How to eat healthy on the run

Summer is here and many of us are out and about enjoying some time off.  Many are enjoying more meals out or grabbing something to eat while running errands.  Or, we are going on vacation and then eat more grab and go foods.  How can you eat healthy when you are away from home?  Eat Right from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has some useful tips.  Actually, they have a month’s worth of tips and here are some of them.

• Plan ahead – a relative is going out of town on a business trip.  She knows the conference is offering a hotel breakfast.  But not really “breakfast” as it has been sweet rolls, juice and coffee.  Not really a healthy choice. So, she brings bananas, some granola bars and eats her breakfast in her room.  When we travel, we often bring breakfast items with us and healthy snack items like peanuts, whole grain crackers and fresh fruit.  Some hotels do offer a healthier breakfast such as oatmeal, real cow’s milk, fresh fruit and juice.
• Read the menu before you go.  Before we set out on a trip, we look for restaurants for dining out and read the menu.  I like to look for entrees that aren’t’ deep-fat fried.  What are the salad choices?  Eat Right recommends looking for “baked, braised, broiled, grilled, poached, roasted and steamed” as all these are healthier options.
• Start your restaurant meal with soup or salad to be sure you are getting some veggies in your meal.  Or, choose the salad option with added grilled chicken or steamed shrimp as your main course.  We often choose the cobb salad as our entrée.  Take some time to research the menu and restaurant options to ensure there are some healthier choices on the menu.
• Don’t hesitate to “have it your way” and ask for substitutions.  Can you have a baked potato instead of French fries?  Can they make the entrée without the heavy sauce?  Ask for your salad dressing on the side so you can control how much you add to the salad.
• Salad bars – skip the iceberg lettuce and load up on spinach or other darker greens.  The darker the green the healthier the green.  Load up on the fresh veggies like mushrooms, green peppers, tomatoes, carrots and not the mayonnaise filled salads.
• Pizza – add some veggies to your pizza topping.   We like to order a pizza loaded with vegetables like a veggie pizza.  Our local Italian pizza restaurant serves their pizza loaded with onions, tomatoes, green pepper and olives and lots of cheese and tomato sauce.

Add some veggies to your pizza.

• Ordering a sandwich?  Look for ham, lean beef, turkey or chicken and choose some whole grain bread.  Instead of mayonnaise choose mustard which has very few calories.  Add some veggies like lettuce, tomato, onion.  When I go to Subway I have them put on almost every veggie they offer.
• Breakfast sandwich – instead of bacon choose Canadian bacon or ham.  Try to order a whole grain English muffin or bagel.  The McDonald’s Egg McMuffin is made with Canadian bacon, an egg and cheese on an English muffin and has only 310 calories.  A healthier choice than a breakfast sandwich made with sausage.  Add some orange juice and coffee and you have a pretty healthy breakfast.

McDonald’s Egg McMuffin only 310 calories.  Enjoy with some 100% juice.

• Make a smoothie at home and bring it with you.  Use real cow’s milk or real yogurt and add fresh fruit or 100% juice.
• Snacking at your desk?  Have on hand some whole grain crackers, cheese sticks, fresh fruit, peanut butter or the snack tuna.  Skip the vending machine that offers high calorie candy bars or other snacks.  Verywellfit.com offers suggestions for 15 Healthy Snacks You Can Take to Work.  These include hummus and carrots, apples and peanut butter, yogurt and fruit, popcorn, tuna and crackers, crispbread and cottage cheese, and fresh fruit and nuts. 

Snack boxes for busy people.

One doesn’t have to eat unhealthily when you are on the go.  It is easy to fit some healthier food options into your day whether you are out running errands or on vacation or snacking at your desk at work.  Try some of the suggestions above this week. The Mayo Clinic has a one-minute video on How to eat healthy on the run. 

Sources:  Eat Right , research , Egg McMuffin , How to eat healthy on the run    Image Sources: Egg McMuffin , Pizza , snack boxes