Eating on the road help?

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ThatGirlWithTheHat13
ThatGirlWithTheHat13 Posts: 4
in Food and Nutrition
About a week from now, I'm going to be going on a 900+ mile road trip, and I'm concerned about eating healthy, especially with my tendency to go to fast food places in order to get more miles in.

Any recommendations for food to eat on the road or snacks to bring in the car? Any advice would be appreciated.

Replies

  • angelicasmommy
    angelicasmommy Posts: 303 Member
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    I'm going on a trip (driving and ferry ride) in 2 weeks so I've been thinking the same thing!
    So far my plan is to bring: Apples, oranges, bananas, nuts/seeds, cheese strings, bagged veggies like baby carrots, celery sticks, etc. I think I need more ideas though, this needs to get me through about 21 hours.
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
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    same here. My road trip will wake 6-7 days- we are moving from California to Ohio. Once we get there, we still won't have a house. maybe hotel room or chep apartment... UG - so even then the good eating will be an extra challenge.

    I plan to take a cooler on the road, lots of bubbly water. my yoga/pilates cards- for rest breaks.
    I know I can't back enough healthy foods for a week on the road- but there are Super Walmarts and other grocery stores in enough places for me to restock the cooler.. i hope

    and I hope to have the will power to turn down Arby's and Mexican restaraunts for a few weeks...LOL

    Good Luck! Stay Strong!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Fruits and veggies are great, especially since they should last a few days and you can stop at random grocery stores (or WalMart stores - they're everywhere!) along the way for refills. Not sure if you like tuna but they have those dry packets that even have some flavoring added for a nice protein boost.

    There is some fast food that's not horrible. For breakfast, try McD's classic egg mcmuffin or Dunkin Donuts egg white flatbread with turkey sausage. Both are around 300 calories, filling and yummy. In fact, go to the websites for all the fast food places that are likely to be on your trip, print out their nutritional info (or just jot down notes) so you can be prepared if it comes to that. Oh and of course Subway's always a good option.

    The biggest downfall with dining out is that you're still going to get tons of sodium. Make sure you also bring a lot of bottled water with you.

    I'm a big fan of protein bars so I'd pack enough for at least one a day.
  • jolson54829
    jolson54829 Posts: 32 Member
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    I would try to only buy water/coffee, to cut out any extra calories that drinking soda would bring. And bringing fruits and veggies to snack on is a great idea! I like variety, and have a hard time eating the same old fruits and veggies, so I would mix it up, and buy a small variety. If this trip is an extended period of time, I would suggest going to grocery stores to buy more healthy snacks when you start to run out, because very few fast food places/gas stations have healthy foods you can eat while driving (It would be hard to eat a salad from McDonald's while driving!).
  • NikkiSmo
    NikkiSmo Posts: 180 Member
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    Hope this helps: Clif bars are a wonderful thing to take that are very filling and great flavors also KIND bars are good. Fruit and veggies are very portable and most dont need to be cool. Put together some pre measured snacks in baggies. Also most gas stations now carry fruits, yogurt, and protein bars. If eating at a fast food always go with grilled chicken, example: McDonalds you can get the grilled chicken snack wrap (no sauce) for only 200 cal and its pretty big; chick fil la you can get the char-grilled chicken sandwich (as it comes) for 290 cal; I usually look for one of those two resturants when traveling if fast food is the only option. Have fun and remmeber it eating healthy can be done while traveling it just takes a little more effort but we are worth it right?????
  • angelicasmommy
    angelicasmommy Posts: 303 Member
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    Yea I thought of making some homemade granola/protein bars too. That would be great. The issue with me is that I can't have gluten, which is good and bad at the same time. Good: Can't eat most things on the menu at fast food places so have to bring healthy options bad: get to watch everyone else eat yummy fast food and I can't even have the healthy options because it has gluten :/
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    bring a cooler. stop along the way for ice and food.
  • Skeeter918
    Skeeter918 Posts: 16
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    We just got back from our trip and it was easy for me. I packed my ice chest with washed cherries, tupperware bowl full of fresh chunks of pinneapple, sugar free applesauce and water. I also took 100 cal packs of almonds, bananas and my own popcorn to pop at the gas station. I did great for a lack of exercise I only gained .8 of a pound! I am happy with that! We ate out and I had mexican, salad, burgers etc. BUT within reason and I also had 3 glasses of wine during the entire trip. It can be done! Have a great trip!
  • JoceyyySmall
    JoceyyySmall Posts: 155 Member
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    my little sister and I drove straight through from Florida to Pennsylvania to visist our older sister. My mom packed us a cooler of things to eat for the trip so we didn't really do much food stopping. We had an assortment of stuff- It really helped along the way because it limited our stopping at places and picking things up because we wanted it. I think we stopped at a fast food place once, but it didn't really ruin anything. If you can pack a cooler and some dry items to keep out. I promise it will make it better and you'll feel better.

    Edit: We brought some fruits like watermelon and apples- my little sister brought chips( but she doesn't care about eating health) nuts, things like that. If you have granola bars that you like bring that. Think of things that can last a bit longer if you're not going to go straight through. A road trip I did when I was younger with my parents we brought our own sandwich stuff and packed it in a cooler really well. That can help you with options you can already pick out the things you like, especially if whoever youre going with wants to stop at a fast food place you can just make your own things.

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