Over the weekend, my husband and I spent copious amounts of time in the car driving from Connecticut to Philadelphia and back, and our clean eating snacks came right along with us, keeping us fortified yet healthy.

One of my biggest challenges is keeping up my eating clean when we go on a road trip.  Mind you, I’m not stuck on perfect clean eating all the time, bringing all my food with me and missing out on fun because I can’t find the right foods.  In my book, that wouldn’t be much fun at all.  In fact, I’ve written other posts about how I try to maintain clean eating while I’m away like when we were at the Newport Jazz Festival this summer.

But I like the idea of maintaining my clean eating  as much as I can when I’m away.  For me, that means beginning with the end in mind and bringing a few healthy items with me.  On Saturday, we headed to Philadelphia in the wee hours of the morning to attend my friend Michelle’s mom’s funeral.  We left so early that thinking about food at that hour almost seemed strange but the night before I made a list of items we’d take, got out my insulated cooler and did a little prep. On our list:

• Hard boiled eggs (I’m not a fan of the yolk to begin with, and the clean version is all about the egg white)
• Sabra hummus cups
• Brown rice crackers
• Apples
• Water
• Nuts
• Lara bars

I brought enough of a selection to have a good choice yet more food than we’re ever need. The eggs came in handy for breakfast on our way down. Having healthy choices meant no stopping at a rest stop on the Jersey Turnpike where the only options were Roy Rogers, Nathan’s or Starbucks.  Before we arrived I had a Lara bar and lots of water which kept me satisfied until after the service.

On the way down, while driving through Cherry Hill, we noticed our favorite restaurant, Seasons 52.  They have them in Florida and Georgia but it was a total surprise to find one in New Jersey.  Seasons 52 features fresh, local food that’s seasonal and none of the entrees have more than 450 calories — think clean, healthy and delicious food.  On our way home, we stopped there for a late lunch and thoroughly enjoyed our clean eating meal.

To me, it’s totally possible to find a balance with clean eating while you’re traveling that doesn’t have to leave you at a loss for what to eat but is all about a little pre-planning and checking out your options along the way.

What do you do to ensure that when you’re away you make a clean eating plan? What are some healthy snacks you bring with you to make it easier?

Filed under: Snacking, Traveling, clean eating