Tips For Eating Low Carb When You’re Traveling

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When you’re at home, it’s easy to stick to whatever dietary lifestyle you might participate in. You can make your own meals and remove whatever types of food you’re trying to avoid.

I generally try to not eat a whole lot of carbohydrates and although that’s relatively easy at home (don’t get me wrong – I don’t necessarily mean that from an “I’m hungry and I like sweet stuff and I want to eat all the foods” point of view), it’s a whole lot more difficult when Joe and I are traveling. But there are a few things I’ve discovered through the years that make it a little bit easier.

Before I go into my suggestions, heads up that this is not intended to be any sort of medical advice. I’m not your doctor, nurse or nutritionist – those are the people to ask specific questions, should you have any, when it comes to you and your diet. I’m just relaying what has worked for me that might be helpful.

I’m also not recommending or not recommending any sort of specialized diet like Atkins, Keto, etc. This is purely not eating too many carbs, if that’s what you’d like to do, when you’re traveling.

I’m also going to assume that, if you’re making an effort to eat low carb, you already have some idea about what types of foods are higher in carbohydrates and you would try to avoid. If you’re looking for information about low carb diets in general, your doctor, nurse or nutritionist would probably be the best place to start.

Continental Breakfast

I’ll start with the most difficult one. Continental breakfasts at hotels are typically a choice of cereals, toast, English muffins, pastries, fruit, yogurt, sometimes a make your own waffles thing, etc. In other words, carbs with your carbs. Some places have hard-boiled eggs, so those are an option, at least.

If you luck out and your continental breakfast has hot stuff, stick with eggs and whatever meat(s) they offer. Obviously, hash browns or any other potato-based thing they offer is a no-no (or as much as a no-no as you want to make it. I go for low carb, not no-carb, and 1 heaping tablespoon of hash browns ain’t gonna kill me LOL).

Personally, I always have a “Plan B” for breakfast – I will have grabbed some packets of nuts at the airport Starbucks, or pre-measured them in snack bags at home before I left, and if low/no carb options are scare, I’ll grab something small like a yogurt, and eat the nuts with it. It’ll fill me up for 2 or 3 hours and then I can get something more substantial for lunch.

Meals Off A Menu

If you’re ordering food from a menu, there are a few things helpful to keep in mind:

• Skip the bread basket and sit away from the chips, pretzels, breadsticks, etc. If you don’t see them or can’t reach them, you won’t eat them.
• Nothing is stopping you from ordering, let’s say, a hamburger or a sandwich – just don’t eat the bun/bread (or, depending on how much you can/are willing to eat, limit yourself to half of the bun/bread. Or a quarter of it). Use a knife and fork to eat the patty/meat and veggies instead.
• Some more progressive places will offer lettuce-wrap sandwiches or burgers on a bed of lettuce as a replacement for bread.
• Try to avoid food that’s breaded. Or if you do order that breaded pork chop, scrape the breading off.
• If they don’t come with the meal, don’t order fries, mashed potatoes, rice, potato chips, etc. If carbs do come with the meal, tell them you can’t eat the potatoes/rice/potato chips/whatever and ask if you can order a vegetable instead. You may sometimes have to pay a small upcharge for this substitution. Some places don’t allow substitutions – if that’s the case, just be strong and don’t eat what you shouldn’t. Or give it to your friend/relaitve. Or tell them to just not include it on your plate, if need be.
• If you’re not going to eat the carbs during your meal, you might want to eat a little more meat or vegetables to fill up your stomach.
• Alcoholic drinks have carbs. Especially frou-frou drinks.
• Not ordering dessert stinks but it is what it is. That’s not to say to not treat yourself every once in a great while, but limit it to once in a blue moon and a very small portion.

Some Helpful References

• Low carb restaurant guide
• 5 top tips – how to eat out and stay low-carb
• The 10 best chain restaurants for cutting carbs

What suggestions can you give to help stay low carb when you’re out of town?

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary