and have the things I truly enjoy...like the Hawaiian Lava Flows by the pool!

My worst behaviour involves any Shoney's we manage to find at breakfast time.

I know that eating a lot of strawberry shortcake for breakfast will result in sensory perception of my mid-area another fofty miles down the road, but so be it.

And my late Uncle Winston, when he was 89 and 90 and 91 and 92, was a firm believer that he should have sausage gravy for breakfast in a Bob Evans near Covington, Kentucky, once a year as I drove him and my father to Florida.

My diet changes to more New York sirloins when travelling on other people's money.

And if I manage to get to the Canadian Maritmes or New England, I somehow seem to consume more lobster than when at home near the middle of the continent.

More shrimp in Florida, or Washington, or British Columbia. More salmon in British Columbia. But nothing weird.

Other than that... I don't seem to eat breakfast anywhere I am unless there's a Shoney's. There are Starbucks everywhere I seem to be in North America.

BAK

I try to eat relatively healthy when on vacation. Most places it's pretty easy. But it's fun to splurge once in a while. Share your splurges, it's all about portion control. :-)

When dining out near home or on vacation I often get a clear soup, salad with the dressing on the side (dip my fork tines into it every couple of bites), and then a fairly low cal appetizer as my main course(shrimp cocktail, sushi, ahi tuna, raw oysters). I tell the waiter not to bring the bread to the table as I order my meal so I cannot even be tempted by it. I drink a deep, spicy, bold red wine that requires slow sipping (even though I love guzzling cold beer). If I see that dessert is a must, I skip the soup or salad before dinner to compensate at least a bit for the additional calories. I don't feel deprived at all and enjoy every single bite with great conversation.

I'll always prepare myself for vacation dining by easing up for a couple of weeks before. I'll drop 3-5 lbs pre-trip so I can eat without hesitation or guilt. I'm a little-to-no-carber for a number of reasons and never find myself challenged for a great meal. I'll always eat healthy and never, ever deprive myself while on vacation. And, as JAGIRL stated, "unvacation" is for eating with trepidation.

We have a timeshare, so we usually have a kitchen and I am finding that because our schedule is more relaxed on vacation than at home, I actually cook more! I like to cook, I just don't have time at home, and I think almost anything that you cook is healthier than what we choose when we eat out (esp. fast food) It saves money, too, which we use to do some real blowout dining or entertainment. Last fall on vacation for a week in Williamsburg, I bought groceries on the first day and we only ate out a couple of times for special dinners. It was nice, relaxed. Wish I could live on vacation...anybody figure out how to do that, let me know!

When I'm in a new place I love to sample the local cusines and that includes the produce. So try to eat the same balance of fruits, vegis, proteins and dairy that I eat at home, just in new and wonderful ways. That means trying new and wonderful desserts too that I may skip at home.

One thing I do differently on vacation is sometimes like to have a big restaurant breakfast, an omlette or something (which I never do at home).