The Definitive Guide: Eating Healthy While Traveling

What you need to know: Eating healthy while traveling can be difficult and inconvenient for a lot of reasons.

• Traveling for business trips can make eating healthy while traveling really difficult. Especially if your choices are limited by catering selections, restaurants and business dinners, and the temptation to indulge in food and drink at a company’s expense.
• If you are stuck with fast food and restaurants, this can be a little easier, but can come with it’s own inconveniences. Having more choices available doesn’t necessarily mean it is easier to eat healthier. It can actually make it a lot more tempting to eat badly.
• Just because it’s fast food doesn’t mean that it has to be bad food. A lot of the huge fast food restaurants that you will have access to have healthy menus and healthier options. We’re are going to give you the best ones, in this post, so that you can eat healthier at McDonald’s and Taco Bell.
• Healthy snacks can be essential for keeping your hunger at bay and avoiding fat gain while you travel. I’ll help you pick some healthier snack options that you can use while you are on-the-go.

This is such a fun post for me to write because two of my best friends on the planet asked me this exact same question within a 24 hour time period. Not only that, but I’ve had dozens of clients and other friends ask me about eating healthy on-the-go over the last few years, and I figured this would be a great tool for you to use.

General Restaurant Choices for Healthy Eating While you Travel

Mexican Food

First and foremost, I believe that Mexican food is the easiest and tastiest way to keep eating healthy AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE, while traveling. In my humble opinion, this cuisine is basically built for people who want to get ripped and lose body fat.

The Basics: Mexican food is awesome for staying lean while traveling because it has a ton of tasty proteins, beans, and vegetables that are all slow-burning foods. Those foods will be digested slowly by your body and not spike your blood sugar, which would cause you to gain body fat. Like any other cuisine though, there are some foods that you need to avoid.

What to Eat: Grilled chicken, grilled vegetables, grilled seafood, carne asada, barbacoa, carnitas, fajitas (steak, chicken, or shrimp), huevos rancheros, avocado, chorizo, refried beans, kidney beans, black beans, guacamole, taco salad (no shell), rice and beans, and if you go with tortillas get corn instead of flour.

What NOT to Eat: Sour cream, fried tortillas, queso or cheese dip, chips, quesadillas, enchiladas, burritos, chimichangas.

Blog Post: The fastest way to lose belly fat

Course: The fastest way to lose belly fat

Indian Food

The Basics: Stay away from the creamy and fried dishes, and avoid rice when you can, since it can be easy to get carried away with. Stick with the tandoori cooked meats, vegetables, beans, lentils, and dal.

What to Eat: Meat and vegetable kebabs, vegetable and meat curries (no rice), Tandoori chicken, dal, lentils, black beans, raita.

What NOT to Eat: Naan, rice, samosas, tikka, paneer, saag paneer, palak. pakoras.

Asian Food

The Basics: Asian cuisine including Chinese, Thai, and Japanese food are packed with flavor and can be perfect for eating while on the go. There are some common pitfalls that you need to avoid though to make sure that you aren’t gaining weight and body fat. In general, stirfry is healthy for you, but stay away from breaded dishes and sweet sauces. Always ask for gluten free soy sauce.

What to Eat: Teriyaki chicken, stirfry vegetables: broccoli, snap peas, green beans, mushrooms, baby corn, water chestnuts, peas, edamame, chopped carrots. Mongolian beef, pepper steak, red or yellow curry (with beef, steak, fish, or chicken) shrimp (not breaded), sauteed tofu, lentils, sashimi, ginger, ginger salad, hot and sour soup, lettuce wraps.

What NOT to Eat: Orange chicken, sweet and sour chicken, any meat or vegetable that is breaded, egg rolls, spring rolls, sushi.

American Cuisine

The Basics: The US has become somewhat notorious for making ridiculous concoctions like burgers with grilled cheese sandwiches or donuts for the bun. We have taken naturally unhealthy foods to an unnatural next level, but the good news is that you can still get stuffed on healthy and delicious food that won’t give you diabetes before you leave the table.

What to Eat: Grilled chicken, steak, or fish salads, lettuce wrapped burgers or sandwiches, *meat and vegetable combination plates (my personal favorites), omelettes, eggs and bacon, breakfast scrambles, grilled vegetables, baked sweet potatoes, soups and stews, chili, steak dinner, hot wings or buffalo wings (as long as they aren’t breaded, and be sure to check for gluten free sauces that are low in sugar.

What NOT to Eat: Where do we begin! Anything fried and breaded, including Oreos, Twinkies, and ice cream. Donuts, muffins, bagels, buttery dinner rolls, breaded and fried chicken or steak, steak and gravy, mashed potatoes and gravy, breaded buffalo wings, pretzel buns or pretzel rolls.

Italian Food

The Basics: Italian food is tough to eat when you are traveling because it is loaded with fast digesting starches that will jack up your blood sugar, create a massive insulin response, and cause your body to shuttle away a lot of those calories as fat. Besides pasta, your biggest temptation is going to be covering everything in excessive amounts of parmesan cheese.

What to Eat: Mixed greens salad, Caesar salad (no croutons) with or without chicken, chicken cacciatore, roasted Italian vegetables, Italian sausage and peppers, antipasto salad, spaghetti squash and meatballs, porchetta, veal, grilled salmon, and when all else fails just eat steak and veggies.

What NOT to Eat: Sorry, this may hurt a little! Baked bread or bread sticks and olive oil, lasagna, spaghetti, linguine, ravioli (pretty much any noodle base or pasta dish), tiramisu, Italian meatballs (most of these are breaded and have a ton of calories).

Fast Food 101: Eating Healthier Fast Food While you Travel

Chances are, you are going to have the best access to these fast food restaurants while you are traveling. Whether you are going to be on the road for long hours and want to get to your destination as quickly as possible, or you absolutely do not have access to anything else, You can find these restaurants pretty much anywhere.

*Note: I did the best I could with the exhaustive scouring and researching of every menu, but I realize that this is far from comprehensive. If I missed some items or restaurants that you have questions about, just leave me a comment with your question. I’d be more than happy to add your choices to this post. 🙂

Fast Food: Eating Healthy While Traveling

The best recommendation that I can give you while you are piecing through each of these restaurants is to find 3–4 healthy menu items at each restaurant that you enjoy, and stick to those. Overwhelming yourself with options and decisions will just make you more likely to crumble and make poor, unhealthy choices.

McDonald’s

The Basics: They are quite possibly the most infamous franchise for notoriously unhealthy food. We are going to help you navigate the treacherous waters of McD’s so that you can get your nosh on without gaining 40 pounds. They actually have an under 400 (calories) menu that isn’t a bad resource to go by.

What to Eat: Premium bacon ranch salad with grilled chicken, premium southwest salad with grilled chicken, egg mcmuffin, egg white mcmuffin, artisan grilled chicken sandwich, fruit and maple oatmeal, fruit and yogurt parfait, sausage breakfast burrito, strawberry banana smoothie, mango pineapple smoothie, sausage biscuit.

What NOT to Eat:Big Mac’s, fried chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, McRib, fish sandwich, fries, McDouble, Bacon Clubhouse burger, McChicken Sandwich, the big breakfast and any of it’s combinations, bacon egg and cheese biscuit, steak egg and cheese biscuit, milkshakes, McfFlurries, cones and dipped cones, mochas, latte’s, sausage McGriddle, bacon egg and cheese McGriddle. There are more, but you probably get the idea.

Related: Free Fitness Course: Simple Habits for Weight Loss

Burger King

The Basics: BK may be the king of the burger, but they also have a pretty supreme breakfast menu too. If you aren’t careful around their sandwiches and breakfast menu, you can get up to 2,000 calories in one sitting without batting an eyelash.

What to Eat: Tender grill chicken sandwich, tender grill garden salad, veggie burger (apparently they have those now!), whopper junior, chicken apple cranberry salad with chicken, flame grilled chicken burger, egg and cheese croissanwich, fruit topped oatmeal, maple flavored oatmeal, sausage biscuit.

What NOT to Eat: Whopper, double whopper, extra long philly burger, the angriest whopper sandwich (WARNING: that’s a real thing), extra long cheeseburger, ultimate bacon cheeseburger, the big king sandwich, ultimate bacon cheeseburger, cheeseburger deluxe, rodeo burger, any of the fried chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, fries, supreme breakfast sandwich, fully loaded croissanwich, ultimate breakfast platter, pancakes and sausage platter, milkshakes, french toast sticks, mocha frappe, caramel frappe, sundaes, cookies.

Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.

The Basics: The great thing about Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. is that they have low carb options, what they call “trim it” options, and even a gluten sensitive menu! For being the guys that are known for having huge, manly burgers, it’s nice to see that they are turning over a new, healthier leaf.

What to Eat: Low carb thickburger (lettuce wrapped), low carb charbroiled chicken club sandwich, low carb charbroiled barbecue chicken sandwich, trim it frisco breakfast sandwich, made from scratch biscuit, honestly most any of the thick burgers or burgers lettuce wrapped would be great options, soft taco with beef, chicken soft taco, red burrito or green burrito chicken bowl, beans.

What NOT to Eat: Breaded chicken tenders, breaded chicken sandwiches, beer battered cod sandwich, fries, curly fries, onion rings, shakes and malts, pretty much all of their thick burgers or restaurant style burgers, burritos, quesadillas, bacon egg and cheese biscuit, biscuit and gravy, smoked sausage biscuit, sausage and egg biscuit, loaded omelette biscuit, chicken filet biscuit, cinnamon and raisin biscuit, loaded breakfast burrito.

Wendy’s

The Basics: Wendy’s is another hard-hitting burger brand that can be a little difficult to navigate. Avoid the Frosty and fries, and proceed with caution.

What to Eat: Asian cashew chicken salad, ultimate chicken grill, grilled chicken wrap and side salad, grilled chicken go wrap. The chili or chili baked potato is okay, but unless you decide to get a side salad, that’s pretty much it.

What NOT to Eat: Basically, if it’s not on the list above, DON’T DO IT!

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Subway

The Basics: My go-to at Subway is the double chicken chopped salad loaded with vegetables. If you are going to go for a sandwich, get a six inch sub on their whole grain or whole wheat bread and get double meat with that too. Doubling up on the protein is going to fill you up more than doubling up on their bread, and you will feel better about yourself afterward. Stay away from high calorie toppings like cheese, mayo, and their full-flavor sauces when you can.

What to Eat: Acceptable meats: turkey, roast beef, grilled chicken.

6 inch subs on whole wheat or whole grain bread, carved turkey salad, carved turkey and bacon salad, chipotle chicken salad, rotisserie style chicken salad, turkey and bacon guacamole salad, bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, steak, egg white, and cheese breakfast sandwich.

What NOT to Eat: Salami, pepperoni, meatballs, ham, mayo, cheese, full-flavor sauces, foot long subs, any of their white loaf breads, chips, soft drinks.

Related: How to Lose 5 Pounds of fat in 10 Days

Taco Bell

The Basics: For keeping it lean, Taco Bell has a nice fresco menu with lower calorie versions of your favorite taco bell dishes. They have also recently added a cantina menu which includes cantina bowls, in the likeness of Chipotle and Qdoba. Their hot sauces are amazing and totally calorie free according to their website. So enjoy as many of those with your meal as you like, because I know that I do.

What to Eat: If I could give you one piece of advice for eating healthy at T-Bell, stick to the cantina bowls. They are going to be the best bang for your buck as far as nutrient-dense, filling, calorically-low dishes go. Grilled steak, beef, or chicken soft or cruncy tacos, mexi-melts, breakfast grilled tacos, mini skillet bowls, hash browns, any of the cantina power bowls, black bean burrito, pintos and rice, black beans and rice, soft taco supreme, tostada and spicy tostada.

What NOT to Eat: Quesadillas, nachos bell grande or any of the nacho dishes, Mexican pizza, crunch wraps, taco salad, Quesaritos, 7 layer burrito, and pretty much any of the massive, layered, or loaded burritos. Loaded might as well mean “loaded with calories.”

KFC

The Basics: KFC is one of my childhood favorites. When I was younger and super overweight, there was nothing that I liked more than fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and buttery biscuits. I was also a sucker for their mac and cheese. Now if I am going for healthier choices at KFC, I’d stick to just eating a massive bucket of grilled chicken…by my self. Unless you just really love grilled chicken, your choices are going to be pretty limited at KFC.

What to Eat: Grilled chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes without gravy.

What NOT to Eat: Fried chicken, mac and cheese, cole slaw, potato wedges, biscuits, gravy, popcorn chicken, desserts.

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Chick Fil’a

The Basics: As awesome as Chick Fil’a’s fried chicken is, avoid it at all costs. Thankfully, they have started integrating grilled chicken into their menu, much like KFC. They even offer their sandwiches protein style!

What to Eat: Grilled chicken nuggets, protein style grilled chicken sandwich or grilled chicken club, grilled market salad or any of their other salads, multi-grain oatmeal with toppings, chicken breast soup, fruit cup.

What NOT to Eat: Beware the fried chicken and the fried chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, ice dream cones, milkshakes, brownies, bagels, breakfast biscuits, chicken minis, breakfast burrito.

Chipotle, Qdoba, Moe’s, and other Burrito Bars

The Basics: Burrito bowls and salads are the best way to go when you are eating at any of the burrito bars like Chipotle, Qdoba, and Moe’s. If you want to go for double points on your burrito bowl or salad, instead of rice and beans, get double beans with no rice. Stay away from breaded meats, queso, cheese, sour cream, and huge flour tortillas.

What to Eat: Barbacoa, carnitas, chicken, fish, sofritas, steak, black beans, kidney beans, refried beans, salsas, avocado or guacamole.

What NOT to Eat: Flour tortillas, white rice (in moderation), sour cream, cheese or queso sauce, quesadillas, chips, breaded meats.

Cafe’s and Coffee Shops

Starbucks

The Basics: Pretty much every pastry option that you are going to find in a coffee shop is going to be a bad choice. Take a look in the pastry window the next time that you are in a Starbucks or a Coffee Bean and check out the sheer calorie count on some of the pastries. The good news is that local and corporate coffee shops are starting to bring in some healthier options like protein boxes, sandwiches, fruits and veggies, nuts and trail mix, salads, and other food choices that are better than chocolate banana muffins. Anytime you can sub unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk in your drink, DO IT! You will save a ton of calories and sugars in your drink by doing that. Oh yeah, and stay away from blended drinks and frappucinos, unless it’s your cheat day.

What to Eat or Drink: Black coffee, black iced coffee, black cold brew coffee, americanos, dry cappucinos or macchiatos , pure espresso, spinach and feta breakfast wrap, protein bistro box, whole grain oatmeal with fruit, Kind bars, zesty chicken and black bean salad bowl, wheat spinach savory foldover, ham and cheese savory foldover, egg and cheddar breakfast sandwich, bacon gouda and egg breakfast sandwich.

What NOT to Eat or Drink: muffins, bagels, croissants, frappucinos, cookies, cake pops, coffee cake, mocha’s, flavored lattes, donuts. Basically, avoid sugary pastries at all costs.

Dunkin’ Donuts

The Basics: Geese, wouldn’t it be great if donuts were awesome for keeping your body fat low? Fortunately, even the glazed and powdered dough titan has integrated some healthier, calorie conscious options to their repertoire. *Keep the drink recommendations the same as Starbucks. Dunkin’s “healthy menu” was a little sad for me to look at because there are so few healthy options.

What to eat: Egg white veggie flat bread, egg and cheese on an English muffin, ham egg and cheese on an English muffin, oatmeal, any of their wake up wraps.

What NOT to Eat: Donuts, muffins, pastries. You get the picture 🙂

Panera

The Basics: Thankfully, Panera has a full kitchen and is much more food-focused than the other quick-service coffee shop chains.

What to Eat: Mediterranean quinoa salad with almonds, Thai chicken salad, Fuji apple chicken salad, chicken cobb, Asian sesame chicken salad, BBQ chicken salad, chicken Caesar salad (no croutons), Greek salad with chicken, classic with chicken salad, Greek salad, classic salad, oatmeal, bistro french onion soup (no croutons), vegetarian black bean soup, vegetarian garden vegetable soup, low fat chicken noodle soup, turkey chili, flat bread sandwiches.

What NOT to Eat: Pastries, bagels and cream cheese, muffins, souffles, muffins, cookies, pasta or mac and cheese, and most of their regular sandwiches and paninis.

Snacking Smarter While Traveling

Don’t get scared of this section. I’m not going to be that guy to tell you to load up on fruits and vegetables (although those are great snack options) and suck it up until you are done traveling. There are tons of great options out there that you can pickup from gas stations, convenience stores, and grocery stores that are going to work for you while you travel.

Here are some of my favorite protein options: Beef jerky, cashews, almonds, peanuts, low sugar trail mix (no coated candies), Think Thin protein bars, Clif Bars, Kind Bars and Kind protein bars. Lara bars and their protein bars are really great too.

My favorite fruits: Bananas and apples with peanut butter, oranges and clementines, peaches, pears, nectarines, mangoes, avocado with a dash of salt.

Using this Guide for Eating Healthy While Traveling

I would recommend saving this to your Pocket account, Evernote, Favorites in your browser, or your Google Drive account so that you can take this guide with you whenever you know that you are going to be traveling.

If you need a little extra boost and want to stay active while you are traveling, check out my 15 Minute Morning Workout Routine course. You can do these workouts anywhere, with no equipment required.

Something Extra!

P.S.- If you need a little extra push in the right direction, you can get my 67 page fat loss program that includes a home workout schedule and a full-fledged diet plan that is custom fit for your body type and YOUR specific goals.

You can download it here.

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