Travel Habits That Can Ruin Your Paleo Lifestyle

Traveling can pose problems for anyone who normally sticks to a healthy diet and workout routine. With all the restaurant meals, local treats to try and late nights out, you might be worried that an upcoming trip is going to sabotage your diet.

The good news is that the more you travel, the easier it becomes to navigate the in’s-and-outs of how to best stick to your Paleo lifestyle, even when you’re away from your own kitchen. Here are four common mistakes to avoid when traveling.

1. Thinking In Terms of “All Or Nothing”

It’s easy to go “all-in” before going away on a trip–cutting down on your calorie intake, amping up your workout intensity, and eating extra clean–only to think that all bets are off once you’re away. Instead of getting into a “black and white” mindset, where you tell yourself that you need to be extra disciplined before and after your trip, but you can totally let loose during your trip, take the middle road.

Try to do your best to eat well and exercise regularly before leaving your predictable routine behind, but don’t assume that you need to separate how you act during vacation so much from the way you normally live your life. Feeling restricted and deprived usually only backfires–leading us to eat more, and especially more “forbidden” junk than we normally would–if we just practiced a bit more moderation. In other words, you don’t need to restrict yourself from eating one piece of dessert the entire month before your trip, only to have ice cream every night when you’re away and finally loosing up the reins!

2. Showing Up Empty Handed

A little preparation can go a long, long way when traveling. Try to bring along some healthy Paleo items when you leave home, even if it’s simple snacks like fruit and nuts. You might not have access to a refrigerator when you’re traveling, but this isn’t a deal breaker. Paleo crackers, trail mix, kale chips, dried fruit, canned fish, jerky and Paleo-approved bars are all great items to stash in your luggage. These can really come in handy when you’re out-and-about all day, keeping you satisfied enough between meals.

3. Skipping Meals

Many people tend to eat on a regular scheduled most days of the week, which means their body adapts and becomes hungry around the same time. The problem with traveling is that they throw their usual eating routine out of the window and might even try skipping early meals in the day (breakfast, lunch or snacks) in an attempt to “save up” for the bigger splurges, like a fancy dinner out.

Instead of getting overly hungry and becoming more vulnerable to impulsive decisions to eat something you normally would skip, keep yourself on an even keel by eating regularly in terms of stabilizing your hunger and blood sugar levels. If you’re traveling to any big city, junk foods and fast food are likely going to be a present everywhere you look when you’re out for the day sight-seeing. The more you can try to eat when your body is becoming hungry, the less susceptible to you’ll be to eating junk food.

4. Stressing Over A Break In Your Routine!

It’s understandable that you want to stick to your usual Paleo lifestyle as much as possible even when you leave home–especially since it likely makes you feel better, more energetic and overall happier. That being said however, aiming for perfection when it comes to any diet isn’t exactly realistic, especially when you’re traveling and getting out of your comfort zone.

If you let every minor deviation from your Paleo diet stress you out, you’re only setting yourself up for guilt followed by more self-sabotaging behaviors. Feeling worried about your next meal, or regretful over something you ate that you wish you didn’t, puts you out of touch with your true hunger and fullness signals–not to mention it means you’re missing out on half the fun of traveling! Try the local flavor; be OK with splurging a bit, and trust that your body will make up for it once the trip is over. Accept that once you return home, you can get back to your usual routine, but in the meantime why not enjoy the ride and avoid freaking out if you go off plan a bit?

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