The biggest challenge for any athlete, or anyone who wants to be healthy for that matter, is what to eat when travelling. Not only do you miss the luxury of having home-cooked meals, frequently eating out can adversely affect your overall performance with any sport if you aren’t careful.

So, what are the best practices to keep in mind if you are travelling and want to keep eating healthy?

1. Make a beeline for the supermarket/grocery

One of the things I practice when I travel is to pay the supermarket/grocery a visit as soon as I can. This allows me to buy some fruits and clean snacks that I can use as supplies throughout my vacation/travel.

Something as simple as apples and bananas or organic cereals go a long way in helping to ensure that clean eating is enforced. Try to buy a big bottle of water as well that you can bring around with you.

2. Choose simple meats /proteins and vegetables

For meals, my go to meal is usually a steak of a piece of good fish and steamed vegetables. Make sure to tell the waiter how you want it prepared. For steak, I would go for grilled without any butter, sauces on the side or not served at all. For vegetables, opt for carrots, beans or broccoli that is steamed or blanched without butter or oil.

Key here is to load up on vegetables and gratify your tastebuds with a simple piece of meat. You can also do a side salad but nix the dressing because you don’t know what the dressing is made of.

3. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Another thing that is usually taken for granted most especially when travelling is hydration. Distractions come up and taking a sip of water here and there becomes a forgotten thing.

What I usually do is to bring a bottle of water in the backpack. Knowing that it is there can help remind you to hydrate throughout the day. Your body will definitely thank you for it.

4. Graze throughout the day

Grazing means having small meals or snacks in between major meals. The question is, how do you graze when you are on the go? Remember the supplies you bought from the supermarket/grocery? Bring some with you when you go out. Grazing throughout the day helps keep your body’s metabolism up.

5. Hunger is your enemy

Tied with grazing throughout the day is keeping hunger at bay. When you aren’t hungry, you are bound to make better choices once you get to a restaurant to order your meals.

Hunger is your enemy because not only does it slow down your metabolism but because it will surely lead to poor food choices.