Summer is a time filled with family, fun and vacations. We should all be able to enjoy holidays and vacations without coming home with a spare tire around the mid section to worry about!
Here are some tips from Ally on how to minimize the battle of the bulge during summer cook outs, events and vacations!
Make a daily plan.
When on vacation, if it is the routine to eat dinner out, plan for this by having sensible breakfasts, lunches and being active during the day. Know the restaurants your frequent and order wisely by having meats grilled or baked and getting fresh steamed veggies on the side. Don’t forget to log your meals into Vitabot or even just on paper to avoid calorie amnesia. Logging and accountability is likely to make you think twice before indulging in huge portions or higher calorie options.
Plan and Pack for the Road Trip!
When we travel - I try to stick to on the go breakfast items. You can get egg and english muffins at many fast food chains and that is much better than burgers and fries.
Try to pack a healthy lunch of whole grain sandwiches and fruit for snacking. Veggies sticks with snack pack hummus is also good road food.
Dried Fruit – Move past raising. Try unsweetened apricots, pears, apples, papaya, and mango. Dried banana is also delicious, but avoid banana chips as these are cooked in oil and are high in saturated fat.
Fresh fruit – Apples, oranges and grapes make the best traveling fruits as they don’t bruise easily, but if you plan on eating your fruit early in your journey try plums, pears or bananas as well. And of course, if you’re feeling extra hurried, you can buy pre-cut apples in bags!
Nuts & seeds –Nuts make a great snack for the road as they’re extremely filling. Raw nuts are your healthiest option, but roasted, unsalted nuts are also a good choice.
Baby carrots – Whether or not the rumor that these little guys are actually cut from full-size
carrots is true, a bag of baby carrots is a great snack-in-the-box food.
Peanut butter and pretzels– Take the jar or fill a mini plastic container. Ziploc a few mini-toasts or pretzels for dipping, and you’ve got a snack fit for any peanut-butter-nutter! Other nut butters like almond or cashew are also good.
Water – Avoid sugary sodas and bad for you diet drinks! Freeze a few bottles of water and use that to keep your food cold.
If you have to stop for lunch - BE SMART ABOUT IT!
Deli Wraps – Supermarket delis and salad bars provide a great way to grab a healthy and fast lunch. Both Kroger and Publix have pre-made or made to order deli sandwiches and wraps.
While at the HOTEL:
The free breakfast can cause you to consume your whole day’s calories in one meal if you aren't careful. Try the scrambled eggs and fruit with a whole grain english muffin. Avoid the waffles, high sugar cereals and high carb bagels if you can.
Water and coffee are your best choices. Remember - don't drink your fruit - eat it! Fruit juice is all sugar with none of the benefits of the whole fruit.
I really struggle with this because I love to hear what everyone else is ordering! If you can - try o order first so you are not tempted to change your mind when others make their choices.
Share larger or more calorie-laden portions with others! Portions are almost always big enough to share! Save money too!
If you do want to splurge you can do so in moderation and with these tips to help you stay on track. Most of all, don’t forget to use the vitabot to keep on track and download the app to your phone.