Finding healthy travel snacks on-the-go is a minefield that threatens to blow your diet into smithereens!
Your choices are severely limited and you’ve not got time to go somewhere else …you need to grab something and go NOW!
If like me you spend a lot of the time on-the-go, eating what you can, when you can, then you’ll know how easily weight gain can creep up on you.
I thought I could get away with it too, but soon the quintessential truck driver physique was developing and I needed a solution!
The result is my guide to healthy travel snacks you can find in even the smallest, backwater filling stations.
Setting the scene…
You’ve got an important meeting a few hundred miles away which means you’re going to have to spend a few hours in the car.
You left so early, you didn’t even know what day it was when you woke up, let alone what you were going to eat today.
Rush hour traffic on route eats into your time so you can’t afford to make stops that aren’t absolutely necessary.
A glance at your fuel gauge tells you that you need to make a pit stop soon. You decide to head for the next fuel station to refuel.
The neon glare of a Shell looms on the horizon and you pull in and fill her up to the brim. You pay a visit to the little boys (or girls) room and then head off in search of healthy travel snacks.
You scour the aisles looking for something to eat and all you can see are:
• Crisps
• Chocolate
• Sweets
• Canned Drinks
• Pastry
• Microwave Burgers
• Cakes
Nothing here for you…
Products emblazoned with “Low Fat” and other healthy marketing slogans appear healthy at first glance, but once you flip it over and look at the nutritional info they clearly aren’t suitable.
Time is ticking…..You need to get back on the road or you’re going to be late!
You can’t wait any longer so you just pick up whatever you think is best and be done with it.
Surely a little bad food every once in a while is OK?
Right, just when its too regular folks start to run into problems and if you spend a lot of time in the car like I do, then you’ll know how often you can find yourself in this situation.
So what can we do about it?
My Diet Saving Healthy Travel Tips
Eating a more fat than you usually would is OK, but let sugar or calories get out of control and you’ll regret it. That’s why these healthy travel snacks that are a better choice as they are:
- High/Moderate Protein
- Low Sugar
- Low Saturated Fat
- Low/Moderate Calories
Travel Dieting Tip #1
Preparing Meals in Advance is Your Safest Option
Whilst you can usually find something to eat at fuel stations, nothing is going to be better than a meal you’ve made yourself.
If you can stay up a little later the night before or get up earlier and cook a meal to take, you have total control of what goes in your mouth.
When you cook dinners, make an extra portion and freeze them. The night before your trip all you have to do is take them out the freezer and remember them in the morning!
What if you don’t have time to cook a meal?
If you truly don’t have time to knock up some chow then the next best option is to take a protein shake with you.
Carbs and fat are easy to find at service stations but lean protein sources without all the saturated fat aren’t.
It’s for this reason that you’ll usually get home and work out your calories and macro’s for the day and realise you didn’t eat enough protein.
If there’s one macro target you MUST hit every day its protein.
I take a shaker (sometimes two) and a small Tupperware with some more whey or casein powder. All I need to do is buy a bottle of water and I’ve got a meal that looks like this:
Calories: 200
Protein: 70g
Carbs: 2g
Fat: 1.5g
You try finding a healthy travel snack that compares to that!
Travel Dieting Tip #2
5 Healthy Travel Snacks You Can Find Anywhere!
You didn’t have time to prepare a meal in advance, you forgot your shaker and now your stomach’s rumbling.
You have the aisles of the service station to choose from and you need to know what to grab so you can get back on the road fast. Here’s my recommendations:
#1 Beef Jerky/Biltong
Whilst some beef jerky is full of sugar or very high in saturated fat (check the label!), you should be able to find a brand more suited to your dietary needs.
When I’m on a road trip, biltong (the South African name for Jerky) is my go-to food because its:
• High Protein
• Low Carb
• Low Fat
• Low Calorie
• Cost Effective
• Widely Available
#2 Nuts and Seeds
I’m not talking about KP nuts or anything salted or dry roasted here, I’m talking about plain nuts like almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts etc.
Nuts are known as a superfood for good reason as they are:
• Rich is polyunsaturated (good) fats
• A source of protein
• A source of fibre
• Full of vitamins and minerals
You should know by now not to fear fat and understand the different types of fat.
Don’t eat too many if your dieting as they can be high in calories so read the label and eat as many as you can get away with!
#3 Cheese
I eat cheese whilst dieting regularly and I’ve never had any problems with weight gain provided calories are kept in line.
Sure, there’s a little saturated fat and it can be quite calorific, but when I need a low carb fix from a fuel station, cheese fits the bill.
Avoid processed cheese and try to find a lower fat version where possible.
#4 Deli Meat
Again, not a food to eat regualry due to its high sodium and saturated fat, but its better than something loaded with sugar.
Whilst its processed food and far from ideal, you should be able to find deli meat that’s:
• High Protein
• Low Carb
• Low/Moderate Fat
• Low Calorie
#5 Ready To Drink (RTD) Protein Drinks
If you’re lucky you might find a low carb RTD that isn’t full of hidden sugars. Myoplex Carb Sense RTD is one of the better ones. Yes there some sugar and sweeteners in there but overall it looks to be a better choice that most fuel stop food:
• 25g Protein
• 2.3g Carbs
• 1g Sugars
• 5g Fibre
• 3g Fat
• 136 Calories
• Lots of additional vitamins and minerals
Never get caught out again!
These healthy travel snacks are perfect for low carb dieters who struggle to find adequate meals on-the-go. As I was writing this article I found myself in this exact situation and had to pull together a make shift meal which included two of our list above:
Calories: 376
Protein: 71g
Carbs: 5g
Fat: 8g
Not a bad meal I’m sure you’ll agree!
You’re now equipped with a list of healthy travel snacks to keep you on the road to success, live by these rules when travelling and accelerate towards the body you’ve been working hard for!
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