By Dani Renouf, RD, MSc, CDE
Summertime is a great opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and discover new places, cultures, and ways of life. Whether you are traveling across the continent or staying near home, planning and preparing your meals in advance will be so helpful to ensuring you continue to enjoy varied and nourishing meals, and maybe give new health goals a try. When we have more time while on vacation, perhaps we can start adding more walks to our day, or setting up a delicious breakfast, which might bring us enough motivation to see them through well after the vacation days. Here are 5 tips to get started on planning well for happy travel days:
- Map out the closest grocery stores near where you are staying and use a grocery list to bring with you to ensure you shop for plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, high-quality proteins like fish, beans/legumes/lentils, tofu, lean chicken and meats, and whole grains.
- Choose accommodations with a fridge or a mini-kitchen. This helps you prepare quick and easy meals like an oatmeal breakfast, scrambled eggs, high fibre snacks (fruits and vegetables), and sandwiches.
- Look at the restaurant menus in advance. Choose restaurants based on offerings that are plainer in nature, such as salads, steamed vegetables, plain rice/starch, and grilled fish/chicken/egg options. Remember that many appetizers are already prepared, so they are higher in sodium and additives. If you eat at a fast-food restaurant, choose the plain burger option, and limit fries and other deep-fried options. Read our blog posts on tips while eating out while living with chronic kidney disease: https://www.kidneycommunitykitchen.ca/dietitians-blog/navigating-fast-food-with-chronic-kidney-disease-tips-for-eating-ou/
- Snack on fruits and vegetables. Eating high-fiber foods may become a challenge during travel times, so it is helpful to pack extra fruits and vegetables for your journey so you can snack on them while you await your next meal.
- Remember your protein. When traveling, plan your meals so that you include protein in each meal. If you have a fridge, you can purchase plain low-fat yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, canned tuna (plain), and cooked chicken from the deli to keep on hand for your meals and snacks. Non-perishable options include nuts, seeds, and roasted low-sodium chickpeas.
Travel is a great time to try new foods and take the opportunity to experience different ways of enjoying simple ingredients. Look for local markets and other fresh food vendors to get the best options at a lower price. Happy Travels!