Staying Healthy While On The Road

July 30, 2018 Kate Williams

Road trips – you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t love them! Whether it be googling a new hike and making a day of it, surprising a faraway friend or family member with a last minute visit, or picking a random country town on the map to explore.

There’s something about jumping in the car, throwing on a great playlist or true-crime podcast, and hitting the road that gets our blood pumping and our hearts smiling.

Picking a couple of days a month to get in the car and go somewhere new provides countless benefits. We get our daily vitamin D dose, we stimulate our brain with new surroundings, we spend quality time with friends or loved ones away from home duties, and we learn to appreciate what we have in our own backyard. Not to mention we get our bodies moving in one way or another.

But, road trips are also an easy way to eat away at our wallets and undo our week’s exercise efforts.

A drive-thru bacon & egg muffin & milk-y latte for brekkie, a pre-packed chicken schnitzel sandwich & Snickers bar from a servo for lunch, or a chunky steak pie & brownie from a local bakery for afternoon tea.

These things are (of course) delicious and #balance means treating ourselves is so important, but some being a little proactive and packing some travel snacks can save us both cash and a sugar headache.

Some key tips for packing for the road:

Pre-plan (as in, the night before, not the morning of!):

Don’t wait until the morning of to pack snacks for the road – it’s easy to wake up hungry and think about how delicious that bacon & egg muffin would be.

Pack the night before, place it in a cooler bag, and keep in the fridge overnight. And if you are prone to forgetfulness, stick a post-it note on the front door to remind you to move it from the fridge!

Consider filling foods that can be eaten easily while in the car, and that are substantial enough for a meal

A super easy example – an egg & veggie slice that can be eaten hot or cold. Throw in a heap of grated or shredded veggies (zucchini, carrot, onion, sweet potato) into a casserole dish, top with whisked eggs, add in some salt & pepper, and you have an easy breakfast to eat on the run.

Include tasty snacks that keep us satisfied and provide us with energy to get out and explore (avoid the boring & bland or risk it going uneaten)

Our lucky Winter box subscribers will have had the chance to trial a very handy little snack that ticks all of these boxes – we worked with the team over at Stamina State to feature Chibbs Chickpeas in our Winter boxes as they are tasty (Sweet Tomato made an appearance in our box, but we also LOVE the French Onion), provide all-day energy, and are vegan/organic/gluten free/dairy free.

We love to make a trail mix of almonds, sunflower seeds, pepitas and Chibbs chickpeas, shake to disperse the flavours, and store in an airtight container for passing around the car. This keeps us happy between meals, meaning we can instead splurge on a nice pub lunch while on the road.

Pack plenty of water (don’t fall into the habit of buying it…!):

We have the luxury of drinking water directly from our taps, so buying water on the road is completely unnecessary, not to mention a waste of money & useless plastic!

And further, not drinking enough water means we easily become dehydrated and feel we need something sugary or flavoured to properly quench our thirst.

Many of us now have a number of different reusable water bottles lying around the house that we’ve collected over the years, so put them to good use!! Fill them all up, freeze a couple if you want chilled water for the arvo, pack them in the car, and prioritise staying hydrated.

It doesn’t take long to notice how much better we feel while away from home. Happy travelling!

Stamina State’s Chibbs range can also be viewed here: https://www.staminastate.com