Healthy Eating While Traveling
Welcome to the halfway mark of the 40FRESH Challenge!
Up to this point, most of the advice we’ve shared has focused on setting up your home environment for success. But what if you have a trip planned where you’ll be out of town for a few days?
When your kitchen isn’t nearby, it can be quite challenging to stick to a 40FRESH diet. After all, 73% of the food supply is made of ultra-processed foods. While the odds are certainly not in your favor, there are some healthy breakfast choices to be found when eating out. In today’s article, we’ll explore the ways you can safely stick to 40FRESH eating.
Today’s Checklist
If you’re following along with the 40FRESH Challenge, here’s your homework for today:
Read this post
Continue to drink 40FRESH
Continue to snack 40FRESH
Buy any ingredients you need for your 40FRESH breakfast menu
Things to Avoid
Unfortunately, we can’t provide an exhaustive list of everything to avoid. Not only would the list be incredibly long, but undoubtedly we’d miss several things. The sad reality is that so much of the food we consume on a regular basis is ultra-processed.
That said, here are few things you’ll definitely encounter and you should certainly avoid:
- Toast & Bagels: It’s hard enough to find something acceptable in the grocery store, let alone while eating out.
- Waffles & Pancakes: Without knowing what kind of ingredients and mixes are being used, this is a roll of the dice (and not in your favor).
- Cereal: Convenient, but the convenience comes at a cost to your health.
- Sausage: If you’re going to indulge in a breakfast meat, you’re better off trying the bacon. Sausage is pretty much guaranteed to be a Nope.
- Donuts: I don’t need to explain this one, right?
- Fast Food: This shouldn’t be a surprise either.
- Benedicts: The English muffin makes this breakfast meal a no go.
- Biscuits & Gravy: Whether it’s the sausage, the gravy, or the biscuit, chances are at least one of the ingredients is a Nope.
- Breakfast Potatoes: Unless you know for sure the potatoes are made from scratch, it’s best to avoid these. Many places (especially hotels with continental breakfast) will use frozen mixes that contain preservatives and additives. Hash browns are out, too.
So What Can I Eat?
Don’t worry, it’s not all bad news! There are still some items that you can order up and not feel guilty about. Let’s take a look at a few options that are easily found and usually safe bets.
1. Eggs? Eggs-actly...
As we covered in our most popular breakfast meals breakdown, there’s one item that’s always safe to eat, without exception: eggs! Whether you’re eating the continental breakfast at your hotel or dining out at a restaurant, you’re almost certain to have eggs as an option. These are safe to eat in any form from scrambled to hard-boiled and everything in between.
You don’t have to stick to plain old eggs, either. There are plenty of omelets and scrambles that can order that are made from Always and Limited ingredients.
2. Steak
It might not be easy on the pocketbook, but if your breakfast venue offers steak, go ahead and order up. Many restaurants drizzle their steak with gravy, so you’ll need to find out if that’s a safe item or not. If they use a mix, it’s a guaranteed Nope, but most gravy made from scratch is safe. If you’re not sure and want to be safe, best to leave it off.
3. Fruit
Even if the only thing nearby is a convenience store, this is one thing that you’re guaranteed to find pretty much everywhere. While it may not be the most filling breakfast around, it’s certainly nutritious and, of course, part of the Always list.
4. Oatmeal
As long as you’re not drizzling Log Cabin syrup into your oats or heating up a packet of flavored oatmeal, a fresh bowl of oatmeal is a good bet. Add in some fruit or nuts for a well-rounded start to your day.
5. Homemade Breakfast Potatoes
Hang on, didn’t you just say not to eat those above? Well, yeah… But they’re so damn good! If you’re absolutely sure they’re homemade from scratch, there’s no reason to avoid them unnecessarily. This advice applies for breakfast potatoes only and does not include hash browns.
Don't Forget to Shop!
Tomorrow is the start of your first meal habit! If you haven’t already gone out and shopped for all of the ingredients that you need for your menu, make sure you do that today. If you have any breakfast items that you can prepare in advance, it wouldn’t hurt to get that started today. The less effort it takes in the morning, the more likely you are to stick to your habits.
Up Next...
You’re halfway done with developing your 40FRESH healthy eating habits. Let us know in the comments below how things are going for you!
We’d love to hear more about your journey. It’s hard work and making fantastic progress. Keep on going with your snacking and drinking habits. And don’t forget to cross out another day on your accountability calendar.
Tomorrow, we’re going to start your breakfast habit and talk about how to deal with setbacks. It’s hard to develop new habits and most people will experience a slip up on the way to success.