Road Food

So I've been on a destination-free road trip through some of the southwest with a dear friend who proposed we "get outa Dodge" for about 10 days. We piled sleeping bags, pads, pillows and bags into her vehicle and set out from the foothills of California for points south along highway 395 and beyond. This posed a few challenges not the least of which was considering food both for the road and on the road. Eating while traveling in unfamiliar territory can be a daunting prospect and is a concern for many of my clients. Our journey offers the additional challenges of l-o-n-g distances between towns and cross-roads that pose as towns, sometimes with many miles between stops to even get ice for the cooler. So what's a foodie-nutritionist to do? Here are a few tips and tricks that have made our adventure work well so far, and a few additional ones that have worked for previous solo trips:

1 - Bring that cooler, yes, the big one. Get block ice and wrap it in a brown paper bag tightly this will help a little with slowing down the rate of melt. Have freezer strength zip-lock bags for storing things in the cooler that you don't want to get wet as the ice melts.

2 - Bring enough water for at least two days. How much is that? The rule of thumb is to take your body weight and divide that in half. That's the number of ounces you should be shooting for each day just for drinking. If you're going to be cooking, washing up, or doing a sponge-bath or two, be sure to add another two gallons per day.

3 - Don't just nosh your way through the day! Have set amounts of your snacks or food available and eat at intervals, not just because you're bored or need something to do with your hands. Good ways to regulate snacking is to pre-package your noshing items into serving sizes using half-size ziplock baggies. For a nut mix, that would be about 1/4-1/3 cup. For fruit, about 1/2-3/4 cup cut up or a medium apple or banana, or 1 cup veggies such as carrots, celery, jicama, or green beans.

4 - Have a thick dip or spread available for veggies. If it's too thin, I promise you'll end up wearing it as you drive... Humus or other bean dips work well for this purpose.

5 - Minimize the chips and pretzels, they won't do you any favors. They will actually make you hungry in the long run as well as increase the likelihood of creating edema (water retention) in your feet and ankles.

6 - When you need to stop for food, seek out a grocery store rather than a fast food place. You will save money and have a much higher quality meal, even if it's only an apple and cheese!

7 - The meal that seems to be the least likely to be made poorly is breakfast out. Go ahead and order the eggs, skip the potatoes in favor of a side of veggies or fruit. If you can get some salsa on those eggs you will get a little more vegetable matter in as well. Skip the juice and have water. If you have coffee, use real half-n-half, not the fake stuff. Same with sugar, use the real stuff, not the artificial sweeteners (your poor body doesn't know what to do with those chemicals - more on this topic soon). Skip the bready stuff and the cereal stuff. You'll be amazed at how much longer the meal lasts you!

8 - For dinners and lunches, split an entree and order an extra side of the vegetable or salad. Most places serve enough for a small army anyway! This has proven absolutely true on my current trip. We have saved a bunch of money at each meal this way and have never left a restaurant hungry.

9 - If you are in a new area and don't know the selections, put "best dinner Reno" into google (of course you'll put in the town where you are) and you can get some good ideas and reviews. Other ways to get good beta is to use cell phone applications like Yelp, Bing!, and Around Me to help locate restaurants nearby.

10 - Splurge! You're traveling afterall which means you are either away from home for business and need some comfort, or you are on vacation and celebrating. Allow yourself a couple of splurges on desserts or a meal or two that stray from your normal healthy eating habits (if you don't have healthy normal eating habits we need to talk). The catch? Be really picky! Don't settle for mediocre, get the best of whatever it is you are craving. Don't settle for M&Ms, stop by a local chocolate shop and get an amazing deep dark truffle. Don't grab a Dunkin Doughnut when you can find a fabulous french bakery and have a chocolate croissant. Go for the gusto!

Happy travels! Let me know what wonders you discover on the road!