Ashley and I are pretty well seasoned travelers, and we are visiting a lot of places this year. We just finished booking our first trip this spring and we are unbelievably excited. Make sure you are following us on Instagram and Snapchat (ashandshelbs) to see where we are off to. One of our biggest focuses when traveling is making sure that we continue to eat healthy during our trip. That can be a pretty hard task when you get into your vacation mindset. You think “Oh I’m on vacation I can eat whatever I want.” While that is true, you can eat whatever you want all the time, not just on vacation. It’s your attitude, mindset, and choice to eat healthy that makes all of the difference.
The majority of eating healthy when you are traveling takes place before you leave. Can you believe that? The biggest thing you can do is pack your own snacks. Your schedule is usually packed full, so you have the tendency to pick up a sweet treat in the middle of your day instead of reaching for that apple that you could have brought. Ashley and I love to pack dried fruit, applesauce, Larabars, Kind Bars, and small packs of almond butter. On a daily basis I always have snacks tucked away in my bag, but when you are on vacation this is super important to staying healthy. Full disclosure, those duffel bags are full of snacks.
The next thing you want to do is plan out all of your meals for your trip. Take the time and do the research. Look at restaurants and look at their menus. You know your own diet and what you like to eat on a daily basis. You also want to stay away from tourist traps. Those restaurants usually do not have the best healthy options. They also defeat the purpose of learning about the cuisine of wherever you are traveling to. If you have a plan to eat healthy food you will usually stick to it.
If your accommodations have a kitchen or a place where you can prepare food, the best thing you can do is to go grocery shopping. This gives you the opportunity to delve into the cuisine whilst eating healthy and saving money. Grocery shopping is one of my guilty pleasures, so you know I am all about going shopping in new places.
The hardest part, you may find, is finding the balance between healthy food and immersing yourself in the cuisine of the place you are. It’s actually fairly easy! Follow our steps and you will be good to go. And just remember, it’s okay to have some cheats. If you are Texas girls and find yourself in Amsterdam in dire need of Dr. Pepper, GO FOR IT!
What are your go to healthy eating tips on vacation? Let us know in the comments below.
-Shelby xx