Healthy Eating on a Vacation

Healthy eating on a vacation was a subject that came up recently for my wife and me as we took a winter vacation (or winter holiday, as they say in Canada) for a week in Arizona.

It’s one thing to eat healthily when you are at home. There you have a “handle” on your sources of healthy food, you know where you store your healthy food, where and how you prepare your healthy food, and where, how, and when you eat your healthy food. But when you are on vacation, the world is turned upside down! You’re catching a late plane, standing in line for rental cars, and just in general, not on a normal schedule. But there’s no shortage of “food!” The unhealthy stuff, often at inflated prices, jumps out at you from every corner. And have you priced food in an airport recently? Wow, do they ever know they have a captive market…

Our Vacation Experience

Both my wife and I are concerned about our health – our weight, and our general health as well. We are not quite as young as we once were, and we realize we need to pay even more attention to eating healthily than we thought we did at age 25! We also care about our budget.

One of the challenges for us, when we are at a hotel on vacation and trying to stay healthy, is dealing with the free hotel breakfasts. They’re often SO good, and they’re free, so it’s easy to “pig out” on sausages, waffles, and all the rest of the yummy food! It’s not just that one gets breakfast, there’s also a certain “cool” ambiance that goes with the whole hotel breakfast atmosphere. It’s just fun to eat there!

But after several days of such breakfasts, we often begin to realize that really, this is not all that good for us. At home, we very seldom eat that type of breakfast – definitely not on a regular basis.

So anyway, when we booked this time, we discovered a brand new hotel at our Arizona destination that was surprisingly less expensive than most of the others, yet still clean and modern. Why was it less expensive? Was there a catch?

We discovered that it was a Woodspring Suites Extended Stay hotel. How was it different from other “normal” hotels? For one thing, they didn’t serve breakfast! What did they have instead? There was a stovetop in each room and a full-sized refrigerator!

So suffice it to say, after our arrival at our destination, and before we turned in for the night on the very first night, we stopped by and stocked up with foods that we would normally eat at home, at the local friendly Walmart. For us, it was a “win-win.” Cheaper – and we ate better, healthier food. It was a lovely vacation. We didn’t actually eat out at a restaurant even one time!

Your Vacation Experience

You might not be willing to do what we did. I understand that not everyone would consider such a vacation a true vacation. It might be that eating out in interesting local eateries and meeting local people is part of what you enjoy! It’s not the most budget-friendly approach, mind you, but maybe you don’t care; you’re on vacation, and you’re going to enjoy yourself!

So maybe you need a different approach if this is your attitude. Money is likely not an object; you’ve planned for expensive meals in your budget (or planned to pay them off for the next year!).

The tendency is to throw caution to the winds though when one is on vacation. But this is about “healthy eating on a vacation.” How can we address that?

Eat Less

Your body doesn’t take a break. It doesn’t know you’re vacationing. If you overload it on vacation, it reacts the same way it would if you overloaded it at home. So one approach is simply to eat less.

Psychologically, I’m programmed to think that if I don’t eat everything on my plate, I’m being wasteful. But restaurants are known to serve astronomical portions. If the portions are not huge, the fat, salt, and sugar content is. So don’t throw off all restraint. Think! You don’t need to eat everything you’re served – even that almost feels like heresy to say it! But would you rather eat everything, or feel good? It’s not fun to feel bloated, for example, when you’re on vacation. At least for me, there’s a definite correlation between how much I eat and how I feel.

At the hotel breakfast bar (good for the budget as it’s generally free), there are usually healthier options. Limit the number of sausage patties, strips of bacon, or plates full of biscuits and gravy. Eat more yogurt, more oranges, and more whole-grain toast. Your body will thank you.

Eat two meals a day on vacation instead of three. This will conserve both your money and your health. If you eat a later breakfast, eat an early supper.

In general, just don’t go into vacation mode in the restaurant. You can still choose salads! You don’t need the zillion-calorie dessert, do you? Among all the items on the menu, there are generally healthier options. Choose the healthier. Sometimes it’s just a matter of thinking about it at the right time.

To Save Cash (and Health) Plan Ahead

Even on vacation, if we don’t want to be paying for the next year, it’s in our best interest not to spend all our retirement funds on food! There are lots of options these days for figuring things out ahead of time. Plan where you eat as much as you can! It’s not difficult to find out where the less expensive eateries are at your vacation destination. A few clicks will keep you in the know.

Think about what the purpose of your vacation is, and stick with that. It is almost never made better just because the food is richer or more expensive – or you eat more of it! You want to explore, you want to sightsee. You want to take pictures. You want to make memories! You want to feel good while doing all those wonderful things you want to do on your vacation!

Oh yes – there are places where you don’t want to drink the water. I haven’t been to those places, but if you’re going somewhere like that, drink bottled water. No one’s vacation has ever been helped by adding diarrhea to the mix!

In Summary…

If you can and are willing, purchase and prepare your own food on vacation. If you don’t want to do that, or it isn’t practical, eat the free hotel breakfast, eat less, eat carefully, choose less expensive eateries, and/or eat fewer meals. Find what works for you, but make sure you stay healthy (and within your budget) so your vacation is truly a vacation.

If you have an interesting vacation experience to share or any questions or comments on this post, feel free to share in the space below!

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