Healthy Eating tips for Traveling Families

Healthy Eating tips for Traveling Families

Traveling With Kids

With Memorial day upon us and many families looking to travel, go to a cabin, water park or other fun adventures this weekend and summer, staying on track can be a challenge.  This post I am putting out some tips we use to stay healthy while traveling.We recently brought our boys to Disney World and had an amazing time.  But traveling with kids and finding healthy options, especially at a place like Disney, can be really challenging.  So here are some healthy eating tips for traveling families.

Now, you aren’t can’t avoid everything that isn’t the best for you like when eating out of your own “Healthified” pantry.  There will probably be some soybean oil in the ranch dressing or other things that aren’t the best options, but compared to donuts and pasta, these are the best options I find when traveling.  Here is an example of some ways to keep healthy when traveling.

We make a lot of stuff on ‘rainy’ days and stores them in the freezer so we have easy treats ‘on-the-go.’ We rarely eat things out of the package. As far as easy foods for traveling that you can make them ahead, you MUST try the cereal and granola! I pack those (no refrigeration needed if you use coconut oil) for our trips.  There are several recipes Here on my blog and in my Kids Cookbook.

One of the best things you can do is bring some healthy options from home in your checked bags (We always packs our Protein Bread which is frozen).  When we went to Disney, we brought sandwiches on Protein Sparing bread to eat on the airplane; some olives and “healthified” crackers (also in our carry-on for snacking on the airplane), Salmon in these little bags, and some nuts like raw almonds and pecans that you roasted yourself with some coconut oil and seasoning (cinnamon and Swerve is our favorite).  Put in small Ziploc’s for on the go snacks.  I know it isn’t for everyone, but our boys also love sardines and anchovies so we pack a couple of those as well.   If you are a fan of Smoked Oysters and Baby Clams they are good options too.  Then there are things like beef sticks and beef jerky.  Try to find some without added sugars or junk like this one. We also have our favorites like ChocoPerfection bars.

When in a place like Disney, we also bring treats for the boys like Dr. Johns xylitol Lollipops and packets of protein powder to make smoothies.  Xylitol has been shown to actually help reduce cavities.

So packing some snacks will help you snack while on vacation without guilt.  So what about meals?

The one thing we try to do is get a room with a small kitchen.  They cost a little more, but what you save just in breakfasts and food versus eating out can make up for the difference.

When we arrive to our vacation destination, we start unpacking the bags and getting settled while Craig makes a quick run to the grocery store.  In Disney we didn’t have a car so he took a cab.  He got a few staples that would get us through the week like eggs, avocado (for our Shamrock Shake), sunflower seeds, bacon, lunch meat, pickles (to make ham and cream cheese roll ups), no sugar pasta sauce, artichokes and Bolinski’s sausage (to make our easy Pizza Pasta with a side of my Protein Garlic bread), hot dogs for the boys, lettuce, healthy oils and vinegar to make a no-sugar salad dressing and some cheese.  So between the snacks we brought, breakfasts and these items, we can get through 2 meals most days without compromise.

As we walk around Disney we always stop to check menus to see if there is anything we would like. We also pack a few things from our room, such as the Shamrock Shake in a thermos.

Perfect for Shamrock Shake!

If we find something that we like (or can tweak to make it good) we will stop in and eat for lunch or dinner.

For example, at Disney there are these restaurants (I think in every park) that have basic items like hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.  They then have these condiment bars where you can add toppings.  So we just get a cheeseburger with no sides.  Is it the best burger, no not at all.  And if you want to avoid it, just go with veggies and a salad.  But if you are in a pinch, this trick can help.  We then grab lots of lettuce and pickles, cheese, whatever is healthy in the condiment bar and pile it on the plate.  Then we sit down, ditch the bun, and have a hamburger salad topped with ranch dressing.  We didn’t have to do this on our trip because we brought enough food for us during the day at the park.

Another great option at Disney is the Smoked Turkey leg sold in most of the parks.  Craig had it for lunch one day.  An example for dinner is the German restaurant in Epcot.  It is all you can eat and there are tons of good options like several kinds of fish, salads, sausages, and pork to fill up on (I suggest to not even walk past the dessert table! lol… we packed “healthified” desserts so we weren’t tempted!)