Eating healthy and good fitness habits can easily fly out the window when you hit the road for recreation or for a PCS move.
Let’s face it: Food choices on the road aren’t always the best. Fast food places dot the landscape and are often associated with gas and pit stops. And gas-station food usually isn’t the most nutritious option, although the selections seem to be improving.
Start your road trip with foods and activities prepped, organized, and ready for travel. In addition to saving money, you can save your waistline with healthy choices.
As an Army family, we prioritize health and fitness. I prefer to spend a few hours organizing meals and snacks to take with us on the road rather than succumb to highly processed road grub. Here are some tips I’ve gathered over the years.
Make light meals
Bring along handheld options such as hardboiled eggs, wraps, sandwiches, and pitas. Fill an insulated coffee mug with soup or a smoothie to have on the go.
Or make a salad-in-a-jar:
- Use a good-sized, fairly narrow jar with a screw-on lid. Layer the following:
- 2–3 Tbsp salad dressing
- ½ c protein (cooked chicken, cubed tofu, or beans)
- ½ c chopped veggies (peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots)
- ¼ c chopped nuts or seeds (sunflower, chia seeds, walnuts, almonds, or pecans)
- 1–2 c chopped lettuce
Snack smartly
- Cheese sticks
- Edamame
- Nut butter
- Hummus
- Yogurt
- Nuts
- Turkey or beef jerky
- Roasted chickpeas
- Energy bars
- Squeezable applesauce
- Fruit (but leave the juicy peaches, plums, and red cherries at home if you have messy eaters)
- Vegetable sticks: celery, carrots, peppers, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower
Consolidate items into containers and toss bulky packages to save space. Take a small, hard-sided tote to keep the non-perishables organized. Be sure to include plastic utensils, wet wipes, paper towels, and garbage bags.
Cool it!
Freeze water bottles prior to your trip and place them in a small cooler to keep food and beverages cold. Pack the cooler tightly and replace the ice often. If your family drinks a lot, you may want to keep beverages in a separate cooler from foods, since the lid will be opened frequently.
If you leave a cooler in a hot car, the items in the cooler can get warm faster. If the outside temperature is 75 degrees, a locked-up car’s internal temperature can reach 104 degrees after 20 minutes. Keep food safety in mind—no one wants to get sick while traveling.
Be a road warrior
Don’t let your fitness routine take a vacation too. Here’s a few of my favorite ways to stay fit on the road:
- Stop at a park or rest stop and find a path to walk; do light calisthenics.
- Pack a frisbee, football, kickball, or paddleball game.
- Bring exercise bands or tubing. They are space-saving and versatile.
- Take a mindfulness break and practice yoga. Don’t forget your mat.
- Stay at hotels with fitness centers.
- Ask hotel staff for recommendations on local parks, trails, and fitness centers.
- Book activity-oriented vacations such as visiting the National Parks. (My goal is to visit them all!)
If gas-station food is your only choice, opt for nuts, yogurt, yogurt parfaits, and yogurt drinks, 100% fruit juice, energy bars, trail mix, and cheese sticks.
Usually, the days before a road trip are filled with chores and planning: taking Fido the kennel, arranging for mail, watering plants, laundry, packing, and cleaning (no one likes to come home to a dirty house). With some advance planning, you can stay fit on your road trip, save some money, eat well, stay active, and have a fun and memorable time.
About the Author
Maria McConville, of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, is a Senior Nutrition Health Educator for the Consortium for Health and Military Performance (CHAMP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU).
Disclosure: *The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of USU or DoD. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not reflect the views, opinions, or policies of The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The author has no financial interests or relationships to disclose.
