Grand Canyon Adventures & Traveling Nutrition

The whole trip was killer. I love traveling, it legitimately makes my heart happy. So does eating right and I’m not willing to compromise my nutrition while I travel but as you know eating on the go isn’t always easy. This trip was a little different because we were carrying all of our food for a week on our back so we had to dry most of our food to make sure it was lightweight. We ate a lot of oats, dried fruits, dried vegetables, nuts, one meal of uncooked rice (I don’t recommend it), jerky, and tuna. Being the nutrition snobs we are, we dried most of the food ourselves (and when I say “we” what I mean is mama Biebs, the master of said dehydrator, did it) and we made our own trail mixes. This helped us to avoid processed vegetable oils and added sugars. It’s hard to carry fresh produce with you because of the weight but we did still, however, manage to fit some fresh foods into our travels…

And of course coffee every day! Before we went on the trip all I talked about was how I wanted to wake up in the morning and enjoy my coffee while starring at the Grand Canyon. One of the nights we camped along the Colorado River (the picture above that has a bridge on it) and I got to sit on the beach and stare at that while I sipped. Solid. 

Anywhoozer, I know most of you aren’t doing this kind of traveling so for your normal people who have access to continental breakfast, restaurants, airports, and grocery stores here are some tips:

PLAN AHEAD
Yeah I bolded and capitalized that. It’s the most important one! Start your vacation off right and take your traveling snacks with you to the airport. Unless you’re traveling internationally you can bring them on the plane. And if you are road tripping you can not only bring your snacks with you but you can bring a cooler too. Those of you rocking the Pontiac Aztec have no excuses… the center console is a cooler. Plan ahead for when you get there, too. Are you going to go to the grocery store and buy food to prepare or will you be eating out all week? Find local markets in the area you’ll be in. I’m not saying you have to plan out every meal to a T, even I can’t handle that kind of commitment. But figuring some logistics ahead of time will save you the trouble of being caught in the next bind…

Acceptable gas station/airport food
That shouldn’t even be a real sentence. V-e-g-e-t-a-b-l-e-s. Try stop at a bigger place but just about all of them have fresh produce options these days. You should be able to find carrots and celery, oranges, apples, bananas, some type of raw nuts, etc. Is the quality the best? No, but I’d much rather you munch on non-organic veggies than GMO fed and MSG containing gas station jerky or some sort of packaged food with artificial flavors and colors. Some places might also have single serving sizes of cheese and yogurt. Check the ingredients before you buy. Better yet, stop at a supermarket and take advantage of their salad bar and stock up on what you need. You’re on vacation, you don’t have to stick to a time schedule.

At restaurants
The rules of nutrition don’t go away when you’re eating out. Your meal should still be half fruits and vegetables. Fried potatoes don’t count fool, ask to swap a salad or a side of vegetables for your fries. No excuses at fast food restaurants, either. Literally every fast food place has vegetable options now and no, they wont taste as good as the asparagus roasted in garlic and olive oil and tossed with sea salt and cracked black pepper that you might get at a REAL restaurant but if you planned ahead you wouldn’t be in a fast food restaurant now would you? If you did plan ahead you probably would have found some sweet farm-to-table restaurants that are bringing you local produce prepared with an authentic flare. Boom, dietitianed.

Continental Breakfast
These things terrify me. Go for the eggs or plain oatmeal or grits and fresh fruit. Avoid cereals, donuts, muffins, and pastries. BYOAB bring your own almond butter.

Don’t contract “Oh it’s vacation” syndrome (it’s worse than herpes)
We’ve all said it- “oh, it’s vacation!” and let ourselves indulge in, well, everything. I am all about you trying the local foods and experiencing new things, it is an absolute must when traveling. That being said, vegetables should still make up the largest portion of your meal. Your body does not stop needing them just because you’ve got your toes in the water and ass in the sand. And for crying out loud control your dang portion sizes! It’s completely unnecessary to order that second entree on a cruise just because you can. Stop being wasteful. Did you know the average person gains 15 pounds on a cruise? FIFTEEN! Those pounds don’t match that bathing suit, my friend. Nor do they go away when vacation ends. 

I’m drinking rum and redbullllllll
When I was in Fiji they played one CD on repeat and there was this one song with your typical beach beat and the only line from it that I can remember is “I’m drinking rum and redbull.” Good tunes. Do we all drink more on vacation? Yes. And I am the absolute last person in the world that should be talking. Don’t forget about these rules and lots of water. Don’t overdo it so much on alcohol that you can’t……

Exercise!
Again, your body doesn’t stop needing it just because you are on vacation. If you know you are going to get up to jog or walk in the morning you aren’t going to want to be going through a 12 pack each day. I only had two drinks the entire time I was on my trip, there is no way we could have accomplished what we did if we had drank the whole time. Exercising in the morning increases your metabolic rate for the day meaning you’ll burn more calories. If you don’t have access to the gym you can still do exercises using your own body weight in your hotel room. Walk whenever you can. Even if you are taking a cab somewhere walk a couple blocks before you flag one down or ask them to drop you off early. Take scenic walks and bike rides or do activities like scuba diving or dancing that require your to move and use your muscles.


What do you guys do to stay healthy on vacation?