Print Friendly

I recently traveled out of state for Paleo Fx. (read: airports, airplane, hotel and hella busy)

I also recently spent 5 days round the clock in the hospital as a caretaker (not a patient)

While the food was not always the same quality I have at home I was able to get by just fine and not once need to resort to a stale sandwich.

As Liz from Cave Girl Eats likes to say… “unless you find yourself locked in a wonderbread factory there’s probably a healthy option for you to eat”

OVERplan and OVERprep

If you do nothing else, as with any challenge (sugar detox, etc) PLANNING is key. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

There are always curveballs but there were a few things I could count on, so I planned for them.

I knew:

• I would be on a plane twice
• that plane delays are very likely if not expected
• that plane food is not food at all
• that I would be busy
• that I would have no kitchen or cooking utensils
• that if I don’t fuel my body well the conference would be a waste of time and I would not be a good caretaker at the hospital (not to mention I also turn into the wicked witch when I’m starving)

With this in mind I made a list of all the foods that would be relatively stable being outside a fridge for several hours while traveling, making sure I had enough protein and fat since my body does not do well when those two macronutrients are lacking.

Examples of travel friendly food (thanks Facebook readers for your ideas!):

• hard boiled eggs
• carrot sticks (or other veg sticks)
• larabars (though I recently learned they contain GMOs so a homemade version would be better!)
• canned fish-either pop top can or rip open package or take a can opener (tuna, salmon, sardines)
• nuts (macadamia, almonds, trail mix!)
• coconut chips
• homemade jerky (I love the recipe from Eat Like a Dinosaur)
• fruit (apples and bananas) If traveling internationally makes sure you consume before going thru customs cause that won’t fly
• dried fruit
• banana bread (addicted, sorry)

Obviously, some of the above will need to be eaten or refrigerated sooner than others so plan your eating accordingly.

And yes, I get some looks at the airport when I bust open some fish but I don’t care. I try to eat it before boarding so the smell doesn’t linger and I can dispose of it. People get on the plane with a bag of McDonald’s food all the time and I find that obnoxious so whatevs…

Make Compromises

Unless you have to be on a super strict diet like the Autoimmune Protocol you can probably handle relaxing your food standards just a tad so that you don’t lose your mind.  For instance, I usually don’t eat larabars or too many nuts.  I did in the beginning, when I was first transitioning to paleo but nowadays I don’t usually feel like I need a snack and I use fruit and nuts as treats.  That said, I bought and brought several with me on my trip and to the hospital because I knew they’d be better than anything you can find in a vending machine or at an airport and wanted some “just in case” options if I was hungry and having trouble finding something clean to eat.  I only ended up eating a couple of bars on my trip and none at the hospital but it was reassuring to know I had something to fall back on if my food smugglers didn’t show.

Get Back on Track

As soon as you get home, get back to you usual routine and make sure to sneak in some extra nutrient dense goodies like bone broth and fermented cod liver oil and some probiotic foods (like these fermented carrots and kombucha)

What are your favorite tips for on the go foods?  I’d love to hear them in the comments below!