The unscheduled nature of summer interferes with routines which keep weight more easily managed, and often people notice a couple of extra pounds in preparation for the winter months.

Given that we don’t opt to hibernate, this extra weight isn’t necessary! Here are some of my top tips to avoid gaining weight when traveling and enjoying summer festivities:

1) Grill It! Use your grill for good, not evil. Instead of ribs and hot dogs, grill a variety of vegetables, chicken kabobs and use a cedar plank to grill fresh fish. Use exotic spice blends for flavor and BBQ sauce on the side to dip your chicken in if you are sensitive to sugars.

2) Bring a healthy dish to potlucks so you can ensure a healthy option is available. Others will appreciate it as well!

3) Crowd out caloric drinks with water: Summer slushies, cocktails, and blended coffee drinks can have as many calories as your main meal. Keep caloric drinks to a minimum, and when you do have one, have a tall glass of water (with lime for flavor) before and after you have your high-calorie beverage.

4) Plan you vacations to include healthy options and physical activity: If it’s very hot, exercise in the morning or evening – stroll the beach at sunset, play in water parks with the kids, hike in the shaded woods. Pack picnic lunches, utilize grocery stores for healthy snack options, and plan ahead whenever possible. I often research restaurants in locations I am visiting to get an idea of options available to me. For road trips, this post may be useful to you.

5) Keep tabs on yourself! Don’t turn a blind eye. If you are prone to overdoing it on vacation or during the summer, keep tabs on your size with a specific pair of pants or measuring tape. Some clients find it helpful to keep a food log in high-risk situations to keep them honest and accountable. Do what you need to without sacrificing the joys of the summer months!

One of the common complaints I hear is that water doens’t “taste good” or it is “boring”. Here are some innovative ways to refresh nature’s perfect beverage:

• Add a squeeze of citrus: lemon, lime, or orange slices add color and zest (pun not intended) to an ordinary glass of water.
• Add fresh cucumber slices to a glass or pitcher of water.
• Go herbal by adding fresh basil or rosemary from the garden to a pitcher of water. I just learned this new trick and it is absolutely fantastic! Other ideas: lavender, oregano, mint and thyme!
• Freeze washed grapes and use them as ice cube to keep water cool. A sweet snack at the bottom of your glass can be incentive to drink up!
• Keep your water chilled longer by freezing a few glasses, or keeping your waterbottle in the freezer with 1/2 inch of water inside. Instant ice cube, long lasting chill!

Last month, a new challenge came my way — healthy eating while traveling via roadway, cross-country.

I took an 8-day trek with a friend, acting as co-pilot as he made his way to the east coast for new employment opportunities. The challenge of following a gluten, dairy, soy-free whole foods diet on the road were new to me, and definitely not without some slip-ups and hard lessons learned.

Here’s what I have discovered:

1) Wendy’s offers baked potatoes, and can be found along most major highways throughout the country. Pair it with a salad and you can have a reasonably healthy meal in what may seem a completely inhospitable area. A squeeze of fresh lemon can make a great dressing on any vegetable!
2) Sustaining oneself on nuts and trail mix does not lead to satisfaction (at least in my case). Portable sources of satisfying foods to have in the car: tuna or salmon in shelf-stable containment, organic soy or meat jerkies, whole grain crackers (Triscuits can be found anywhere, Mary’s Gone Crackers are gluten-free and at any Whole Foods), rice cakes and nut butters, and raw veggies with hummus can come in VERY handy when you are hungry and there is no decent food in sight.

3) Because I was traveling back west by plane, I did not have a cooler of goodies to take with me. If at all possible, bring a cooler for perishable items like hummus, fresh veggies, open containers of dairy-free milk (you can buy rice and soy milks in 8oz. lunchbox sizes – these are VERY handy when refrigeration is unreliable) and leftovers from restaurants. You can purchase ice daily or get it from hotels, or alternatively have a car-friendly portable cooler with you.

4) Expect slip-ups. When eating out, you cannot control what is happening in someone else’s kitchen. Sometimes, if ill-prepared, all that is offered you is something your body doesn’t favor. Or perhaps you make the epic mistake I did and wait too long, get too hungry, and maul the bread basket when it is placed in front of you. To combat mistakes, accidents, and lapses in judgment, bring along the digestive supplements your body needs to thrive. Depending on your individual condition, you may benefit from digestive enzymes, probiotics, fiber supplements, or hydrochloric acid. Having it on hand can ease the pain of most slip-ups. It took two days to get my system back on track after the breadbasket binge, and I know it would have been longer if I hadn’t been prepared for contamination.

5) Use your best judgment. My understanding has been that bread was one of the least dramatic sensitivities my body has, and soy is one of the highest. I know my body is sensitive to the protein in cow’s milk and cheese, and not as adverse to half and half, which is mostly fat. I know I can get away with some coffee, but not too much. Working with this knowledge, I had drip coffee with a little half and half and avoided soy/dairy lattes, did not punish my car companion by eating soy products, and learned (the hard way) that gluten has a much stronger impact on my body – especially if consumed repeatedly – than I had previously realized.

My next road trip is down the coast in July. I anticipate it will be a much smoother, easier process since I will have a cooler and it will be far less time on the road. I also have the benefit of roadside fruit vendors coming into season, especially as I head south. I’m excited to see how round two goes. If anything notable occurs, I’ll be certain to mention it here!

What is your experience during travel? How do you maintain a healthy diet or avoid foods you are allergic to when you are on the road? Your ideas are valuable gems that can help others; please let me know your healthy travel secrets!

Smoothies are one of the best, easiest ways to receive optimal nutrition after a workout, or as a way to begin your day. Potent in antioxidants (the treasures within fruit), smoothies also act as a ocnvenient carrier for all sorts of supplemental nutrition that may be inconvenient to receive otherwise. You may add extra protein, flax oil, additional antioxidants, green powders (or greens themselves!), liquid calcium or multivitamin complexes, bee pollen, badditional fiber, and more! The possibilities for flavors are endless and they are great hits with the kids.

Please click here to read more in the Seattle PI:
Here’s to summer smoothies!

PS — I would also like to note there is a minor factual misprint in the article. It appears as though I may not have made it clear to the author that while there are many reasons why whey protein is preferable to rice protein in a recovery smoothie, digestibility is not one of them.

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