Road Trip Eating tips and snacks

snelson1966

In two weeks, my husband and I are heading to New York to pick up our Son and drive back to Idaho. Once we get to the serious driving, we will be driving for about 12-13 hours for 3 days. I am worried that this road trip will tank my success so far. In the past road trips have always been full of salty, high calories snacks and plenty of soda to wash them down. I am down 34 lbs and my husband is down about 20 lbs. I know with some planning we can do this right. Appreciate any ideas or tricks you might have, thanks.

EEpling89

Road trips, while not the ideal eating situation, are definitely doable. If you're planning on stopping to eat at fast food restaurants or any restaurants, you can pretty much find the nutritional info for any restaurant on earth, either on MFP or elsewhere on the internet. It might be good to have a laptop or smart phone on hand to look up the info so you don't have to go as far as planning your route and what stops you'll make before you leave. I have a restaurant nutrition app on my iPhone. There are good choices wherever you eat, you just have to be prepared before you go and don't be afraid to order the food differently from how it's listed on the menu (no cheese, no mayo, etc.).
As far as gas station snacks, obviously your drink choices are going to be water or diet soda. As far as food, unless it's a gas station with made-to-order food like Sheetz, you're pretty much going to have to rely on portion control until you can get to a restaurant. When I'm forced to eat gas station fare, I usually opt for the packaged nuts like pistachios, almonds, etc. Although healthy and a good source of protein, these are VERY high in fat and calories so be sure to monitor your portions.
Long story short: research, be informed, practice portion control. And have fun on your trip!!

IseLedon

Bring a cooler in your car. Pre-pack some low cal snacks (nuts in pre-packaged / pre-measured ziploc bags; veggies in ziploc bags; some pop corn, instead of chips; some fruit, grapes, apples, etc). Low-cal sandwiches for lunch, with whole wheat bread and turkey slices for example, Water. Plan ahead and be healthy. This doesn't mean you have to deviate from your path.

HelloSweetie4

Stock up on snacks before you leave. Apples, granola bars (or FiberOne, because I don't know about you but that becomes a problem for me on a long car ride), baked chips, nuts and dried fruit. Many fruits and veggies don't actually have to be refrigerated. Pack diet soda, water, and carbonated flavored water. And, if you have room, you can bring a small lunch bag with you for cold stuff like string cheese or drinkable yogurts. Also, bring some sugar-free gum to chew on when you get the craving to snack out of boredom.
Definately pre-plan your meals for where ever you stop to eat!

snelson1966

Thank you, thank you for all the good ideas.

meesapanda89

I'm currently on tour with a show and am trapped in a car traveling for hours! I agree with all of the above advice. Nutrition information for most fast food/chain restaurants is available - make the smartest choices you can at these places (grilled instead of fried, no mayo/cheese, watch sodium) and stick to water to drink. Lots of fruit is portable (apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, etc). Nuts are good, but watch your portions! I like the 100-calorie almond packs, or I'll portion them out into little baggies. String cheese is good for some protein. You could boil some eggs, bring them in a cooler and peel them when you need some protein (if you can stand the smell). Good luck - you can dooooo it!

susannamarie

I usually take on trips:

milk and v8 to drink (not at the same time though, ewww)
something like carrot sticks to munch
some hardboiled eggs that have been prepeeled so I can eat them while driving
peanuts

Celeigh12

I'm glad you asked the question because I'm looking for ideas too! In a few weeks I'm driving from CA to MI and it's 3.5 days in the car and hotels. It's a regular trip for me and in the past, I found that a cooler was helpful and filling it with ice kept everything cold. I would just take a ziploc and fill it with ice from the hotel machine and refresh it each morning.

Some things I took were yogurt, bags of baby carrots and precut apples, nuts, string cheese, single serving cottage cheese, hardboiled eggs, etc. I have the added fun of two big dogs going with me, so I can't really go sit in a restaurant.

Remember to watch how much you are eating. It's long and boring for the most part and eating seems like a good way to pass the time or a good reason to stop, but remember how little you are moving around.

Oh, and beware the Cracker Barrel... Calorie conscious their menu is not.

kitinboots

Since you can't focus on drinking water to curb your appetite and snacking habits, I'd go for chopped veggies and fruits. Plan your meals if you can (lunch you'll have a sandwich, dinner you'll find somewhere with grilled chicken) and try to walk around for half an hour when you stop.

snelson1966

Sweet success I was able to lose 2.4 pounds while on the road trip, your ideas and tips were wonderful. We bought a small cooler and packed it full of health easy to eat treats, string cheese, hummus, cut veggies, yogurt, grapes, bananas and plenty of water. We tried to stop every 150 miles or so and I would get out and walk from the exit to the gas station or restroom so I was able to get in at least 7000 steps each day. The pre-planning was the key. Thank you all so much!:happy:

Jsnbabb1

planning is definatly key! Keep in mind that they do sell sort of healthy food at gas stations and fast food places. Salads arent terrible. Just look up a fast food place while driving on your phone and pick that place when you stop. Pick out a protein bar/Shake at the gas station. they almost always have those!