Road Trip Challenges and Tips

Road trips can be killer on any healthy routine. Sitting still for long periods of time combined with boredom and numerous opportunities to feast on junk food make for a challenge.

I'm on a road trip right now and have made some really good choices (hurray!) and I'll share with you some tips that really have helped me to keep my intention to be healthy.

First I prepared ahead. That is really the biggest key!

Because I am traveling with only one other person and we have ample room in the vehicle and we both are determined to be healthy, we packed a cooler. Cooked chicken, a variety of vegetables and sliced apples filled that cooler. Healthy and still easy to eat--real "fast food". A traditional salad takes too much time to eat--not exactly something you can chow down while driving! Fresh cherry tomatoes, green beans and other favorite vegies gave us all the same nutrients and were easy to eat on the road.

One other thing we had in the cooler were some very special cookies that we make from our Venus shake. They have to be kept cold. Delicious, rich chocolate cookies. Yummy! Tastes like you are eating something bad for you (or "sinful" as my mother would say) but they are completely balanced and make a meal.

In addition to the cooler we had raw almonds, pine nuts and plenty of water.

So we did eat while we drove, but we are also eating consciously while on the trip as opposed to the "old days" (like last year!) when we would have snacks that were less healthful.

I believe that one of the challenges too is breaking a habit--of eating to keep oneself awake and to combat boredom. Rather than constantly snacking on even healthy foods, we filled our time with books on tape. We purposefully chose books that would stimulate conversation so we were active participants. This really has helped pass the time and I've had little desire for the junk food filled road trips of the past.

That's not to say that there is zero temptation! At least I can recognize it as a habit rather than a real desire or need for a food, but there were times when going through the truck stop aisles to find the restroom I was tempted by a package of this or that. What was truly awesome was that I wasn't hungry or even having the munchies, but I still felt myself drawn to this junk.

Fortunately because I have determined I am going to be healthy and at the same time have given myself permission to have ANYthing that I really, really want, I had the freedom to assess how I was feeling. Did I really want that candy/snack food/ice cream? So far the answer has always been "no" I really didn't want it. That process of thinking about it, searching how I felt about the food and being in control feels AWESOME!