Since having kids, when we go on a trip for longer than a night or two, we pretty much always stay in a condo. For one, it gives us all some room to spread out. For two, and to me most importantly, it gives us a kitchen. And having a kitchen on a trip is among my tips for staying healthy on the road. Read on:
1. Have a kitchen–I know it’s a treat to get away from cooking when on vacation, but I also know that I don’t want to eat crap just because I’m away. We always buy food for breakfast and lunch and eat just about 100 percent of these meals in the condo. With dinner, I shoot for making about 50 percent of the meals at home, that way still giving us some eating out time, but cooking simple, healthy meals the rest of the time.
2. Eat locally–If we go somewhere warm in winter or spring, I seek out any local farmer’s markets so that I can find fresh local foods. This trip, for instance, I found great local corn and watermelon. And–the kids went fishing this time and literally caught our dinner one night.
This was dinner one night
3. Find stores you know–At home I shop Trader Joe’s, sometimes Whole Foods, and local natural foods stores. I look for the same on vacation, which makes the shopping easier and faster.
4. Make meals simple–Like I said, it’s vacation and no one wants to spend tons of time cooking. But eating healthy doesn’t have to be time consuming. I cook the easiest of meals when I’m away and everyone is still happy with it.
5. Still eat out a bit–Restaurants don’t have to be unhealthy either. We don’t eat fast food at home, so we’re not going to change those habits on the road, either. We find decent restaurants on the road (it may even be local pizza/pasta) so that we all get the treat of eating out a couple of nights. You can easily do this and not compromise your eating habits.
So that’s it. Not only do you get to eat a better diet while on the road this way, but you save money, too. I”m quit sure my day-one grocery bill is far cheaper than a trip’s worth of restaurant meals, and no one in the family is unhappy with this method of eating on the road either. Win/win.
How do you eat when traveling?
so so agree.
we love to find the local farmers markets.
I’m always excited to eat out on vacation, but unless it’s really good restaurant, cooking in the condo usually turns out better.
Kovas recently posted..Breckenridge Ski and Ride School and Epic Pass
We always try to stay in condos or at least hotels with a mini fridge and microwave. We typically pick 1 or 2 places we really want to try and eat in the rest of the time. Plus, you don’t have to get dressed up to eat in
Heather (Where’s the Beach) recently posted..Street to Sweat #PROOF
These are great tips! Our biggest problem with eating on vacation is what we eat on the way there. I’ve gotten better about packing healthy snacks since I had a baby, but we still have room for improvement.
Those are great things to do on vacation! The only vacations we take that are not camping/cottaging (where we cook food), are all inclusive down south…I go there and eat anything and everything I see, and drink too…not healthy at all…I’m not very disiplined.
Robin Brunet recently posted..Third Wave and Proud!
Darn it – thanks to this piece ‘It’s a vacay’ is no longer an excuse for stuffing myself with cupcakes.
Christel recently posted..Goofy or triple that?
such great suggestions! we have a vacation in May, so this is def some advice I’ll keep in mind…sometimes I want junk while out of town! BUT I’ll try my best to stay on track!
marissa recently posted..a delicious dinner…and a hopeful 10k!
could not agree more: a condo on vacay for the family is key. Love being able to prep healthy food!
Teamarcia recently posted..2 Broken Things Thursday
Wow, great catch!!! I always pack healthy snacks for the car/plane, and we try to stay in places that have a kitchen. It saves money too : )
Molly recently posted..Time to Microwave the Peeps!
I always try to get a hotel with either a kitchenette or at least a fridge! That way I can eat cereal and fruit for breakfast, make sandwiches or salads for lunch and have healthy veggie snacks on hand. Otherwise I end up eating way more food than I really need or am used to. If I am alone, I will even eat dinner in most of the time, but when I am traveling with others, we tend to have dinner as the meal we go out for. However, If we have a FULL kitchen, I am likely to cook at “home” several nights as well.
I agree with you on the local produce! I went to Hawaii and it was so nice to stock up on mangoes and pineapples and fresh fruits like that!
Kyria recently posted..I See DC
Tons of good advice here!
I’m a big snack packer- I always look like a sherpa lugging all of my own food around. I have little faith in my ability to find good choices (or, in my case- things that don’t make my belly ALL crazy) when away from home…
I don’t want to think about cooking any dinners when we travel. Most of the time we stay in a B&B when possible. You’re right, eating in a restaurant doesn’t have to be unhealthy, especially these days when most cater to different restricted diets.
I don’t change my eating habits much at all when travelling. I always get plenty of protein and healthy carbs by way of fruits and veggies. The only thing I might eat more of is bread.
Joanne recently posted..FOFF Antipasto Pasta Salad
Yeppers, I agree with you completely.
We don’t have kids but when we travel and stop overnight somewhere along the way, it could be a room… but I will have a cooler and home packed snacks along!
For longer times, we do condos or cottages or at the very least, rooms with kitchenettes/suites. I like to do most of the cooking, and shop locally, too.
We did a 5 week trip to the Canadian Atlantic provinces and although we flew and had a rental car, I arranged a series of 3 condos, 1 suite and 1 cabin for us to stay in, in 5 different areas, that we used as our centres to explore from. It worked out really well and I would definitely recommend it, too.
Elle recently posted..Cranberry Apricot Pork Tenderloin in the Crock Pot
I always make sure to have a kitchen when I travel. It’s my #1 most important thing.
Cat @ Breakfast to Bed recently posted..Just Say Thank You.
we usually try to get a room w/ at least a small fridge and microwave when we travel. any help to make at least breakfast and lunch in the room to keep things healthier than eating out for every meal.
Denise recently posted..Stupid Little Things
Eating on the road is not that hard if you ‘work’ at it. I pack so much stuff with me that I have a separate suitcase for events to drive to. If I’m flying I search the local grocery shops via google, and still pack quite a bit of food in my bags to throw on the plane.
These are great tips.
Jason @ Cook Train Eat Race recently posted..Quinoa Stir Fry Recipe
This is a lesson I still need to learn. Seems like when I am not AT home, I seem to think healthy eating rules don’t apply. Thanks for the advice. I’m hoping I can convince my husband to go on a vacation this year. We didn’t last year.
Christina recently posted.."Easy" Run
This is a great post. I love that you guys stay in condos, and cook simple but healthy meals while on vacay. Weez and I aren’t fast food eaters either, so on long road trips (the 22hr ones back to Ohio), we pack a cooler with wheat thins and veggie sandwiches and fruit. Cheaper, keeps the road trip moving along quicker, and way healthier than mcdonalds!
Erin recently posted..Baffled
Wow, LOVE this. We are planning Gab’s wish trip, and staying at a place that does NOT have a kitchen, but has free 24/7 pizza delivery. Yikes. We do have a refrigerator, though, so hopefully we can at least pull together some fresh stuff.
NICE fishing work!
Heather recently posted..Three Things Thursday – Runners at Work
Excellent suggestions! I definitely seek out local farmers markets.
Work travel back to San Diego is easy – I eat at the same salad bars and burrito shops I frequented when I lived there.
For other travel, dining out is part of the fun (for me), so Hubby and I seek out the best of the “local favorite” restaurants – everything from fancy dinners to the local crab-shack or BBQ hut. (We do very little chain restaurant or fast-food dining. Ever.) My two goals while dining out on vacation are to: 1 – experience the local cuisine, and 2 – make sure I get at least 2 servings of fruits/vegetables at every meal.
Beth (i run like a girl) recently posted..Thursday thanks
We do this too! We stay in condos with kitchens and hit the grocery the very first day we get there–sometimes before we even check in. We really only buy groceries for breakfast, lunch, and snacking though. We always have dinner and drinks out.
That being said, we are cruising later this month, and I’m a little concerned about that! Food prep won’t be up to me at all in this case! I’m pretty excited that the main dining room has a vegetarian main course option, and surely to goodness there’ll be fresh fruit aplenty for breakfast. I’m not gonna stress too much over it. If I gain a pound or two, so be it! I just don’t want to change my eating habits and end up bloated and constipated the whole time! hahaha
Pam recently posted..BRILLIANT!
love it!!
Trader Joes. . . . .simply the best.
I do love staying in places with kitchens . . . .SO much easier.
I love to try out local foods I don’t normally get to eat. This especially applies to produce; our very hot climate means much of our fruits and vegetables are not local! I mean, greens and winter citrus, yes; apples and decent root vegetables, not on your life.
Gracie recently posted..How I got in Helena Moreno’s pants
Awesome post. Thanks for this!
Jen recently posted..3 Things Thursday
Having no Trader Joe’s here in Colorado, I stoke pile everything from that store whenever I see one. I think the checkout lady at the one across from my hotel in Boston thought I was stalking her.
Jill recently posted..The 50k That Wasn’t RR
Youre so cute. I totally agree! condos are the way to go! cook, save $, and relax.
We are the same. We rent houses through VRBO for most of our vacations. Saves a ton of money on food since we can stock the kitchen with our normal foods. We also tend to go out to lunch rather than dinner. It’s cheaper and it’s the time of day we tend to be out anyways. Then I throw together an easy, healthy dinner when we get back to the house.
I used to gain weight on vacation before we started doing this and now it’s not unheard of for me to actually lose weight.
MCM Mama recently posted..Three Things Thursday: Home again, blog migration issues, and a winner
Whenever I find a Trader Joe’s while on vacation, I feel super relieved because I know that I’m guaranteed to have some delicious, easy and familiar food. Makes such a difference
Katherine @ Neon Blonde Runner recently posted..Qualifying for the NYC Marathon
Agreed! We love renting condos or big RV’s when we vacation so we don’t have to eat out so much. If we have to stay in a hotel we make sure we have a refrigerator so we can still do breakfast and lunch.
Our vacation food bill is always cheaper and our tummies are always happier.
Missy recently posted..Weirdness Wednesday award goes to….
Thanks for a great post! I love staying in places with a kitchen otherwise you are always eating out and most of it isn’t healthy!!
Toni Church recently posted..A Running Haiku #HAWMC
Having a kitchen is so nice and make such a big difference! I also pack snacks and bars that are easy to bring with us and healthy and we have them for the car, when we get hungry, or eat them for breakfast or lunch.
Beth @ RUNNING around my kitchen recently posted..Iron Pig Duathlon Recap
Great post! I agree with the point you made about eating well away from home. One thing I’ve found to be extremely helpful and useful as a supplement to my current diet/exercise plan is Fullbar (www.fullbar.com). Their gummies and bars help curve my hunger, help me with portion control and keep me from consuming more calories than I really need.