Each Labor Day weekend, my husband and I embark on a road trip to the great state of Ohio for an epic handball tournament. This 5-hour drive involves a number of unhealthy behaviors - Sitting for hours without moving, gas station food (beef jerky, potato chips, that weird thing that could be a corn dog or a burrito) and the King of All Road Trip Behaviors - Boredom Eating.
The key to a healthy road trip is to, first, make sure the person you're driving with supports your healthy decisions. This can be difficult if one of you would prefer to bring a cooler full of healthy snacks - Carrots, string cheese, apples, etc. while the other would prefer the Cheetos-and-soda offerings at various gas stations on the way. Still, having those snacks handy can at least head things off if you find yourself confronted with a big bag of pork rinds.
It's also essential to stop as often as you can to get out, stretch and walk around a bit. This can also cause arguments as one person will typically desire to get to the destination as quickly as possible (not that I'm talking about anyone in particular), thus causing the other person to ask for a bathroom break precisely every 45 minutes, whether he or she needs it or not (not that I'm talking about anyone in particular).
You'll find more ideas in my article, Avoiding Weight Gain on the Road, and be sure to leave a comment if you have any suggestions. How do you avoid weight gain on a road trip? How do you get your spouse to join you in your quest for road-trip health? Leave a comment and tell us about it.
More About Exercising on the Road
Eating junk food while travelling is always a temptation. One of the ways to help resist this is to ensure that you drink water. Often we become dehydrated and this translates into the urge to eat. Drinking water also fills us and we are less likely to feel hungry.
Of course it also ensures that we have to stop on a regular basis!! A good opportunity to move around and get our circulation going.
Boredom is another reson for indulging in junk food – so try to make sure you have some means of entertainment. Quiz games are a great way to pass the time – the driver can also be involved in these.
I have worked with a trucking firm for 4 years and have met many drivers who spend all day (and or night) behind the wheel. It is amazing how some of them pack vegetarian wraps from home and have a gym membership in multiple cities, and then there’s the other side of the spectrum who eat once a day at a greasy resteraunt. I have seen the results first hand, and dried fruit, nuts (unsalted) and water are one simple step to surviving the road. Not to mention that water helps keep a driver alert. Have a great long weekend everybody.
We have a no eating in the car rule. It seems to help.
I try to pack walnuts, pecans, and yellow cheese. We eat small portions of these between meals to tide us over. We travel in a small car without room for a cooler. From my backpacking days I remember yellow cheese can go days without refrideration.
Great topic! I am always interested in new ideas for eating and traveling.
My husband and I are driving from Dallas, Texas to Orange County, California in October. If you’ve ever driven through West Texas, you know the special kind of hell I’m in for. (It takes 24 hours to make this drive…and HALF of it is crawling through Texas)
I am taking a ton of fruit with us, along with my homemade granola, and tons of water. I will NOT be tempted by the partially hydrogenated evil known as the MOON PIE.
I’ve lost 37 pounds so far, 194 more to go…
Interesting. I’ve never considered eating in the car and thus have never been tempted. I like my car to remain tidy and wouldn’t want to clean up crumbs and wrappers. The most I would do in the car is drink coffee or water from my own container. For long road trips, I pack a cooler and store it in the trunk, or we may plan to eat at a half-way point. I don’t recall ever having a problem during the drive, during the stay is more of a temptation for indulging in great restaurants, etc.
We don’t tend to eat a lot on a long road trip. We’ll take assorted snacks that include fresh and dried fruit and tobbled water (did I bobble bottled?), along with some chips and candy. We do stick to the healthier stuff unless we can’t free ourselves from the grip of the bad-bad snack-food devil. And there is that other demon, the fast-food chain restaurant at some mid-way point. We could just order the small salad, but usually opt for the (b)urger and (f)ries; (b)igger and (f)atter.
The main culprit to unhealthiness is sitting there in one position for loooooooooooooong periods of time. The only way around it is to take an RV with a passenger-side seat converted to an exercise bike (dream on, Earl), or fly rather than drive (and miss the wonderful lack of scenery on the I5 from Southern to Northern California).
On trips that are 4 days or longer, I’ll use the fitness center at the hotel we’re at on the middle days, giving me 2 workouts while on the trip.