Tips for Dining Out & Traveling

What is your favorite restaurant to dine at? What kind of food does it serve? What’s your favorite dish? Can you describe the flavors, the textures, the smell? Have you had good times with friends at this place, or did the atmosphere really resonate with you?

When we talk about food as nourishment, we don’t mean that it only provides nutrition to our bodies. Certainly we need food to optimize our health and our bodies’ daily functions. Food can benefit or provide detriment to our physical health.

But food also nourishes our minds, our souls. On the one hand there’s the physical side of food, the one that we tend to think about most. This is the side of food where we think about how it will help or hinder our health. But on the other hand there’s the experience side of food. This involves cooking, scents, tastes, textures, sharing, experiences with friends, happiness. At its core food is an experience. Food is meant to be enjoyed, not just obsessed and feared over as the source of our physical health.

Diet culture has made it so that we have come to fear “unclean” food. When it comes to achieving a healthy body weight or trying to “eat clean,” things like restaurant food become nearly off-limits. The same occurs with traveling. Many individuals find it hard to stay on track with a balanced diet while traveling, and feel guilty about every food they eat while away. Yet traveling and the food that comes with it is also an experience that is meant to be enjoyed and is meant to satisfy our mental health. So why have we let two sources of fun become two sources of fear?

Dining out and traveling are part of life. Therefore, they’re absolutely part of a healthy, balanced diet. Learning to accept dining out and travel food as normal parts of life will help reduce the insecurity associated with it. Additionally, bringing principles of balance and mindfulness can help reduce stress surrounding a break from the normal diet routine and allow you to actually enjoy eating experiences outside the home.

Here are some tips to dine out or eat while traveling while maintaining balance:

  1. Be prepared. When it comes to dining out, check out menus beforehand. Maybe there’s a dish you know you really want that you can also get with a delicious side of vegetables. Or maybe you want to split the good stuff and opt for something more physically nourishing as your main meal. In terms of traveling, bring your own snacks and/or small meals to ensure that you have something familiar and nutritious to munch on.

  2. Implement mindfulness. When dining out, implement the same mindfulness skills you would while dining at home or anywhere else. Listen to your body and your hunger cues to note when you feel satisfied. Eat slowly, prioritize your company and don’t rush. If it’s time for dessert and you’re not totally stuffed or that slice of cake will satisfy your soul, go for it!

  3. Be intentional. Maybe there’s a dish at a restaurant that doesn’t fit with your goals but that you don’t eat often and you can’t get anywhere else—in that case, allow yourself to enjoy it. But maybe you’re on vacation and because of that the right idea seems to be to get less nourishing foods at each meal. Maybe one of those meals is something you can get any time, either at home or on vacation. This is the time to check in with yourself and ask if a more nourishing, balanced option would satisfy you more and make your body feel its best.

  4. Don’t go (too) hungry. This can be said about every party, every event, you name it: don’t show up ravenous to anything. Maybe this means a 4pm snack before dinner, or maybe it means eating something on the way to the airport or before you leave for your destination. When you’re nourished you’re more likely to make rational decisions about food and anything else in life.

  5. Hydrate. Travel is one of the most dehydrating experiences, especially air travel. Make sure you’re hydrating as much as possible. If you’re out for a long day, bring a reusable water bottle that you can constantly fill. Take frequent sips of water between bites at meals to allow for smoother digestion.

  6. Ditch the guilt. Sometimes we go overboard during a meal out or while traveling, and that’s ok—it’s normal. But what we must realize is that one eating opportunity does not define us or change anything. If you’ve been consistent with healthy habits, that means more than one night where you felt like you ate too much. Moreover you can get up the next day and recommit to those same habits by getting some movement in and getting back to routine.

Something all of us need to be better about is ditching black and white thinking surrounding food and accepting all foods as just that, food. When we learn to eliminate the moral value of “good” vs. “bad” food, experiences like dining out and traveling become less daunting.

Hopefully these tips help to alleviate dining out or travel stress :)

By Jessica Kaplan

Abigail Rapaport
Abigail Rapaport, MS, RD, is a practicing dietitian & food and nutrition consultant who provides nutrition counseling and healthy lifestyle services to her clients.
www.abigailnutrition.com
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