5 Tips for Practicing Intuitive Eating While Traveling
Written by Isabel Vasquez, RD, LDN
Going on a trip is super exciting, but it can also bring up food anxiety, particularly if you’re stuck in the diet mentality. You may worry about the change in routine and uncertainty over food options when you’re away from home.
Yet, traveling is a good chance to practice flexibility with your food choices. Most people find that when they’ve broken free from the diet mentality, traveling becomes a lot more fun, especially exploring the local food scene wherever you go.
Bringing your intuitive eating skills with you on the go is a combo of ensuring you have enough food with you to stay nourished and embracing flexibility with your food choices. In this blog post, we’re sharing five tips for practicing intuitive eating while traveling.
(If you need a refresher on intuitive eating, start with our blog post on intuitive eating.)
Pack a variety of convenience foods.
Diet culture has given convenience foods a bad rap, but they are super helpful for our fast-paced lives and they’re also helpful for traveling. Plus, just because they’re convenient or processed doesn’t mean they’re “unhealthy”.
Packing convenience foods while traveling allows you to honor your hunger as it emerges. So, try to pack a variety of foods to promote satisfaction. Some ideas include crackers, granola bars, dried vegetable chips, dried fruit, nuts, nut butter, jerky, and trail mix.
Having these foods with you in the car, on a plane, or on whatever adventure you choose, allows you to proactively nourish yourself and stay energized so you can enjoy your trip. It can help prevent that dreaded hanger.
Explore the local cuisine.
One of the beauties of traveling is getting to try cuisines you wouldn’t normally have access to!
If you’re traveling somewhere with a specific cuisine, try it out! If you’re traveling somewhere without a distinct cuisine, consider trying out the most popular restaurants there if it’s within your means.
As an intuitive eater, you get to have fun with food! So make decisions from a place of abundance and be mindful of whether the diet culture voice is influencing what you choose to order.
Be kind to your body.
While you’re on a trip—especially if you’re headed somewhere tropical—you might wear clothes you haven’t in a while, like dresses, bathing suits, or shorts.
Wearing more revealing clothes in public might bring up uncomfortable feelings about your body. Be prepared to sit with them.
If you can, consider buying some new clothes that fit your here-and-now body to feel your best on this trip.
If you’re on a trip and you’re struggling with body image, consider distracting yourself with an immersive experience and inviting in moments of gratitude for how your body allows you to have those experiences!
Notice whether your eating is different than at home.
Some of our clients have found a groove eating at home, but when the environment and schedule change they discover some areas they need to work on.
If vacation ends up being a time where you consistently eat far beyond comfortable fullness and you feel an immense amount of guilt, that may be an area to focus on in your intuitive eating journey.
Get curious about why it happened. It may be a sign you haven’t given yourself unconditional permission to eat in your day-to-day life.
Of course, eating beyond comfortable fullness from time to time is totally normal, so be conscious of whether this happens consistently, causing you regular discomfort, or just a couple of times.
Let yourself enjoy it!
Traveling becomes so much more enjoyable when you have made peace with food. You get to enjoy the whole experience without being limited by food rules or a rigid exercise regimen.
You may even want to journal about how intuitive eating has impacted your vacation experience. Practice gratitude for the freedom your intuitive eating journey has given you to enjoy these experiences. Most of all, have fun!
For education on how to ADD nutrition to your favorite Latine cultural dishes, make peace with food, and focus on your health without dieting, join our nutrition library for just $27/month.
If you liked this post, you may also like:
The Pros and Cons of Intuitive Eating for Latinas
Overcoming 3 Common Fears for New Intuitive Eaters
How to Stop Snacking Constantly: Why You're Doing It and 5 Tips to Stop
