Healthy Eating on The Road: Diet Tips to Help You

This summer our family of 5 ventured on our yearly road trip all the way to Gaspe (Quebec, Canada) and looped back home.  A total trip of over a week that was purely magical!

Our itinerary looked like this:

• Ottawa: 2 nights (soccer tournament for one of my daughters and stayed at Courtyard by Marriott where the room was really spacious!)
• Quebec City: 3 nights (stayed at Hotel & Suites Le Dauphin - great location for us and just a 20 minute drive to Old Quebec with close supermarkets and attractions like MegaParc that the kids loved nearby)
• Matane: 1 night (stayed at Riotel Matane with seaside views - my personal favourite hotel and great deal as a CAA member)
• Gaspe: 1 night (stayed at La Petite Ecole de Forillon - a hostel style - all the other hotels were fully booked and would probably not stay there again especially with no air conditioning)
• Carlton Sur Mer: 1 night (stayed at Motel L'Abri which had a kitchenette including a stove and full sized fridge - it was apartment sized and one of our faves!)
• Rimouski: 1 night (Comfort Inn - it was okay for a night but I would try somewhere else next time too!)
• Montreal: 1 night (Courtyard Montreal Brossard - would absolutely recommend.  The pool is beautiful, parking is easy and location is convenient!)

This trip was packed with visits to multiple "hot spots" in each city so time flew by too fast!

Being on the road - whether on a road trip, camping or even travelling out of the country can shake up your normal routine - including your diet.

So I thought I'd share some tips on how we try to support a healthy diet even while away from home.

Here are my top 5 tips:

1. Pack healthier options of prepackaged snacks to have in case: this included healthier bars like Hippie Snacks (I picked it up at Bulk Bark for 75% off!) , Nomz, RX Bar, Hungry Buddha, protein rich granola, etc.  Look for snacks that have simple ingredients, have low sugar, but good amounts of healthy fats and protein to help keep energy levels up and keep you fuller longer!
2. Buy fresh food/produce at the local Costco or grocery stores: from Costco in Rimouski we picked up a huge veggie tray, fruits, quinoa salad, olives, sushi, shrimp, prepackaged snacks and because we were in Quebec - cheese curds of course!  We also went to local grocery stores and bought more fruit, salad, veggies, rotisserie chicken, etc to have as snacks on hikes, for easy breakfasts and quick dinners.
3. Bring a cooler(s): the biggest issue with getting fresh food is keeping it fresh!  The hotel fridge is never big enough so we brought this Ninja cooler my hubby had gotten as a birthday gift.  We filled it with ice cubes from the hotel to keep the food fresh and the lower drawer kept things like the olives etc dry but cold! We kept this in the hotel or in the car and it was perfect!  We also had a cooler backpack like this or this one.  We took the backpack for all of our hikes and for the car for quick access to healthy fresh snack options.  We bought ours from Target and all it needs is usually 3 or 4 frozen water bottles we freeze in the hotel fridge on the bottom (instead of ice cubes) and it keeps things cool all day without getting too wet. (Note: we use plastic water bottles rarely because of plastic exposures but on road trips they can be very helpful.)
4. Bring insulated water bottles: there's nothing worse than hot water on a hot day for us so we kept filling these Owala water bottles with ice cubes from the hotels and water.  It helped us prioritize hydration and was super convenient! 
5. Don't forget to enjoy a few treats: life is always about balance so try something different, enjoy an ice cream/frozen yogourt or share a dessert!  

Here's the thing - we don't try to eat healthy while we're away because we "have to" or feel guilty or obligated - we do it because we love how we feel when we do and there is really no bigger motivator. 

And my kids are driving this too ie. they enjoyed poutine for lunch in Quebec City and then asked to have something "fresh" for snacks and dinner because they craved it - and that's a huge win for me!

Being a cancer survivor, a mom of 3 small kids who are growing too fast and feeling like time in general is moving too fast has been the biggest motivator to intentionally take time to fill our memory banks.

So I hope you're filling yours too and fueling your body the right way doing it!

To your health,

Dr. Becky ND

P.S. to download my FREE Cancer Thriver's Food Guide, access resources and consults click HERE.  

P.P.S. Make sure to follow me on Youtube, IG, TikTok and LinkedIn for more health tips!