8 Tips To Help You Hit Your Macros While Traveling

Clients and followers are always asking me. “How can I travel and still eat healthy, stay on track and support my goals?”

Vacation and travel is a part of life, for some quite often. I have so many amazing memories about family trips when I was young and so many of them involved food. As an adult, nothing is different…except that I am 35 now. I no longer have the body nor the metabolism of a 16 year old. So, I enjoy my food on vacation in a way that still helps me stay on top of my nutrition game. I want you to know that you can travel and still maintain your healthy lifestyle.

“How can I travel & still eat healthy, stay on track & support my goals?”

1. Hit That ProteinBreakfastMany hotels lack a great morning breakfast. It is usually a display of muffins, donuts, danishes that smell of sweet sugar and are fat ridden. The one option they tend to have is egg. I have a noticed a trend of hard boiled eggs. In my opinion—even better. On a recent trip I grabbed 4 HBE, scooped out 2 of the yolks (to save my fat options for a later meal) and easily hit roughly 20 grams of protein to start my morning. If you plan to eat breakfast out, opt for an egg white omelet or ask for a ratio of yolks to whites that fit your goals. For a side, ask for potatoes, fruit or a healthy carb that fits your craving.

LunchI am a fan of high quality lunch meat , rotisserie chicken or lean jerky. They are easy to buy in measurable amounts and are easy to keep stored in a cooler or fridge. Tuna packs are also an easy and super high protein option.

DinnerDinner tends to be the meal I enjoy the most while on vacation. It is the one meal I plan my day around. Regardless, I opt for something that keeps protein up. If I have tacos, I try for chicken. If I have a gluten free pizza, I add sliced chicken breast and lots of veggies. If we have an American style meal, I chose salmon or a nice lean steak.

Protein Shake NightcapIf you find yourself still lacking protein at the end of the day, try a protein night cap of casein (slower digesting), whey or plant based to finish off your day.

The one macro nutrient I see most clients miss (myself included) while busy and traveling is protein. Protein is key in fat loss (if that is your goal) and to maintain muscle growth and recovery. You want to continue to support your hard work in both a resting and active metabolism by keeping protein up.

2. Pack Snacks To Fill The Gaps

Snacks, snacks and more snacks are the key to keeping your intake dialed in. Traveling, for work or pleasure, can disrupt your normal routine. You might be so busy you forget to eat or so bored all you want to do IS eat. Either way, if you have snacks at your fingertips that fit your goals…things will go much better.

• Bars• Popcorn• Pop Chips• Deli Meat• Jerky• Hard Boiled Eggs• Baby Food

Squeeze Pouches• Oats• Trail Mix• Rice Rollers or cakes• Fruit• ruit Leathers• Nut Butter Packets• Pre-cut veggies

3. Ask For A Fridge

When you make your hotel reservation, ask for a refrigerator. Many hotel rooms include one but others will deliver one to your room (for free) if not. This makes for easy storage of your snacks and gives you a great in room breakfast option as well.

4. Plan Ahead For Your Meal(s) Out

On a normal day at home, I push my clients to spread their fats evenly throughout the day so that it helps maintain normal hormone function and helps them to feel full. If you really want to enjoy a higher end fat meal out, eat lean leading up to it. Opt for an egg white omelet, an Americano over a whole milk latte, chicken breast at lunch, etc. Although you may not be able to track while traveling, you are making the effort to manage your intake and maintain those goals.

5. Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For It The Way You Want It

Some people are so worried to seem high maintenance when dining out. They are afraid to ask questions or ask for substitutions. You shouldn’t be. It is your health and your dining experience that you are paying for. I’ve personally had a head chef come to my table to say thank you for changing the way a meal was ordered to satisfy my gluten free needs. When I went back, they had added that option to their menu!

Ask for it grilled or steamed instead of breaded, ask for less cheese or more cheese if you need it. Ask what oil they use or if there is butter in the potatoes. They may be apprehensive solely because the server may not have an immediate answer.Asking questions helps you gain more experience and knowledge while eating out and helps you hit your target with more accuracy.

6. Think High Carb, Low Carb

It is the yin and the yang. What I mean is if you go out and crush a stack of awesome pancakes for breakfast, then think about choosing a lower carb option for dinner. It allows you to enjoy something you really want but keeps your intake average by opting for something lower in carb at the next meal. If you don’t plan to track tightly this will at least prevent you from being way off target.

7. Be Reasonable With Adult Beverages

Big kid drinks, as we call them in our house, are part of the travel routine. Those drinks however, can add up! If you plan to enjoy them then you will have to sacrifice real food carbs for it. If you plan to track alcohol then you will treat it as a carb. For every 1 gram of carbohydrate consumed, the body uses 4 Kcal of energy to burn it. If your adult beverage, let’s say a glass of red wine, has 120 cals then the total carbs consumed will be 30 grams. That is 30grams of sweet potatoes you sacrifice in its place. Enjoy them with caution and planning.

8. Accept Haphazard and Enjoy Yourself

It is vacation after all, you need to enjoy yourself. Navigating through a trip with a heightened awareness of your macro intake is in most cases strides ahead of where my clients have ever been. After vacations, many clients come back so thrilled with their ability to make great choices to support their goals without the feeling of missing out on vacation for food. It doesn’t have to be perfect but awareness and loose tracking will leave you feeling great post-vacay rather than coming home with post-vacay food guilt.

Look for my tips for tracking macros in DISNEYLAND and

the adult Disneyland…Las Vegas coming soon!

Work Hard Be Kind,AWalk