Family road trip - mostly eating at restaurants. Just eat salad with chicken on it? Help!

Prettyredkitty

Going on a family road trip over March break. We will be driving to Florida to take the kiddies to Disney World. YAY! But I'm rather concerned about how I can I keep my eating within my calorie limits. I figure my only choice will be eating salad with various proteins on it for lunches and dinners. We will be eating the basic breakfast that is included at motels on the way there and back. (which is cereal, toast, maybe yogurt). Once we arrive in Florida, I need some super fast & easy breakfast ideas. I won't have time to cook an omlette nor will I have my shake and blender with me. My kids will be eating cereal and milk for brekkie and we will be bringing sandwiches with us for lunches some days. But we will be leaving very early in the morning. Not sure how else to handle eating. I'm allergic to shellfish so can't go that route at restaurants. My husband who is also supposed to be losing weight with me is already cheating his *kitten* off, so I know he won't adhere to any healthy ideals while on the trip. Which makes it harder for me when he is letting loose. But I really want to be good - as much as possible.

Prettyredkitty

I didn't write kitten - it was edited.

cuadrado12

Will you have access to a fridge? I like fruit with a string cheese stick, nuts, peanut butter, and yogurt for breakfast. Have you ever tried RX bars? Great for on the go without a ton of weird ingredients.

lightenup2016

We do long family road trips a few times a year. We stay with family once we're at our destination, so this mostly pertains to the driving part. I make sure to pack a lot of snacks that won't derail me – – protein bars, other granola/trail mix bars, apples, carrots sticks, veggie chips. If we have room in the car we'll also carry an ice chest with Greek yogurt, hummus, cheese sticks and turkey sticks. When we do stop for fast food, I have gotten salads with chicken, but sometimes just a small serving of chicken nuggets, or a grilled chicken sandwich, or a plain sausage McMuffin with some fries – – not way too many calories, and I get to enjoy fast food with the family. Taco Bell is also an easy place to eat OK if you order the right items. Subway also has some good choices. I'm sure I'm overloading with sodium, but I know that water weight will go away.

As for when you're at Disney World, I can't help you there-- haven't been in a while!

lightenup2016

Also, for breakfast I would do something like a banana and a protein bar which can also be taken with you if you're leaving early and don't want to eat right away.

CaliMomTeach

In December, I took a road trip with family and ended up taking a break from calorie counting for about 10 days. I did gain a little, but I don't regret it. Sometimes, I think its ok to take a break. We are going on an all inclusive vacation in April and there is no way I am counting calories. I'll just lose whatever I gain when we get back. I don't think I ate as much as I would have a year ago on that road trip, but it was just too hard for me to keep up the logging and restrictions with limited choices. I like the idea of bringing an icechest with food. I've lost over 50 pounds in 7 months. I figure I can take off 5 or 10 pounds no sweat, and I probably can't gain that much in a week anyway.

alissadough84

I think it's okay to cheat a little bit on a vacation (maybe one meal, a snack or something a day- whatever your comfortable with). Especially taking into consideration all of the walking you will be doing around Disney! Remember the overall goal- you're not just on a diet, your making a lifestyle change too- when you reach your goal weight would you have a slice of pizza? It's all about moderation , enjoy yourself on your trip! Salads with chicken can be super boring with so many great options around, but Disney is pretty accommodating. You could always do a grilled protein with a veggie side, or if you have dinner at a buffet grab some fruit and stick it in your bag for later or breakfast!

Lounmoun

I don't know what your calorie goal is but I usually have about 300 calorie breakfast, 500 calorie lunch and 500 calorie dinner and the rest for snacks.
At restaurants a regular burger, side salad with vinaigrette dressing and unsweetened tea fits my calorie goal. Look up restaurants along your route and see if they have nutritional info to see what will fit your goal before you leave home.

Breakfast- low prep foods like Greek yogurt, granola bars, cereal with milk, sandwich, fruit, cottage cheese, muffin, bagel
Snacks- things like fruit, chips, popcorn, pretzels, chocolate, cookies, granola bar, carrots, celery, broccoli, trail mix, pickles, cottage cheese

Presumably when you get to Florida you may be doing a lot of walking so maybe don't need to be so strict.

suzan06

Bring a cooler since you are driving. Make a huge batch of hard boiled eggs- the perfect on the go breakfast food.

We are going to Disney in June. We'll be flying. We will get some groceries once we arrive and do instant oatmeal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, eat out for dinner. I plan to have whatever I want for dinner (within reason!) And eat sensibly the rest of the day. I figure we'll be walking a ton.

We'll keep fruit, nuts, string cheese, and cut up raw veggies with us for snacks.

klm62505

Last time I went to Disney World (2 years ago) I logged 22,000 steps every day with my fitbit zip. I ate whatever I wanted and managed to go home 2 pounds less than I arrived. Never underestimate the amount of walking you'll be doing. When the kids were little we brought nuts, string cheese, apple slices (you can buy them pre-packaged at the grocery store), some gogurt ( that yogurt in a tube, easy to transport and eat) for breakfast on the way to the park. We always had a cooler in the car with cut up veggies, hummus, peanut butter is good, raisins. Drink lots of water and have fun. I think you'll be okay. Tired, but okay.

WickAndArtoo

We have to drive cross country usually at least once every couple of months so I have gotten very used to trying (note the "try" because it's extremely difficult) to eat healthy on the road.

Personally I don't think it's a huge deal to not worry about your calories for a week or two if you think you can get back to it once your trip is over, but if you do choose to try it's definitely worth it! For me it's more because I feel so sick and bloated from eating bad foods that it's not worth it.

What I do:

Pack as many healthy snacks as I can to eat instead of fast food. The cooler takes up way too much space so I stock up on non perishables (though I have done the cooler in the past and it's great if your family is on board).

The key is to buy pre packaged / pre cut foods because the less work the better and more likely you will eat it.

My fiancé eats fast food every meal when we travel, so I just buck up and deal with eating a protein bar and banana instead of a Big Mac, OR I order a chicken salad and don't use the dressing.

Personally for dinner I bring myself canned soups and disposable spoons/bowls because although I can go through the daytime on veggies and fruits, I like something warm and salty at night so it's my way of not giving into the temptations lol!

I usually have one chicken nugget out of the fiancés batch to give myself a treat and I bring dark chocolate as a pick me up.

I wish you a ton of luck, but don't be hard on yourself if the trip is a vacation from your healthy eating habits, you can always get back to it when your home!

Francl27

Eating out at restaurants frustrates me, honestly, and I either drive myself insane or just give up. Typically after 2 days I just don't want to see another side salad (and you have no idea how many places don't have vegetables as sides either). And it's typically way more expensive to go the grilled meat/veggie route too, which doesn't help... but it's what I usually end up picking anyway (when it's available, or ask for the sauce on the side and/or no breading). What helps though is that frankly, in a lot of places the high calorie food just isn't tasty enough to justify the calories.

For breakfast I'd go the yogurt, fruit, and protein bar route, personally (I like Quest cereal bars). Bring a lot of fruit and protein bars for snacks.

I don't agree with only eating packaged food though because they are often way off on calories... but getting the low calorie options at fast food places might work for you.

That being said, there is a lot of walking at Disney, but I typically walk 20-25k steps a day as it is and definitely can't afford to just eat what I want either (especially if you're going to be driving for days getting there). I do suggest taking an hour to walk around if possible every day at least on the road though...

Good luck... road trips are really hard.

fitmom4lifemfp

I always take protein bars on road trips. I am fine eating them every morning.

CMNVA

I'm not a "bar" eater, but whenever I go to Disney, I always eat a higher fiber cereal in the morning. It really helps for the rest of crap I eat during the day. My go-tos are Barbara's Bakery Cinnamon Puffins or Plain Shredded Wheat (no sugar). It's fast and gives me fiber which I don't really get when dining out a lot. Yeah, it tastes like cardboard, but I view it as a "functional" meal.

DrifterBear

If it's a vacation, enjoy yourself. Look at it as a challenge to maintain your weight under difficult circumstances. Eat reasonably, don't give in to every treat and greasy meal. But it is vacation, live a little. It's a good opportunity to try to make reasonable choices without tracking. So what if you have a gap week, you can get back when you get home feeling refreshed, rewarded, and ready to get back to it.

illusion2269

I definitely agree with bringing a cooler. Some friends and I took a road trip to Las Vegas last year, and packed it with water, milk, sandwiches, string cheese, apples, carrots, and the like. We still hit a couple fast food places for a more substantial meal but we could at least reduce the amount of gas station snacking. Once we hit Vegas tho, that's a different story...