This year we took our family on a trip out west. One of my goals for the trip was to eat healthier than we normally do on vacation. I try very hard to plan good meals at home, but I wondered if we could do it for the ten days we were going to be gone on vacation. You know what? We did great! In fact, instead of gaining the usual weight, my husband and I both lost weight!!! Please note, we literally drove for the better part of five days total…little exercise on those days! Our trip was fun and exciting, but it did require a little more planning on my part. The ideas below are my top five ways to take a vacation and still eat healthy. I hope you enjoy this first post of the “How To” series I plan to add now and then to my blog.

Idea #1: WATER!!!!

The #1 best thing I did was have everyone bring a HUGE water bottle in the car. I purchased 3 gallons of water that we used to refill our bottles every time we stopped for a break. Did we have to stop more often? You betcha! However, our bodies were much happier, and it was much cheaper than continually purchasing small bottles of water. I will continue this for the future. We drank much more water than normally when traveling, and for those of you heading to the drier, higher elevations, this is a must. Note: I did have to purchase more water at our various grocery stops, but I also refilled at the campgrounds. The gallons also worked great for hauling water to our tent site. 🙂

Idea #2: Picnic

Something else I did differently was trying to eat as many meals “picnic style” as possible. This meant several trips to different grocery stores in the towns we traveled through, but it was all part of the adventure. My family ate a lot more fruits, veggies, and good protein, instead of fast food. I packed paper plates, napkins, and plastic silverware for this use. I stored these in a large, round tote that doubled as our “sink” when we camped.

At the stores, we purchased items like individual yogurts, bananas, cuties, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, packaged tuna, bread, peanut butter, jelly, and even avocados. Our smaller cooler was able to accommodate the items that needed to be refrigerated, and we purchased ice when we stopped at the grocery stores to refill a couple of gallon baggies I kept in the cooler.

Typically, we ate breakfast at the hotel or campsite, lunch was a picnic, and supper was at a restaurant. Again, this saved a lot of money and our food choices were much healthier than if we only ate fast food. The key was purchasing many items that wouldn’t need refrigeration or that were more durable produce. Anything less durable ended up in the cooler for safe keeping.

Idea #3: Make a Grocery List

To help with the grocery shopping, I made a note card ahead of time that I stashed in my purse to help keep us on track. It acted like a grocery list and made shopping in different towns much faster. We would talk in the car before we got to the grocery store about what we needed or what we’d like for lunch, and then we focused on those items. The plastic grocery bags were saved for garbage bags, and the stop at the store also gave us a break to use the restrooms, walk around, and eat (if we couldn’t find a park or rest area close).

Idea #4: Refrigerator Clean Out

To start the trip out on a positive note, I packed our lunch for the first day. I made the sandwiches the night before, made bags of cut-up carrots, and washed fruit. I even stuck the rest of a gallon of milk in the cooler. Basically, I was cleaning out the refrigerator of leftovers. So, I saved money by not having to buy lunch and also not having to throw food away when we got home. Win-Win. Plus, no greasy fast-food. Can you tell I’m not a huge fan?

Idea #5: Pack Baggies

Finally, I packed a bag of bags. Using a gallon ziptop bag, I stuffed several quart and gallon size baggies into it and kept this with our paper products. That way, I could use the baggies throughout the trip. For instance, I used one to hold grape tomatoes after I washed them at our hotel. They also worked nicely for things since we tent camped.

Overall, I’d say we ate healthier and came home in much better shape than normal after a trip. Were our kids always excited about eating out of the back of the car? No, but I sweetened the deal with the occasional serving of Pringles. Also, on the days when we didn’t eat out at all, we felt like we could splurge on ice cream. So in the end, our kids didn’t feel like they suffered much. 🙂 It was vacation, after all!

I know my ideas aren’t all that one can do to help eat healthy on vacation. I did use the MyFitness Pal app on my smartphone to keep track of everything I ate, and I tried to include better choices for snacking in the car. Why does it seem like we eat so mindlessly in the car when traveling thousands of miles??? I truly believe that including more water helped to keep this snacking to a minimum. If you have other ideas to share, I’d love to hear them! I am always on the lookout for ways to teach my family healthy eating habits, whether it is at home or away on vacation.

Blessings and safe travels! Enjoy your vacations and (try to) eat healthier. Your bodies will thank you!