How I stay keto while traveling
Going off an eating plan is one of the toughest parts of traveling for most of us. I know it is for me. You finally find a way of eating that works for you but it may require a bunch of effort and may not be very portable. Shifting from home cooked meals to eating out every meal while traveling is always a hassle, especially for those who use need to use their food to support their health. Chronic healthy conditions means my eating plan is medicine, helping me to increase my well-being and manage my symptoms.
A word about eating plans. What your body needs is different from mine. I am not advocating that you try Keto. Follow what works for you. In fact, a recent study showed that everyone responds to food differently, including identical twins. There isn’t one eating plan for all. You have a unique microbiome that isn’t the same as mine. Listen to your body and give it what it needs. When I say Keto in this post, just insert whatever eating regimen you follow.
Back to the title of this post: How I stay Keto while traveling. The answer is that I don’t. At least not fully. It’s just not realistic. And, I don’t want to miss out on all the local flavors. While traveling in Denver this meant delectable wood-fired pitas at Safta.The photo on the right was lunch. I don’t regret those pitas or that hummus for one minute. It was completely worth it. Though I normally don’t drink at home, I broke this rule for champagne and oysters (the perfect pairing) at Death & Company at the Ramble Hotel where we were staying. We don’t go out very often while at home so we tend to do nicer date nights while we travel. It was a magical night, one I’ll remember for a long time. I loved being able to focus on my partner and our conversation rather than what I was eating. Going off Keto was the right choice. The other way I broke Keto during this trip was having a Bhakti Chai at my favorite cafe. It’s not only the best chai I’ve ever had, it’s hard to find. This chai is made in Denver which makes me happy because I love to support local businesses when I travel. The rest of the trip I stuck true to Keto. That leads to my first tip.
Give yourself some latitude
Staying strictly true to your eating plan while traveling is tough, especially when you follow restrictive eating plans like Keto or Whole 30 which are hard enough to do at home when you can cook three times a day. Both of these eating plans ranked in the top five hardest diets to follow. While eating well can fuel your travel plans, it can also stress you out if you try to eat like you do at home. My first trip while on an eating plan was stressful as we looked at menu after menu trying to make sure I stayed 100% true to it. My rigidity distracted me from enjoying a new city and was exhausting for my partner. Unless you absolutely have to, don’t stress yourself out by strictly sticking to your eating plan. Of course, if you’re vegan for health and ethical reasons, you’ll likely want to ignore this tip. You’ll also want to ignore this one if you’ve been instructed by your doctor not to go off a specific eating plan.
Make conscious choices
While I give myself some latitude, traveling isn’t an excuse to eat whatever I want. I’m an adult so I could do this. I don’t because it wouldn’t feel good and I’d risk not being able to do everything I want. Going off of an eating plan is not a small thing. If I travel too much or stray too far, I feel the consequences. So while I don’t stay strict, I do try to follow it pretty closely. Staying close to my regular eating plan means I come home feeling healthy rather than bloated, gross and on the verge of getting sick. Rather than going by percent or giving myself cheat days I pick specific meals or items that I am willing to go off my plan for. Often I pick based on a restaurant I want to try or a local specialty. Eating this ways means I thoroughly enjoy myself and the local flavors. Best of all, my body feels good when I return home. The trick is finding the balance between rigidity and eating whatever you want. For example, when I divert from my typical eating patterns, I do it in moderation. So rather than shoving bread (my favorite) in my face at every meal, I’ll eat it once or twice during a trip. Since you’ve been following an eating plan, you know how to plan ahead. Use your well-honed planning skills to plot out the meals you’re not going to worry about devoutly following that eating plan.
Normalize your eating while traveling
While some eating plans are harder than others to follow, there are always ways you can eat pretty normally while traveling. I stick with water at meals like I would at home and make sure I get my vegetables in by having a salad for lunch which is usually pretty easy to find. One of the things I always do is to bring snacks that help me eat relatively well while on the plane: protein bars, natural beef jerky and almond butter are always in my bag. I tend towards hypoglycemia which means I tend to want food that give me a quick pick me up but they tend to be sugar or carb heavy. To make sure I get enough fat to fuel me and balance my blood sugar, I bring a bunch of prepackaged goodies from Perfect Keto. Having a refrigerator is pretty much always a must, allowing me to purchase hard boiled eggs, cheese and some veggies so I have fresh snacks ready. I also tend to buy kombucha when we travel because I love to try new brands, it helps my tummy and it makes me fee like I’m at home. For business trips or those that are longer than a week, I often rent an entire house or stay at a corporate apartment that have a kitchen. While we don’t cook every meal, having a kitchen means starting the day off with a healthy breakfast and salads are super easy to make ensuring that we get vegetables in every day. We reheat leftovers, tempting us not to over-indulge during a particularly yummy meal. Eating relatively close to my normal eating patterns supports me not to stray too far, which supports my health and makes it easier to get back on track after landing back at home.
Prep, prep, prep
Be wary of falling prey to pre-travel busy-ness. This is not the time to go off your eating program, in fact it’s time to be rigid with it. This gives you the best chance to leave as healthy as possible. Preparation before and after a trip can make all the difference. Before embarking on a trip, I stay really true to my eating plan, rarely veering off it much at all, especially if I’ve been traveling a bunch. Once I land back at home, I go right back to my eating plan as soon as possible. I make sure to have fresh eggs, cheese, almond butter and other items on hand so I have something to eat the day I get home. When traveling alone, I send my partner a shopping list so he can fill the fridge with my favorite foods the day before I return. To make it easy, we created a shopping list in Notion, a shared app we use, with photos of all my favorite brands to make it easy for him while making sure I have exactly what I need. Coming home to healthy food means I can go back to my eating plan right away upon returning.
Although there are probably many factors at play, my guidelines for following my eating plans means I rarely gain weight or come home sick from a trip.