6 Tips for Staying Healthy on the Road

Ah, the road trip, a classic pastime that since the invention of the Model T has served as a coming-of-age endeavor for so many. Even before the advent of modern transportation, nomads and frontiersmen went overland on horseback, often for months at a time. When taking in the sights of new cities or the glorious work of Mother Nature, though, health can sometimes take a backseat (pun definitely intended).

For many people, this could mean a complete abandonment of nutrition as a priority: logging mile after mile on the road to the next destination, how easy is it to pull over toward that Taco Bell or McDonald’s drive-through, grab a quick meal and continue on down the road?

Fortunately for my health, the convenience of fast food isn't an option for my girlfriend Alexa and I.  You see, we are nine weeks into the adventure of a lifetime, with a twist.  We are CrossFitters, traveling through the United States and parts of Canada and working out at different boxes all along the way.  Our goal is to eventually ‘WOD’ in all fifty states.  Leading an active lifestyle, no matter if you’re on the move or of the sedentary variety, requires the right fuel.

Just like Alexa and I take care of our minivan by putting in gasoline and oil, we must properly fuel ourselves.  While we are by no means experts in the field of nutrition, here are a few tips we've discovered along the way that we think can help any athlete or fitness fanatic stay healthy, whether it’s on your afternoon commute or on a months-long odyssey like the one we’re currently undertaking. Here's our....

6 Tips for Staying Healthy while traveling on the road

Tip 1: Meal prep

[caption id="attachment_17048" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Finding deals at outdoor markets like this one in Toronto will keep you healthy without killing your budget[/caption]

This is the best advice I can recommend.  When we hop in the van after a good workout, the first question that one of us asks is usually “What are we eating?”  Having meals prepared and ready to go is essential to eating healthy during a trip.  Especially for short trips, prepped meals are the most cost-efficient and nutritious way to stay on a particular diet, be it Paleo or anything else.  As our trip wears on, we've found it a bit tougher to set aside time to properly cook a week’s worth of meals, but at the beginning of our journey those little containers filled with meats and vegetables served as our lifeline.

Tip 2: Bring a camping stove

[caption id="attachment_17050" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Utilizing our camping stove, somewhere in Texas[/caption]

If you don’t mind being on the receiving end of a few stares from curious locals, cooking on a camping stove is the way to go.  Alexa and I have whipped up delicious meals in the parking lots of grocery stores and rest areas across the Midwest so far on this trip.  Hell, today’s meal was “Paleo goulash”, cooked outside of a truck stop somewhere in the Texas Panhandle.  While this solution isn't exactly quick, it gives us something to look forward to by putting our nutrition back into our own hands.

Tip 3: What’s in season?

[caption id="attachment_17049" align="alignright" width="320"]Here's Alexa scouring a fish market in Portland, Maine for the best deals on fresh seafood[/caption]

In terms of eating healthy, we couldn't have picked a better time or a better location to start our trip than when and where we did.  Driving through the beautiful state of Michigan in August provided us with more roadside and farmer’s markets than we knew what to do with.  Every three miles, it seemed, there would be a stand with fresh produce just waiting to be picked up.  An added bonus was that we saved a ton of money by buying directly from the farmers, rather than making a trip to the grocery store.  If the weather and area are appropriate, buy local!

Tip 4: Drink plenty of water

This one seems pretty obvious, I know, but bear with me.  At the start of our trip, both of our families provided us with a ton of essentials to get us started, two big packs of bottled water being an example.  These kept us hydrated for a while, and the fact that we work out at CrossFit affiliates every day allows us another H2O source.  However, as the weeks turned into months, we ran out of our bottles.  Our budget as tight as it is, we find it hard to justify buying water.  Our tried and true tactic of filling up at gyms has served us well since, but no matter your budget, make sure to take the necessary steps to stay properly hydrated!

Tip 5: Stay disciplined…

Like I mentioned before, the easiest thing to do on the road is pull over to one of the countless fast food burger joints out there and order up.  I offer a simple solution:  dig into your parent’s garage and find that old Coleman cooler they used to take to your Little League games. Believe it or not, this one item can make or break your nutrition during a trip.  Anyone who lives an active lifestyle and fuels accordingly knows that the healthiest foods are usually perishable foods.  For the aforementioned ‘parking lot cookouts’ we have, a cooler comes in handy more often than not.  You’d be surprised at the peace of mind that comes from knowing that grilled chicken, sweet potatoes and broccoli are awaiting you in their comfortable cooler home post-WOD, just waiting to be devoured.  Staying disciplined and keeping these foods fresh is without a doubt worth it, considering the alternative: dry gas station hot dogs, anyone?

Tip 6: But don’t forget to treat yourself

[caption id="attachment_17051" align="aligncenter" width="600"]When the time is right, be bad! Enjoying a beer on Crescent Street in Montreal[/caption]

We don’t pretend to be beacons of paleo perfection. Alexa and I are human. When we perform well, we reward ourselves accordingly. For example, in Burlington, Vermont, Alexa PR’d her one rep max back squat.  Burlington, it turns out, is the home of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.  I’ll give you one guess as to who enjoyed herself a waffle cone that day.

When it comes down to it, fueling your body on the road isn't much different than it is at home. Healthy eating still requires careful attention to detail and being disciplined enough to know how to stick to the plan - and when to cheat on those PR days!

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Author Bio:

Zach Mosbarger is one-half of WanderWOD, a writing project in which he and his girlfriend Alexa Coughlin travel through North America, blogging about their adventures and dropping in to CrossFit affiliates all along the way.  He graduated from Lake Erie College with a B.S. in Communication in 2013.  His favorite CrossFit WOD is Nasty Girls.

Stay connected with Zach through his various Social Media channels at WanderWOD.com, Twitter , Instagram and Facebook.