Health tips for road trips
Find a Conversation
Health tips for road trips
| Mon, 07-17-2006 - 12:09pm |
Health tips for road trips
Summer’s here and the time is right – for a road trip. While travel can certainly be good for the soul, sitting for hours on end and making pit stops for fast food can also wreak havoc on your plans for heart-healthy eating and physical activity.
But with a little planning and imagination, you can make your next road trip an affair to remember – for your mind and body.
Heart-smart eating hits the road
Break up the trip by stopping for a picnic lunch or dinner in a rest area. Remember to bring knives, spoons, lots of napkins and wet wipes to make dining on the road a little less messy.
Here are some heart-smart food tips and recipe ideas for your picnic pit stops:
Have fitness, will travel
When you’re on the road, don’t leave fitness at home. Take regular breaks to walk, explore, bike and play along the way. Physical activity is not only good for your heart, but also helps drivers feel more alert and makes kids less restless, calmer and more likely to sleep well.
Summer’s here and the time is right – for a road trip. While travel can certainly be good for the soul, sitting for hours on end and making pit stops for fast food can also wreak havoc on your plans for heart-healthy eating and physical activity.
But with a little planning and imagination, you can make your next road trip an affair to remember – for your mind and body.
Heart-smart eating hits the road
Break up the trip by stopping for a picnic lunch or dinner in a rest area. Remember to bring knives, spoons, lots of napkins and wet wipes to make dining on the road a little less messy.
Here are some heart-smart food tips and recipe ideas for your picnic pit stops:
- Lots of bottled water. Freezing water beforehand helps keep foods in the cooler fresh and will be thawed and still cold by lunchtime.
- Plenty of fresh fruit like bananas, apples, pre-cut melons and grapes.
- Cleaned and sliced raw vegetables with homemade tzatziki dip.
- Homemade coleslaw.
- Make-ahead pasta salad.
- Whole wheat mini pitas with hummus dip.
- Homemade banana bread.
- Dried fruit and nuts like almonds.
- Low-sodium pretzels.
- Soy nuts.
- String cheese or pre-cut cheese cubes.
- Crackers. Look for whole wheat, lower-salt and those containing no trans-fats.
- Fruit juices.
- Lean lunch meats.
- Low-sodium tuna salad.
- Whole grain bread.
- Yogurt or homemade yogurt sauce.
Have fitness, will travel
When you’re on the road, don’t leave fitness at home. Take regular breaks to walk, explore, bike and play along the way. Physical activity is not only good for your heart, but also helps drivers feel more alert and makes kids less restless, calmer and more likely to sleep well.
- Pack a Frisbee or soccer ball, baseball and gloves
- Stop at a park and play tag with your kids
- Explore a roadside attraction
- Plan to explore a nature trail
- Bring your bikes
- Look into public beaches, swimming pools or water parks, where you can take a play break along the way
Read more about how to get, and stay, physically active!
last reviewed:


