My assistant, Bryan Morosky, participates in triathlons all over the world.  A lot of times he is traveling to his races and needs to make sure he is still eating properly to remain fueled for his race.  Today’s post, Bryan will be talking about how to eat properly while traveling.  It can be done.  Bryan take it away.

Fueling your body with proper nutrition and hydration is hard enough for athletes to do on a consistent basis, especially for younger athletes.  But traveling away from home for a game, competition, or race can make it seem nearly impossible.  Whether you are driving a few hours to a neighboring state or flying across the country you must take proper nutrition into account as part of your travel plans.

Rest stops and airports are filled with fast food restaurants and shops with candy, snacks, and soft drinks. Obviously, it is best to avoid these convenient yet unhealthy options.

The best way to avoid these food traps is to PLAN AHEAD!

If you are driving a few hours away for a weekend tournament somewhere (as I know several of our athletes have done in the past couple months) you can pack a cooler with water and sports drinks.  Avoid pop, juices, and energy drinks.  Dehydration, even the slightest bit, can cause athletic performance to drop dramatically.  So staying hydrated is the most important thing to remember.  A lot of times people won’t drink much because they don’t want to lose time stopping to use the bathroom.  Losing five extra minutes for a potty break is a small price to pay for proper hydration for athletes.

You can also bring with you healthy food from home. Make some lean turkey sandwiches on whole grain bread or small salads and pack them in little tupperware containers in the cooler so you can have a great snack or small meal ready to go.  It will save time and money, as well as provide better nutrition.

Getting proper nutrition while flying is a little more difficult.  Hydration is even more important when flying because of how dry the air is in the pressurized airplane cabin.  The extremely low humidity sucks the water right out of your body without you knowing it.  It is recommended that you drink 8 ounces of water per hour of flight time to prevent dehydration.  But most people don’t.

Using the bathroom on a plane is inconvenient, you are rushed to get to your departure gate, and the list of excuses for not drinking anything goes on.  Buy a large bottle of water at one of the newsstands in the terminal or ask for a glass of ice water from the flight attendant and you will be better prepared to combat dehydration on the plane.

Food courts at airports are nutritional nightmares.  Fast food restaurants are just about the only options.  However, there are now kiosks (little refrigerated stands) that have pre-made salads, deli sandwiches, and soups.  These are far better options than the large slices of pizza from Sbarro or the fried chicken strips from any number of chicken joints.  If you have a short direct flight or are only traveling for a few hours then a small snack should hold you over until your destination.  Fresh fruit, a bag of trail mix, or roasted almonds are great choices.

Once you are at your destination you can go to a grocery store and buy a couple days worth of healthy foods and snacks rather than relying on local restaurants and fast food. Most hotel rooms have small refrigerators in them so you can keep fresh food.  If not, buy a Styrofoam cooler for a couple bucks and fill it with ice.

This little bit of information about nutrition while traveling can benefit everybody, not just athletes.  But if you are an athlete you need to pay extra special attention to these things because your athletic performance will surely suffer if you don’t.  All it takes is a little planning and a few smart choices along the way.