Take Healthy Habits Along on Vacation

It's time for a well-deserved vacation, for time with your family, and the open road calls. Good for you, but while you're on vacation, don't take a vacation from your healthy eating habits. Just because you get to sleep somewhere else doesn't mean that the extra calories you consume won't accumulate as fat, as they do in your own house. It can be tough to eat healthy when you're not preparing your own food and you find yourselves eating out more often than not, but with a bit of planning your family can stick to a dietary routine.

First of all, when your family is on the road, you don't necessarily have to eat out at fast-food restaurants. However, if you find that you're short on time and a drive-through meal would be convenient, don't supersize individual meals and be sure to keep the portions small. In fact, you don't need a separate meal for each person in your family. A sandwich and fries shared between two or three people gives everyone all the calories and nutrients they need. Also, nearly every fast-food restaurant now offers salads, so order one! And one last tip on fast-food restaurants: a sure way to avoid the urge to pull into a fast-food restaurant is to not drive too long and get too hungry before stopping to eat.

Most families pack snacks when they go on road trips. Instead of packing candy bars and potato chips, bring along a variety of nutritious foods, such as vegetable sticks and fruits. For your younger children, you can prepare saltine crackers spread with low-fat peanut butter. Also, instead of packing a cooler full of soda, take plenty of water along. Not only will drinking water spare your children the empty calories of the soda, but being able to avoid the diuretic effects of caffeinated beverages will result in fewer roadside bathroom breaks.

More on: Family Nutrition

Excerpted from:

From Raising Healthy Eaters: 100 Tips for Parents by Henry Legere, M.D. Copyright © 2004. Used by arrangement with The Perseus Books Group.

To order this book visit perseusbooksgroup.com.