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?

Of course that’s only true if you choose to make poor decisions and lose sight of your bigger goal — healthy eating most of the time. But if you start with the intention of making better choices and bringing along a few simple tools to support your healthy endeavors, it doesn’t have to be hard at all.

Case in point, I’m away for 9 days staying in a hotel in Florida. Before I even packed up my bags, I started creating an intention about eating healthy, energizing foods while I was away. And then I mapped out exactly what I needed to bring with me to make that a reality.

In a perfect world, I would have brought my Vitamix blender with me so I could happily blend my morning superfood smoothie. But the Vitamix is heavy to lug around and I didn’t imagine I would be able to get the container that has the blade through security. But I did bring my very compact hand blender with me which has been a lifesaver. And not only that, I brought along a handful of superfoods — blue green algae, cacao and maca to add to it. And because I had already scoped out a grocery store across the street from the hotel, ever few days I get a supply of fresh fruit.

The result is that I’m starting off my mornings in the healthiest of ways even while I’m away from home. I’m eating energizing foods that support my health as I spend 12 hour days learning at my conference. I’m focused and alert and my body is getting what it needs. Not bad! And with that great start for the morning, I’ve then been having a healthy salad for lunch at a local restaurant I found.

Which all goes to prove my point that we can be away from home and still nourish our body in healthy ways that don’t have to include, “I decided to let things go just for this one week.”

What do you do to insure that you eat healthy foods when you’re on the road? What’s your secret to success?