Summer is a great time to hit the
road. Off to the beach, the lake, the
mountains, or a long road trip. Many people
stop for a quick bite to eat at gas stations or other places that offer a range
of food items. How can you eat healthy
while on that road trip?
- Watch
the calories – sitting all day in a car burns up a lot less calories. A short trip not to worry but a long road
trip can decrease your daily burn
of calories by up to 400 calories.
- Take
some healthy foods with you – pack a cooler of yogurt, some fresh fruit,
veggies like baby carrots, some nuts, healthy nutrition bars and even some
sandwiches to eat along the way. My
husband and I often eat at the picnic tables at rest stops – we eat the food we
brought with us. I once told my daughter
to bring her lunch on a long road trip we were taking. She pulled out a gourmet assortment of food –
hummus and veggies, a fresh homemade salad, fruit, homemade granola mix, whole
wheat chips with ranch dressing.
- Seek
out the healthy, fresh food. Many
gas stations now offer an assortment of healthier choices. Yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, nuts, cut up fresh
fruit, milk, freshly made sandwiches.
- Hydrate
– bring along some water
bottles. Skip the soft drinks at the gas
stations and re-hydrate with more water, 100% juice (skip the juice drinks) or
milk. (Milk is mostly water and a good
way to get some extra protein and hydrate.)
- Bring
your snacks
– another daughter was in charge of snacks on one of our road trips. And what an assortment of snacks she brought
to share. Nuts, whole grain chips,
pretzels, apple slices with peanut butter, health bars, granola, snack crackers,
cheese sticks. Wander Wisdom
lists some healthy snacks or light meals to pack for a road trip:
|
Pack some healthy snacks and include some protein like cheese, nuts, peanut butter. |
- Apple slices with nut butter
- Hummus and mini carrots or pretzels
- Guacamole and low-fat tortilla chips (make sure
the first ingredient is whole corn)
- Yogurt – Greek or plain yogurt with granola or
fresh fruit
- Dairy: Cheese
sticks or those mini cheeses like Babybel, individual milk boxes, yogurt
- Wraps
- Nuts – peanuts, almonds, pistachios, cashews, mixed
nuts
- Almond or Peanut butter and fruit on crackers or
whole grain bread
- Fresh or dried fruit – apple slices, dried fruit,
raisins, bananas, grapes
- Trail mix, granola, nutrition bars, dark
chocolate, dry cereal like Wheat Chex and raisins
So before heading on a road trip
this summer take the time to pack the cooler and pack some snacks.
We keep a bag of non-perishable snacks in the
car – the jar of nuts, the box of whole grain crackers.
The cooler loaded with light lunch supplies is
in the trunk ready for our road side picnic.
Take the kids shopping with you before you go and let them choose some
healthy snacks to bring along on the road trip.
They are much more likely to eat it if they had some choice in choosing
it.
|
Pack a sandwich for your road trip and some fresh fruit. |
All these foods are no doubt healthy for road trips. Especially, the Cashews as they are so nutritional.
ReplyDeleteCashews are quite healthy. Eating a handful of nuts a day is a good, healthy habit. Thank you for your comment.
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