It's the most magical time of the year.....Summer! One of the things I look forward to the most in summer is traveling with my little family. For some of my clients travel brings up feelings of anxiety or fear that they may "undo" any of the progress they may have made in our nutritional counseling sessions. Not only does fear and anxiety not have a place in nutrition, it also has no business showing up in our vacation vibes! Sometimes coming up with a plan and reasonable expectations can ease our mind when it comes to food, meals and exercise when we are taking some "time off" or on a totally different schedule. Here are a few of my tips and advice I share with my clients in regards to travel and nutrition.
-Try not to skip meals. Skipping meals often lead us to overeat at the next meal or completely zap us of energy. Make meals a priority so you can keep up with the fun.
-Have a plan before and after you leave for vacation. It doesn't matter what happens on vacation as much as it matters what happens leading up to the trip and right when you come home. I like to have a frozen dish that I pre-made prior to my trip so I don't have to rely on more meals out. One of my go-to favs is baked ziti with spinach. This way, I can come home and just throw it in the oven for a effortless home cooked meal.
-Pack some snacks. Dried fruit, nuts, fruit puree and bars are the ultimate fast foods. You may be expending more energy on your adventure and snacks may be more important than usual.
-Enjoy what you want to eat, but remember all foods fit anytime. There should be no reason to restrict certain foods when you are on vacation, but this also means that you don't need to binge on foods that you feel are only "allowed" on vacation.
-Keep an eye on your alcohol consumption. More than three drinks is considered binge drinking and no one should spend their vacation nursing a hangover. Also, see previous tip!