Going on a road trip? I share some ways to eat healthier when traveling.
Welcome to the Treasure Wellness Podcast where we talk about all things health, and where nothing is off limits, you will uncover what may be holding you back so that you can break those chains. Get to the root cause, and walk into freedom with confidence the way God intended for you to live. Hi, I’m Michelle McCoy, functional health coach and holistic lifestyle advocate, ladies, together, we are going to dig deep into real life so that you are educated and equipped to create the whole health you desire without the overwhelm. Now more than ever is the time for breakthrough action and restoration. It’s time to get intentional and reclaim your health. If you’re ready for mind, body and soul clarity, then let’s get to it.
Hey, guys, happy Tuesday. I am recording in March. I know this will be going out at the end of April but I just came back from a trucking show that I just cannot get out of my mind what I saw and what I heard and so I just really wanted to come on here and talk to you guys about that and this is going to be kind of a short episode because I just popped dinner in the oven and just in case you’re curious, what what do I make for dinner? Well, tonight we’re having boneless pork chops that are seasoned, and it’s from a company called Neyman ranch, and they are completely organic, no hormones added and I just love that brand. And every once in a while I can snag a really good sale for them.
And so I did that this time, I went to the store yesterday. And I’m like, oh, this is perfect, because this week is just super busy so I’ve got that in the oven, and I’ve got some red potatoes that are seasoned and I also have green beans and mushrooms so anyway, that’s what the McCoy’s are eating tonight so I am going to talk about what I saw at the trucking show what I heard over and over. And I just want to give you just a few tips on what you can do if you are on the road if you have to travel a lot. So you might want to take a few notes but otherwise, just settle back, get comfortable and let’s get started.
Okay, so how can you support yourself when you are on the road, you know, those really long road trips with the family or business travel, if you have to go back and forth with business travel, whether you’re flying or whether you’re driving, or even if your occupation happens to be driving truck, which there are more and more women truck drivers out there now, which has blown me away, I had no idea. And it’s just so awesome to see but being on the road can be really hard to try to eat well to try to eat healthy and to try to really eat on a schedule even. So I just wanted to share some things from my time at this trucking show. A couple of things, I really noticed that there are a lot of poor Grab and Go options, right when you run into the truck stop or you run into the gas station or the sheets or whatever quick little stop and go place.
It’s really hard to make good choices and places like that because of the selection there are just really poor options, poor selections to try to be healthy. You’ve got your typical fast food options, of course, but then you’ve also got the snack options. You’ve got your packaged candies and cookies and cakes and pastries. You’ve got the sugar laden chemical and dilating slushies and Slurpees and sodas and all of that it can just be difficult to choose and people don’t know what to choose so they choose what is comfortable and what is familiar to them. Right? Doesn’t that make sense? I mean, it can really be overwhelming going into that quick bar or that gas station when you’re looking for something quick and healthy. You don’t have a lot of time you’re standing there looking like I gotta go time is ticking like I’ve have got x many hours on the road and oftentimes, if that’s you, if you’re sitting there looking for that quick, healthy snack, how many times you end up choosing what looks good to see you in that split second decision.
And often, I remember when we would go back and forth to New York, because that’s where we’re from. And so we would go back and forth to New York, and we would stop at these little truck stops or gas stations. And oftentimes my husband and I would grab one of those cappuccinos or those coffees from machines because we were just doing the drive all at once and it was a 13 hour drive and it was just really hard. And often we started early in the morning, we would leave at three or four in the morning hoping that the kids would sleep, which was a very rare occurrence, but at least they were quiet. And we didn’t have to stop right away, we could actually get a good distance four or five hours before we had to stop.
So that was really helpful but honestly, truck stops have done away with many of those smaller Mom and Pop restaurants, where you could get a home cooked meal, and they’ve replaced them with fast food joints. And I really don’t even know why I can only think that it’s because of money or maybe it’s just more small businesses have been affected. I don’t know but I heard over and over how hard this was for truck drivers to try to make a healthy choice, they stop at the truck stops, they’re expecting to be able to go in and sit down and have eggs and bacon and ham and you know, healthier options for breakfast. And they’re met with a Hardee’s or a Burger King or some other fast food restaurant. Honestly, if you’ve been listening to me anytime you have heard me say that fast food is really Frankenfood, in my opinion. It’s not truly real food, it smells like food. And it may look and taste like food but there are so many chemicals in there that make it that way and it’s just not healthy for us.
And, again, trying to make that healthier choice with what you have. And then also you get your fatigue in there. So that affects two. Which brings me to point number two, the stuck mindset that so many people have when they are on the road. So think about yourself, think about your last road trip. What is your mindset, like when you’re on the road? Do you resign yourself to just dealing with what is there at the moment and deal with those consequences later? Or do you feel like you really have no real choice in eating? Well, when you’re on the road, you’re just like, Well, I’m just going to get there, I have a 13 hour drive, I’m just going to get there, I’m going to snack and then I’ll eat better when I get to my destination. How many of us have felt that way? How many of us have gone through that? It’s that mindset of I don’t have any control.
So I’m just going to do the best that I can and deal with it later. Well, if you feel like you really don’t have a choice, when you’re on the road to eat healthy, I want to challenge you to not give away your power. Don’t give away your power like that because you are still in control of your health, you are still your best advocate for your own health. So let me help you out a bit. There are three things that I have come up with that you can do to make healthier choices while you’re on the road based on my experience at this trucking show because over and over again, I just heard how difficult it was. I heard like how sick they were, how they were just feeling resigned to that was their life, that was the lifestyle that they had to lead. And as hard as it is to eat healthy on the road, it is absolutely not impossible. So if you have a loved one, somebody who drives a truck for a living or something, it is not impossible.
It takes discipline and it takes diligence, but it is not impossible. Should we give our truckers more support? Absolutely. Should we bring back the mom and pop restaurants at the truck stops? Yes, 100% we should, if anything just to help out small businesses, right, but also to give our truck drivers healthier options. And my friend has said that truck drivers are the backbone of our country, and we need our truck drivers. I mean, all over the world, we need our drivers. But I’m speaking specifically for here in America, we need our truck drivers, we need them. And we need them to be healthy, just like we need our pilots to be healthy. So there really should be more options that are healthier options for them for when they’re on the road because some truck drivers do long hauls, and they’re on the road for a week. So it can be a little bit more challenging to pack healthier when you’re in that situation. But here are three things that you can do to make healthier choices while you’re on the road.
Number one plan accordingly. You want to plan out how many hours or days that you will be on the road traveling. If you eat three meals a day, then you need to have at least two of those meals you want to make sure that they’re able to be eaten while driving right because you don’t want to stop for every single meal and and you’re wasting time I know I prove I did not like stopping when we were doing our New York trips and really, that’s just my personality. I don’t like to stop, I like to get to my destination. I love to stop at rest stops, stretch my legs, use the restroom and then grab our food and keep going. That’s just my personality. And a lot of people don’t want to stop and linger at a restaurant, especially if they’re traveling solo. So if this is you, and you would rather stop at a restaurant like I do to stretch your legs and get your lunch together before hitting the road again, then planning is going to be so important and so necessary. But you also want to plan out your foods based on your own personal tolerance, of course, So, for example, if you have IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, you certainly do not want to eat any foods on the road that will upset your stomach.
Even if it’s a temptation, you know that you want to stay away from that. So I would never eat anything dairy, I wouldn’t even have a piece of cheese like nope, not doing it. So you want to plan accordingly to help yourself out. And then number two, you want to pack generously, get a larger, Cooler Bag if needed to store all of your healthier food options. Sometimes we try to cram things for space, we just try to cram as much as we can. But our bag is smaller. And it’s not really helping us because that means we’re shortchanging ourselves later on as we need it. Because we run out of food we run out of the food that we packed. That’s when it gets tricky, because then we’re stopping and we’re just staring at that selection. And our mind might want us to go towards the chocolate or the pastry. But we know that we shouldn’t because it’s going to make us tired and sluggish. And we’re driving and we can’t have that. So splurge on a larger bag, splurge on something that is practical and very useful.
I absolutely love my cooler backpack. And I also have a cooler bag that I love, because they both have a zipper and have to have a zipper. So I love those two bags, because they can hold a lot and they are both insulated. So they keep My food’s cold no matter which bag I use. And often I’ve used both, of course, depending on the trip. So all of my years driving back and forth to New York has taught me how important a good quality cooler bag is. There are times that we barely made it halfway through the trip and our ice packs had melted. And it was just such a hassle because then you’re trying to find ice. It’s just another stop you have to make. It’s just frustrating. So that brings me to getting more ice packs to assure that nothing will spoil. Because not all ice packs can hold up to a day’s drive like the ones I used to use back in the day.
They’ve come so far now, I recommend getting a variety of brands, so you know what can hold up to the job. So the reusable and leak proof gel ones, I like them better than the ones that you fill with water because they stay colder longer. Those little igloo ones, I’m forgetting some of the other brands. I really don’t like those. I think they’re convenient in the sense that they’re smaller, they’re not as bulky, but they really don’t stay cold, they fall out very quickly. In my opinion, that’s just what I have found. So play around, find the ones that work for you. And then number three, pick wisely. So choosing where you stop helps in picking your food wisely.
Stopping at a grocery store is a great option. And a lot of people don’t think about this, but it’s an excellent option because they will have washed, cut and ready to go like fresh options. That’s going to actually fill you with nutritious energy instead of empty calories and a bunch of preservatives. You don’t want that you’re on the road. You’re already tired from the drive and that deep intense focus. So you need to be getting something that is going to fill you with good nutritious energy. So let me give you some examples. Hard Boiled eggs that are already peeled, cut vegetables like snap peas and peppers. Those individually wrapped cheeses, deli meats, ask for the amount that you want. You don’t always have to get half a pound or a pound, you’re going to ask for a couple of slices and that is fine. Get some healthier cracker and Chip options.
They have so much more of a variety at a grocery store raw or lightly salted nuts because sometimes you need that salt, you don’t have to always do the raw. Sometimes you need that little salt especially if you’re tired and organic and gluten free options. Those are way more readily available at a grocery store than at a truck stop or gas station. So darting in and often you’ll see a lot of grocery stores near like a McDonald’s or something. So just bypass the drive thru and go right to the grocery store and search out for some healthier options. Okay, what can you grab from the gas station or the truck stop? up that’s healthier. Well, fortunately, we are seeing better options. Now. They are actually carrying some grass fed beef or turkey sticks. They’re carrying cheeses, lightly salted nuts, fruit, protein bars or granola bars. So they are having some better options.
I saw the other day on our road trip, that there are some sandwiches that are really packed with lettuce and deli turkey and cheese and things like that. And you know, the bread is not great. But you can always take the bread off, and they were really thick. So there was enough deli meat there and with the lettuce and tomato that you should feel satisfied. And then maybe grab some crackers, because they did have some more Whole Grain Type crackers there. I realized that this depends on where you go and where you stop. But I’ve just been more aware lately, and especially with this last trip, we drove to Kentucky for this trucking show. So that was a really long drive for us. And I just was more aware of options like I’ve you know, I’ve looked around. Usually I just start right in, I head right to the restroom and I dark back out. But the last couple of years I’ve been looking around and just seeing where things are changing and things are getting healthier. And it’s really been in the last few years that I have noticed that they are having some healthier options. So that’s really good. Again, you’re going to get your best bet at a grocery store.
So that would be where I would head first personally is to a grocery store. And I have done that before I have actually done that. When I was out and about doing errands. I was gone all day. And I did not intend to be gone all day. And I wasn’t as prepared as I was. I had only packed, I think, a protein bar that day, because I’d eaten a good breakfast. And I really did not intend to be gone that long. So there was no way I was going to go through a drive thru because just with my food intolerances, I was not playing that game. So I was like, Okay, so let me just go to the grocery store. And I was able to get some raw veggies and hummus and some deli and I was fine that that was what I needed to get me through that last errand and then go home. Because, you know, if you have blood sugar issues, you have to be really careful that your blood sugar doesn’t drop too far, you don’t want to get in that hangry stage for sure.
You don’t want to have that blood sugar dip where you’re shaking, and you’re really not feeling great. So don’t be afraid to even use these tips when you’re out and about doing errands or, you know, on a busy Saturday or something. So those are just three options that can help keep you in control over what you’re eating, which helps you stay in control over your health. So you want to plan accordingly, pack generously and pick wisely. All right, so if you need more support and your help, feel free to reach out to me for a free assessment call. Let’s see how I can best support you in your goals with private coaching. And I also have a pantry and fridge makeover mini course. This course shows ingredients that are harmful in our food products and how you can make the switch to healthier ingredients without overwhelming you.
It’s completely self paced so that you can do it on your own time. And you will have the course for life. It does not go away. So all of the links will be in the show notes for private coaching as well as the mini course. And all the other links are in there as well. All right, let me pray over you. Lord, I just thank you for each woman listening and I just pray that You would just bless her and lead her and guide her in the way that she should go Lord, I just pray that You would open her eyes to see what she needs to see what you want her to see, Lord and we just thank you so much that you love her that you cherish her and that you call her your daughter. For it’s in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
All right, guys that’s what I have for you today and I just heard my timer go off so I’m going to Dart. I hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you next week, beautiful.
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