8 weeks out - How to stick to your diet when traveling

I have been in St. Louis, my hometown, for almost a week now and I feel like this is a very important topic that needs to be addressed! Traveling can be stressful on anyone regardless if you are on a diet or not. Trying to find food that doesn't cost a fortune at the airport along with the increased water retention that is bound to happen after sitting on long flights all day. So lets talk about keeping to your diet while going on trips and adventures, because after all, your life shouldn't have to be put on hold while you keep your nutrition in check.

Tip 1: Find restaurants that have valid nutrition information online -

If you end up having a long lay over or are just on the road for hours and hours, a home cooked meal isn't necessarily possible. Some restaurant chains that are trustworthy are Chipotle, Chick-Fil-A, and Firehouse Subs. The nutritional information can be found online for most chains but as a tip just try and look for what looks "healthy" when tracking restaurant foods. Also keep in mind not all nutritional information is correct, so if you see that the fried chicken at your favorite place is only 10g of Fat, I'd be apprehensive. Basically when eating out on a diet just look for grilled or baked options over fried or pan seared and choose foods with higher protein contents. In the end use your best judgement, where as eating out is tricky, it can still be done!

Tip 2: Plan ahead -

Look at how many days you are going out of town for and try and plan some simple meals that can be prepared quickly. Some easy things to prep is baked chicken breast if you have a kitchen, chopped veggies that can be purchased pre-cut at the store, microwave rice, english muffins, and baked fish. If you have access to an oven, your options are endless. You can put multiple chicken breast or what ever other protein source you choose, and throw some veggies on a sheet pan and pop it in the oven. Then you have multiple days worth of food that can be easily reheated.

Tip 3: Bring a plethora of snacks -

If you are going to be gone for a week, bring enough protein bars for two weeks! Easy foods that don't require refrigeration is a necessity when traveling. You don't always get to bring your prepped food along with you when you're out and about, and you don't want to put yourself in a situation where you're starving and you have to choose between eating at a McDonalds or a Wendy's.

Tip 4: Grocery shop when you reach your destination -

Eating out will not be ideal for the whole duration of your trip, so once you reach your destination, go find yourself a grocery store and buy some real people food!

Tip 5: Take time to prep meals -

Once you get all your grocery goodies, you can head over to your cozy Airbnb and whip yourself up some quick meals! I love doing sheet pan meals as I mentioned earlier. These can be made with almost any ingredients and make for super easy meal preps! But if you don;'t have access to an oven, most grocery stores sell pre-cooked grilled chicken that is easy to reheat in a microwave along with many other quick healthy meals.

Tip 6: Stay hydrated -

Drinking water seems like a no brainer! But when you're traveling, you can easily forget to sip on water throughout the day and find yourself dehydrated before you know it. Your body is mostly water to begin with so you don't want to deprive yourself of your most basic need! Besides the obvious, staying hydrated actually increases digestion which reduces bloating and increases metabolism. SO skip the diet soda when your at the restaurants downtown, and opt for the tall glass of water (and I'm not talking about the cute guy by the bar).

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