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Written by The Nutrition Twins

Every time we return from traveling our clients ask us what we do to prevent weight gain on the road.

First, let us tell you, it doesn’t’ come easy for us either. Just like anyone who wants to succeed, we have to plan and it takes work! After all, get stuck at the airport after a plane delay without backup food and nutritionist or not, your best option could be a burger and fries. Not exactly waist-line friendly. Although as registered dietitians and personal trainers we do have a little extra motivation to keep the weight off– if we come back 10 pounds heavier after every trip, it wouldn’t be good for our practice. So we feel for ya, it’s tough to get inspired when on vacation! But if any of these strategies appeal to you, they work. Here’s what we do when we travel.

We cut red peppers into strips and put them into zip-loc bags and pack pistachios to take with us for our travel day. Red peppers are sweet and crunchy and filling because they’re loaded with fiber and water so they really help to fill your stomach. Pistachios are the ideal snack as they’re not only easy to transport but they’ve got both fiber and protein to make a satisfying snack that squashes cravings for something savory and crunchy without compromising your healthy eating goals. You get 30 of them for 100 calories.

This snack is necessary because without fail, when we get to our destination we are hungry and we have to wait to get to our next meal. So this snack takes the edge off hunger so we don’t eat a bag of chips or a candy bar waiting for dinner or go cocoa for cocoa puffs (or for creamy pasta or whatever tempts us) when we get to dinner because we’re ready to devour anything and everything that comes our way. And this past weekend on the way to South Beach when Tammy’s husband picked up candy at the airport for later for the trip, Tammy was able to pass up the candy, knowing she was prepared with her peppers and pistachios for snacks.

If we’re traveling for more than 3 hours, we pack a meal. We make sure to include a high-fiber carbohydrate like fruit and veggies or beans for energy and then a lean protein to keep us feeling satisfied and to extend the energy boost of the carbohydrate. Often we bring big salads with plenty of veggies and turkey or chicken and a piece of fruit. We have packed tuna or salmon (in the seal-pack pouch before—it’s one of our faves—and travels so well!), but of course this is a meal we have when we don’t plan to eat it on the plane next to other passengers. After all, we’re not in the business of creating enemies.

We pack apples to take to breakfast so even if we have a hard time finding food, or finding something healthy or if we’re on the run, we have something—and it’s usually fairly easy to find a string cheese, yogurt or hardboiled egg to accompany the apple. You can just bring one or two so that you have them for the first day and get more while you are at your destination.

We bring sneakers. Although we make it our priority to exercise (again, it’s our job!), even if you don’t exercise, you can at least burn some extra calories walking around your vacation spot. We try to do pushups and sit-ups in our hotel room too if there is no fitness center o if we don’t have time to lift weights.

What do you do to keep the extra lb’s from creeping on when you travel?

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