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Eating Healthy While Travelling or Simply Eating Out

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Whether you’re a professional rugby referee jet setting from International Qantas lounge to International Qantas lounge officiating in some of the world’s largest sporting arenas, or simply a mere mortal like the rest of us that goes on a holiday once every blue moon (in other words not as often as we’d like) or maybe you’re just heading out to a nice restaurant for a meal with friends, we all have a tendency to fall into the trap of over eating, eating too much of the wrong foods or simply eating wrong for our health and fitness goals.

If you’re like me and like to enjoy themselves but still eat reasonably clean, it’s not that difficult to go on holiday and return the same weight, you just have to arm yourself with the right tools and strategies and today I’m going to show you some of the sneaky little tricks that I’ve adopted quite successfully, both when I was a referee travelling or simply holidaying with the family.

If you’re anything like me, the RAE family often base their holiday selection around the whole “meals included” type stuff.  When you’ve got a couple of extra appetites to worry about, cost is often high on the agenda and we often go with the “meals included” packages, but this can often lead to over eating pitfalls.

Our last holiday was a cruise around the South Pacific on board the gorgeous P & O Cruise Liner “Pacific Dawn”.  We had a wonderful holiday and interestingly enough I came back the exact same weight as I left which is not always the case.  An example of over doing it was last year’s Rae family Christmas Camping holiday when I put on 7 kgs in 10 days.  So, what can you do to make sure you eat well (but clean) while on holiday?

  1. Go for the cooked breakfast.  The “Pacific Dawn” had a 2 tiered style buffet which was fantastic because the 1st tier was dedicated to everything to avoid, stuff like the sugary added fruit juices, sugary breakfast cereals, sugary croissants, pastries and toast selections with the sugary honey & jam. If you want to maintain your current body fat levels while on holiday and not add to whatever you’re carrying when you depart, steer clear of everything here.   The 2nd tier was dedicated to the cooked breakfasts like eggs, bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, onions etc.  If you’re worried about over eating, simple, use a bread plate, not a dinner plate.  Don’t fall into the trap of eating quickly and then going back for seconds.  Remember, just because it’s “All You can Eat” there’s no need to “eat all you want”.  Take your time, enjoy your meal and let your hormones do their job and send the “I’m Full” signal to the brain.
  2. Drink Plenty of Water.
    One of the things that we stop doing when on holiday is stop drinking water.  The easiest way to overcome this is to add the ritual “2 glasses” before meals trick.  When you’re on holiday, there’s often a wait for your meals.  By having 2 glasses of water before you eat, you’ll activate the gastric juices in your stomach.  Sometimes those hunger pains are actually a cry out for water.  If they subside after the 2 glasses, chances are you weren’t actually hungry at all, just thirsty.
  3. Skip the Juice/Go for Water/Full Cream Milk/Coffee or Tea Instead. Often, those same all you can eat buffet’s have unlimited access to sugary fruit juices.  Avoid these like the plague.  Instead go for a nice cuppa or milk (the full cream version) or even iced water.
  4. Avoid the Creamy Sauced Mains and Go for the Grilled Versions.  There’s always the temptation to go hard on the creamy sauces, but in reality, while these may taste nice they don’t look very flash on the tummy, hips and thighs.  There’s always a grilled meat serving on most restaurant menus and this is a far better option.  Almost every sauce now available (tomato, BBQ, you name it, it has it) is jam packed full of sugar.  Avoid these (like the plague).  Black pepper and seas salt is perfect as a seasoning.  NB: When I’m out choosing a cut of steak, I also avoid anything grain fed.  Remember, beef were never meant to eat grain, they are at their most healthiest when they roam in free paddocks eating grass.  Because meat growers get paid per KG, they often finish their beef off on grain to make their cattle fatter and therefore fetch a higher price.  Just ask!!! I bet you the more expensive cut, is the grass fed one.
  5. Avoid the Dessert/Have Cheese Instead.  Often when you’re out for dinner the temptation is to have a sugary dessert and while I’m partial to a nice slice of chocolate cake, the reality is, you’re probably better off having the cheese platter instead.  Don’t worry about the extra “fat calories”.
  6. Make Sure You’re Prepared.  Remember the tier 1 buffet on board the Pacific Dawn?  Well make sure you grab yourself some fruit for later on.    A couple of apples or bananas stored in the day pack for snacking on later is a great way to avoid the 10.00am or 3.30pm dash to the cafe for an ice cream or donut, especially when you’re out and about doing the tourist thing like site seeing.

So there you have it, 6 of my top tips to eat healthy while on holiday or when you’re simply eating out.  With Christmas almost upon us, take note of some of these tricks and get ready for the silly season.

Pat Rae

ABOUT: Pat Rae is a personal trainer, lifestyle coach, massage therapist, motivational speaker, author and presenter.  He is the owner of a boutique PT studio in Brisbane  and an online health and wellness program both of which have been established to help people live healthier, happier and more energetic life through exercise, eating whole real foods and stressing less.  See more at http://www.prpt.com.au & http://www.patrae.com