03-18-10

5 Healthy Approaches For Frequent Flyers

Whether business trips have you hopping from city to city or you’re off to a sunny locale for spring break, traveling can no doubt be disruptive to even to the most disciplined when it comes to eating healthy. We present 5 core approaches to help you stay on sound nutritional track, despite the destination…

1. Your Personal ‘Mise En Place’
We adapt the theory behind the classic French cooking rule, ‘mise en place’ (literally, ‘everything in place’). Just as you need to have all your ingredients and utensils fully thought through before you start cooking a dish from scratch, so to when you travel, ensure you have access to as many of the items you use to prepare your meals when at home. First off, where possible, choose a hotel that offers an ensuite kitchen. We’re not suggesting you cook every meal in your hotel room, but even the most modest kitchen setup in an all-suites style hotel, with a fridge, stove and microwave, plus basic cutlery, can work miracles when on the road.

The goal here is to be able to at very least keep a stock of healthy foods readily on hand. So, if a kitchen isn’t possible, a fridge almost always is. If you’re room has a mini bar, in advance of arrival, contact the hotel directly to ensure it is emptied at your arrival and duration of your stay—that way, you make room for stocking some healthy foods and at the same time rid yourself of all those tempting salty snacks and chocolate!

2. ‘The Healthy Food Radius’
As critical to having the access outlined in #1 is having healthy foods, both raw ingredients and quality prepared meals at arms length. This is what we call ‘the healthy food radius’, that is, walking or short cab distance to a local grocery store, green grocer, fruit stall, and even health food store. Stock up on healthy snacks such as nuts, dried fruits, fresh fruits and vegetables. And with you’re basic kitchen, you’re able to at least cobble together a healthy breakfast, likely much more so than in the hotel’s restaurant.

3. Take A Mini Pantry Kit
Depending on your destination, where you’ll need to take border crossing restrictions into account, it’s always helpful to take along some key utensils and cooking products, such a small non stick pan, a good pairing knife, a tin of cooking oil spray, as well as potential nutritional supplements like protein powder and even a powdered veggies such as ‘Greens+’, particularly if you know that vegetables might be a challenge where you’re going. Choosing a small suitcase on wheels to use exclusively for your ‘mini pantry kit’.

4. Be A Menu Sleuth
In advance of your trip, and having chosen a hotel with a ‘healthy food radius’, you’ll want to also research your local restaurant options. You can do a great deal online, even downloading menus and reading local food critics picks. But also contact your hotel concierge service before leaving to ensure they have all the local restaurant menus on hand for your review by the time you check in.

5. Embrace The Local
Almost always, regardless of the destination, eating local is almost always more healthy, and certainly more interesting. At vacation destinations like Mexico and the Caribbean, for instance, skipping the transplanted North American chains and seeking out the highest quality, independent restaurants and cafes are typically not only far more healthy, but also more memorable. A small local restaurant is also typically far more amenable to responding to special menu requests and modifications.