….Low carb travel

 

Travel – the activity of moving or journeying from one place to another, especially far from home.

Is it possible to stick to your low carb lifestyle when you are traveling? You might have figured out that I travel often for work, and majority of the time it will be to the agricultural hotspot in the country. I am dependent on Hotel of Guesthouse meals mainly for breakfast and dinner and it can be a real challenge some time.

You never really pay attention to what people put in food until you start and avoid certain items. In 2012 when I joined this company I also traveled frequently, but I was eating whatever was available. Most of the time we would end up buying some sort of fast food and even though my tummy didn’t like it, I never bothered to look for other healthier options.

For the last 18 months, we really took our lifestyle to the next level and for that reason I decided to write this post. People ask if it is not hard to eat healthy while you travel – my answer yes and no.

YES – whenever you are travelling, whether it is social (family holiday) or business you have to change your daily routine. Getting up earlier (mainly on my business trips) staying awake later, eat meals at very odd times. You are never 100% sure what they add to the food, even when you order a salad at a restaurant. When you travel in a group, sometimes it can be very hard to say no to all the temptations on the road like biscuits and Simba chips.

NO – if you follow this lifestyle for the right reasons, you will not be temped to eat off plan. Planning ahead  is crucial as you will not be caught off guard and end up eating something off plan. Once you know what you can eat, its easier to find something to eat at most grocery stores restaurants.

You should enjoy the amazing views while traveling and not only focus on what you should eat or not eat. To be honest, when we travel we always try our best to only eat LCHF, but sometimes we will drink a hot chocolate (I know, its liquid sugar) or try out some craft beers (liquid carbs), or stop at our favourite farm stall and enjoy a real home-made-stuffed-with-goodness-lamb-and-mint-pie. You should never blame your lifestyle for not enjoying a holiday or road trip. I know we have become much better with this and no hardly ever eat something off plan – ok, except maybe for the 3 cappuccinos I had on our 12 hour drive. 

I tend to eat the same things when I travel. For breakfast I would mainly eat poached eggs (hotels or guesthouses mainly use seed oils to fry their food), bacon (stay away from sausages as it will contain fillers), some vegetables available (mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber). I stay clear of the fruit and yogurt (loaded with sugar), and all the baked treats. And of course – COFFEE. I will ask for fresh cream wherever I travel and if they do not have, I will just drink black coffee. I will also travel with my own coffee, just for incase they only have instant coffee.

For lunch – I would try and keep to a salad with protein. Most of the time I will eat it without salad dressing, unless I bring my own. I also try and carry some nuts (almonds) and biltong for a snack if I need something to keep me going.

Supper would mainly be at the hotel or restaurant, so I would stick to steaks (no basting) and salad/veggies (depending on what is available). This can be the trickiest of them all as most of the food is mass produced and you will never really know what they add to the food. In South Africa, restaurants are slowly embracing the low carb lifestyle so options are growing, but sadly they still tend to use the wrong oils and basting sauces – but a start.

I think the most important message of this article must be – LCHF is a lifestyle, not a death sentence. Always try and pick the best options available. If you are anything I like, I suffer greatly if I eat anything off plan and to me it is not worth it. Learn to say NO – and you don’t have to explain your answer.

We share all our LCHF travel meals on our Facebook page 4-the-love-of so please feel free to join our page and share some of your travel meals.

Happy travels – April will be a busy month on the road for us, so keep your eyes open for more LCHF travel meals on our Facebook and Instagram pages (@Bantingfamily)