The question of the day was “Well if you don’t eat at McDonald’s and you’re on the road and extremely hungry, what do you do?” Usually accompanied by the phrase that I like to rail against with actions every day “Well, you know you gotta.” No, I don’t “gotta,” there are always other ways. Raise the flag of rebellion! Decent snacking in the face of mass marketed crap food! Because, as my friend and fellow RKC, Jen Sinkler says – Being Healthy is a Revolutionary Act!
Usually this problem doesn’t really happen with me – because I always have SOME kind of snack – usually raw nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts), an apple or two, and/or high end jerky (Tanka Bar, Ostrim, etc.) sometimes I’ll bring along bars from Greens+ or Larabar. Occasionally I’ll put all the dry ingredients of a protein shake into a clean and dry blender bottle, that way, when it’s snack time, just add water and shake. You’ll also be hard pressed to find me anywhere without some extremely dark chocolate at hand. Alternately Primal or Paleo cookies (I make mine more like very nutty scones), or coconut flour, eggs and pumpkin based muffins. In a pinch I was coming back from a friend’s house (I was house sitting) and had a small container of pre-cooked grass fed hamburger patties. Not wanting to stop, at a 
red light I ate one cold – pretty sure it looked like I was eating a cookie. I don’t expect that “normal” people would want to do that, but it sure was 1,000 times better than having to go to a fast food restaurant and not only suffer the gut-punch pain, but also the knowledge that I’ve eaten something so diametrically opposed to my health and fitness goals that it isn’t even funny.
NOW – assuming for some reason I haven’t done any of that, or more realistically, gnomes have stolen my snacking bag. What would I do?! Here are the easy solutions:
- Find a Walgreens or CVS (24hrs a lot of times) get raw almonds, water, sometimes they even have coconut water, larabars, mixed nuts and a few natural trail mixes. DONE!
- Starbucks (bonus – caffiene!) – check out the little packages of delicious almonds, and other natural snacks – they even have a mini to-go plate with hardboiled egg etc. They also have those dangerously tasty (watch the grams of sugars) Kind nut and fruit bars.
- In airports, look for healthy snack kiosks and small stores like Cibo etc. they always have a good selection of healthy things like the items listed above. Yes its on the expensive side, but what’s a couple extra $ compared to a stomach ache during your flight, and the knowledge that you’ve eaten something bad – and are now forced to sit for hours. Cibo Express even has little containers with 2 hardboiled eggs and packets of pepper and sea salt – they’re DELICIOUS! And if you get upgraded, the surreal act of peeling eggs in First Class just can’t be beat. I am also happy to report, there seem to be more low-carb meal options offered when I’ve been upgraded recently.
- Also in airports if you’re waiting out a layover and have time for a meal, look for diners (bacon, eggs!), sit down restaurants that may have fajitas (forgo the tortillas if you want and order extra guac like I do!). Or if you’re really stuck, find a quality hamburger place – like a “tavern style” restaurant and get a bunless burger with a side of extra vegetables or salad. For the super luxe-inclined, LaGuardia’s Delta terminal has this incredible little restaurant Bisou where you can get a bunless burger topped with avocado, bacon, and even truffles when in season…
- Qdoba, Chipotle, Moe’s etc are also very easy to make fit your dietary strategy – no matter what it is – so if you’re in the company of relatives etc. these are good choices.
So there you go – no excuses, and no more thinking that you can’t do it, and that I’m some kind of hyper-self-disciplined weirdo. Errrr whatever.
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