Email it     Talk about it     Print it

Perfect Nutrition Travel Guide

Q & A with Trainer Chris Powell

For many people, the holidays mean travel… and travel means not eating the way we do at home. So we asked Chris for tips to keep on the right nutritional track while you travel.

Healthy nutrition when traveling can be tricky, not just because it is difficult to find the same foods we have at home, but because there seems to be a magical force that puts us into ‘vacation mode’ whenever we are away from home (even if it’s for business)…so we have a tendency to indulge a little bit more than usual. If you want to stay on track and keep your waistline in check while traveling, PLANNING IS EVERYTHING.

For those who spend many of their days on the road and in the air, my ‘Simple Nutrition Travel Guide’ will help maximize your meals for success!

I have created two different nutrition guides for you:

The Restaurant Nutrition Guide is designed for those who plan to eat all of their daily meals in restaurants and hotels when traveling. Follow the guide and tips to help you stay on track when dining out.

The STAX Nutrition Travel Guide is designed for those who are truly dedicated to their weight loss & fitness regimen. It is a complete guide on how to shop, pack, and carry your meals when traveling…so that your nutrition success is guaranteed!

Restaurant Guide

When traveling, we eat most of our meals in restaurants. This is when our ‘healthy lifestyle’ takes a turn for the worse. Restaurants often use sauces and oil when cooking that can easily double the sugar and fat calories in the meal. For an overall rule of thumb, when eating at a restaurant, instead of ordering an entrée try ordering an appetizer for the meal. Usually they are much better portion sized for your needs. If you order an entrée, eat half, then save the other half for a few hours later. By splitting your meals, you are sure to avoid the ‘stuff and sleep’ pitfalls of huge portion sizes. This way, you can split the normal 3 huge meals into 6 smaller meals. Eating the smaller portions more frequently has an incredible effect on your body, speeding up your metabolism.

STAX Nutrition Travel Guide
Let me fill you in on one of the most valuable nutrition tips for travel EVER. Believe it or not, you can purchase ALL of your daily food needs at a grocery store at your destination. Okay, so it is not the most romantic or exciting thing, but let me list out the benefits for you:

• You can get to a grocery store as easy as you can get to your hotel
• You can purchase ALL of your food needs for a fraction of the cost you would spend at restaurants
• You will keep your nutrition perfectly on track, never skipping a meal no matter where you are
• You will never risk the pitfalls of restaurant eating (stuffing & sleeping) or tempting desserts.
• You will save hours upon hours of time spent in restaurants, to spend more time outside enjoying and learning about the destination, or focusing on work
• You can always splurge for a restaurant meal or two with your co-workers or family, without ‘falling off the wagon’

The STAX System is designed for those who spend hours away from home, whether in the office, on the road, or in the air. It holds 4 of your 5 daily meals in a temperature-controlled carrier, schedules your meals with a custom timer, and portions your foods perfectly based on your goals. For more information, visit www.staxsystem.com

PROTEIN
Planning out your protein for the day is one of the most important steps. When it comes to weight loss and muscle development, protein intake is extremely important for all of your meals. Try to eat some kind of protein at almost every meal. Great sources of protein are any kind of lean meats, egg whites, cottage cheese, or tofu.

Restaurant TIP for Protein
When dining out, restaurants usually have huge portions of proteins. However, even the largest bodybuilders can digest and assimilate a fraction of the typical American portion size. When eating lean meats like steak and chicken, try a portion about the size of a deck of cards. A portion that size should be roughly about 3 oz and 21-24 grams of protein. Save the leftovers for later! If you are a bit larger and have more muscle, you can eat a slightly larger portion closer to the size of a checkbook.

I know it looks tasty, but you can turn this 32 oz ‘Cattleman’s Cut’ into protein for 5 meals!

STAX Nutrition Tip for Protein
When on the go, the easiest sources of proteins to carry with you are the powdered proteins like whey, egg, soy, pea, and the other vegetable proteins. They work great because they can be easily mixed with water, milk, or juice for a quick fix meal! (avoid mixing with juice or milk if you are trying to lose weight)

CARBOHYDRATES
Variety is the spice of life, and you should never just eat the protein alone…your body needs more! Always combine it with carbohydrates and fats for a well-rounded meal. Since protein shakes are such popular ‘meals’ these days, I must add that you should always give your body some kind of solid food at each meal. It is very important for the digestive system to actually give your body some solid food to break down – and you’ll burn a bunch more calories! Here are some great carbohydrate sources to combine with:

• Fruit
• Grains (oatmeal, brown rice, whole grain breads and tortillas)
• Legumes (beans, peas, lentils)
• Starchy veggies (potato w/skin, sweet potato, yams, corn, carrots)
• Vegetables (the whole rainbow of veggies)

Restaurant Tip for Carbohydrates
Want a challenge? Try to find a complex carbohydrate on a restaurant menu. You’ll rarely find brown rice, steel cut oatmeal, yams & sweet potatoes, or true whole grain breads. If you can find some good complex carbs, aim to eat roughly a fist-sized portion. If you can’t find a good complex carb with your protein, just go with the veggies. Every restaurant’s got them as an option instead of the heavier carbs. It’s a decision that will keep your waistline in check, and you’ll never regret!

STAX Nutrition Tip for Carbohydrates
When traveling, packing and carrying healthy carbs is actually really easy. Fruits are perfect for travel and are already perfectly portion sized. For grains, granola and whole grain breads like Ezekiel Bread are excellent sources of complex carbohydrates. There are also now microwaveable yams and sweet potatoes that can easily be heated and packed away for a later meal. Canned beans and lentils are a fantastic source of complex carbs and can be packed away anywhere – some even have flip-top lids!

FATS
Ahhh FAT. To lose weight and stay healthy, we have to eat it. Healthy fats are incredible for you and rapidly assist weight loss:

• Avocado
• Nuts
• Cheese
• Fish Oil
• Flaxseed Oil
• Olive Oil

Unfortunately, fats can be all-too-abundant when we are traveling – especially the bad ones! Stop into a restaurant or airport convenience store, and bad fats are everywhere, from fatty creams and sauces in restaurants, to every snack food you could imagine in the convenience stores (except the nuts)

Cholesterol aside, recent finding have shown some amazing and positive benefits to saturated fats (like those found in animal meats and dairy fats), but only when eaten in moderation.

Restaurant Tip for Fats
A relatively healthy meal can quickly turn into a fat and calorie disaster with some of the extra sauces and creams that restaurants use on the food to increase the flavor. Even the healthiest salad can quickly turn into a 600-900 calorie monster with some bacon bits, cheese, croutons, and a restaurant sized portion of salad dressing. I know your intentions are in the right place, to keep your fats under control, request all sauces and dressings on the side – that way you control your food (calorie) intake. A reasonable portion for fats is roughly the volume of your thumb, or the amount that can fit into the palm of your hand.

~ Chris

Learn more about Chris

The information presented and the opinions expressed are those of the content provider. KTVK-TV and KASW-TV do not endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information by the content provider. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, or information shall be at your sole risk.