Food to pack when you travel
When it comes to travelling, even if your diet is healthy, you tend to choose eating unhealthy food or not eating at all. It’s easier to grab something on the way, eat some crisps or spend a lot of money on airport food. Right?
It doesn’t have to be like that. You can continue eating healthy, you just need to organize your time better and choose foods that are easy to prepare and satiating. That way you don’t have to pause your healthy habits. There is also a possibility you will want even more chips, chocolates or burgers, and a few days and weeks later you are still eating unhealthy! You know how hard it can be to continue where you left off.
The first thing you should prepare are food containers. You can take plastic boxes with lids, plastic zip-lock bags or drawstring bags. I don’t recommend glass jars, because they can be heavy and can break.
Pack enough paper towels or napkins, and baby wipes. You don’t want to get messy! J What I like to do is placing a paper towel with every food I have. For example, if I’m bringing a sandwich I wrap the paper towel around it and put the sandwich in a zip-lock bag. That way, if my hands are not clean enough I hold the sandwich with the paper towel. I do that also with the fruit, nuts or any other food I carry. Everything is separated and I have a paper towel prepared for each food.
Of course, always pack a hand sanitizer. Baby wipes are good to wipe your hands or mouth after eating and also they are good if you want to clean a table or other surface before/after you eat. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers (minimum 60% of alcohol) can quickly clean your hands if you don’t have soap and water nearby.
Just make sure to wipe the hands thoroughly; don’t forget your fingertips, nails and the skin between your fingers.
Let’s talk about food.
Fruits
Always bring at least one kind of fruit. The good choice is something that doesn’t make a huge mess and something that cannot get squished and crushed, unless you are packing food in plastic boxes. Choose apple, mandarin, blueberries, banana, pear, orange, grapes, dried fruit (without added sugar). I wouldn’t bring raspberries, pineapple, plums, cherries, figs.
Vegetables
Again, choose the ones that doesn’t create a mess.
Green leafy veggies can wither if you leave them for your last meal, if you are traveling during the whole day. If that’s the case, choose the iceberg salad or cabbage, it is going to last more.
Tomatoes are really watery and can make a mess, so choose the cherry tomatoes as they are really easy to eat. Avoid the beets, you don’t want to get stains all over you.
Don’t eat onions and garlic, especially if you are not traveling alone. Imagine being in a plane and eating some garlic! Hahaha
Skip the beans. You don’t want to fell gassy during your trip.
Good choice is peppers, celery, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, potato, squash, homemade veggie chips.
Proteins
You can make a salad with tofu, boiled eggs, tuna or meat (chicken, beef, turkey), or a sandwich, burger, burrito or taco. Eat nuts, nut butter or hummus for snack.
Carbs
Choose whole grain bread, it’s going to make you more satiated than the white flour bread or bun. You can have whole-grain crackers, but be careful because of possible added sugar. Corn is a good choice (without butter), homemade popcorn with a bit of salt, cornbread. Also, you can bring dry oats with a bit of nuts and dried fruit, packed in a container. You just need to find some hot water to add and leave it for couple of minutes. If you are traveling by a plane, you could ask flight attendants for some hot water. Another sources of carbs can be cooked millet, quinoa, whole grain rice.
Fats
Nuts are full of healthy fats, and also nut butters, avocado, chia, flex and pumpkin seeds. You can add olive oil into your salad, but you have to choose the right container for it, so it doesn’t spill.
Drinks
If you are going to have a bumpy car ride with lots of road curves I don’t recommend soft juices and any beverage with lots of sugar in it. It could make you feel sick. It is the same for alcohol. Also, those drinks would make you go to bathroom more often. You should opt for still water and fresh well-diluted lemonade. Add a bit of fresh ginger in it if you are prone to nausea while traveling.
If you are traveling by a plane, bring an empty reusable water bottle and fill it as soon as you pass the security check.
You can also put one bottle of water in the freezer overnight, take it out before the trip and put it between your packed meals, so it can prolong the freshness of the food. When the water thaws, you can drink it.
You see? There are healthy food choices!
I recommend that you make a meal plan for that day, a few days before the trip. Then you will have enough time to buy everything you need. You can chop the veggies and cook the meat or anything else you want, the night before and immediately put everything in the fridge. The next day you just need to pack the food and pour some fresh water in your bottle.
Stay healthy and enjoy your trip!