Healthy Eating on Travel

The past two weeks I’ve been in Florida for a work trip. It’s been a lot of long hours at work, but I’ve also had time to spend with my friends and family and their sweet puppy dogs. Oh, and the weather in Florida has been just heavenly! Sunny during the day and cool at night. Check out this sunrise I saw last week. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Being back at an office with lots of unhealthy food and unhealthy behaviors is certainly challenging. I try to keep an easygoing attitude about my food choices when I’m out of town, out of the comfort of my own kitchen,  and far from the stockpile of healthy snacks I store at home. Typically, I make a few splurges on my trips, but generally keep my healthy habits intact.

In addition to my food habits, I made sure to bring my workout clothes with me. I’ve been running after work and also took a few bellydance, samba, and yoga classes to keep up my strength and reduce the stress from work.

On this trip, I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy free breakfast and lunch on weekdays, provided by my work. They’ve been bringing in food for us, which is great for my finances, but not always great for health. Here’s how I managed:

• BBQ restaurant – I ordered sides only to avoid the meat. I had greens, cole slaw, and beans.


• Panera bread – I enjoyed their big fresh salads and unsweet tea.


• Firehouse subs – I also ordered a salad here. Firehouse salads are surprisingly good and fresh!


• Pizza – On the pizza day I made sure we had an all veggie pizza and asked for salads on the side to at least sneak some veggies in. The veggie pizza was the first one gone!


• Breakfasts – The boss kept bringing in danishes and donuts, but I convinced him to pick up some yogurt, fruit, and granola for those of us who didn’t want the processed sweets.


• Snacks – I brought in grapes, avocado, hummus, and raw bell peppers to snack on. There were lots of cookies and chips around, but having these healthy alternatives helped keep me on track for the most part.


• Other stuff – I brought in my own almond milk to have with coffee and also big bottles of water to sip throughout the day. I also asked the boss to pick up a few cases of sparkling water as an alternative to sodas.

Sorry I didn’t take pictures! I was too busy at work to think about it. Anyways, I’ll be back to NYC next week. I’m looking forward to snuggling back into my own bed and restocking groceries at my favorite health food stores in the big city. Wishing everyone a happy Superbowl weekend! I’m making mini hummus & veggie sandwiches to bring to my friend’s party. I’ll definitely post pics of those.

Much love from Florida!

~Laurel