I just came back from a road trip with my parents. We left from Houston to go to the Grand Canyon while stopping on the way there to vist, and we drove back. I am not writing this blog post to tell you about my trip, but to tell you how I stayed SANE while traveling. If you aren’t following a SANE diet, but you are gluten-free or paleo then this will apply to you too.

Getting Ready

Before hitting the road, I bought some snacks to make sure that I would have something to eat on the road in case I couldn’t find anything. I bought some baby carrots, ham, Epic bars, a few Lärabars (for when I would crave sweets), and nuts. I packed some erythritol to sweeten my coffee while on the road, and collagen to add some protein and nutrients to it. I prepared some beef and veal jerky (that I forgot in the freezer -_-‘). I also made some hard-boiled eggs, and pumpkin bars before leaving. To make sure I ate enough veggies, I made some smoothies that I froze before the trip, so I could keep them in the cooler for a long period of time without them going bad. I bought a cooler, and freezer pack to be able to keep food in the car while traveling. I also bought a 1 gallon bottle of water to make sure I would stay hydrated while on the road. I would either fill up my bottle at the hotel or we bought bottles whenever we were going to the grocery store.

Breakfast

While on the road, we would usually eat at the hotel for breakfast. It was pretty hard for me since most of the things they were serving contained gluten. I would suggest that you choose an hotel that serves a hot/cold buffet, so you can have some eggs for breakfast and maybe sausages and bacon if they serve those. If you pack smoothies then you can have eggs and a smoothie for breakfast. I tend not to eat in the morning, so I would drink coffee with some milk or cream in it. I also had some bars in case I would get hungry later in the day. We tried to book hotels that included breakfast, but when we couldn’t find one that served breakfast we just went out to eat.

In Grants, NM we went to 1st Street Cafe where I got some eggs and bacon. My mom ordered the same thing, so I took her eggs and bacon and she kept the bread that was served with both plates. We put the hash browns in a box, but we ended up throwing it away since we didn’t eat them. In Williams, AZ we found a great buffet restaurant that served sausages, eggs, and bacon which was awesome! They also mentioned whether or not the food was gluten-free.

Lunch

For lunch, we would usually eat whatever was in the cooler. I would usually drink a smoothie or eat some baby carrots if my smoothies weren’t thawed yet. I had some ham in the cooler, so it was a great protein source to have with my veggies, and I had some eggs for whole-food fats. Sometimes I had some leftover from dinner, so I could eat it for lunch the next day. If we chose to eat at a restaurant then I was usually eating a salad or some protein and vegetables. For example, when we went to Chili’s I ordered from their gluten-free menu (they have a menu with all the allergens, so you have to find what doesn’t contain gluten). I would order some sirloin with avocado on top served with broccoli or a salad. It was a little harder when we were away from big cities since they don’t have as many gluten-free options. We went to a Mexican restaurant that didn’t even accept substitutions, so I didn’t dare to ask and I ended up getting a patty with gravy on it… I told them that I am gluten-free and they changed it, so make sure you ask details on your order even when they don’t accept substitutions. If you are gluten-free or avoiding starch for health reasons they will help you out because you aren’t being picky. You are paying for your meal, so you have the right to get what you need especially when your health depends on it.

Dinner

We would usually eat out for dinner. It was hard to choose a specific restaurant when we were on the road because sometimes the closest restaurant was 30 minutes away, and they all close early (well at least for us Europeans who eat at 8-9pm..) I usually found good options at restaurant, and I usually ordered meat and veggies. You can ask them to serve vegetables instead of starch, but most of the time I got to choose the sides and wasn’t served anything else with it. You can add for extra sides if you want to eat even more vegetables.

When it comes to the cooler and the food we had in it, we would usually put it in the fridge at the hotel, but not every room had one. Some hotel couldn’t even put our freezer pack in the freezer since they didn’t have one. We decided to leave the cooler in the car since it was pretty cool at night, and in the morning before leaving we would fill up Ziploc bag with ice since most hotels have ice machine. The ice usually didn’t melt until the next morning.

Eating on the road when you have dietary restrictions or you have health goals to achieve isn’t the easiest, but it isn’t impossible to do. Most restaurants will help you choose something on the menu that fits your need, so don’t be scared to ask.