Maintaining a healthy diet on the road is tough but not impossible

 What do you do when you're on the road and are trying to be healthy without having access to a kitchen to prepare healthy foods? You either pay an arm and a leg at restaurants to get the healthy options, since only to bad-for-you choices are actually affordable. Or you live off of convenience foods, downing protein drinks and eating the available healthy choices, like bananas, yogurt, and hard-boiled eggs. 

Lately I've had to rely on eating out for several meals per week. I've tried to do it in as healthy way as possible, but I'm longing to have my own home and kitchen again, so I can get back to the business of getting my health back on track.

My main objective when I eat out is to get as much access to a variety of vegetables, both raw and cooked, as possible. It's tough. I like diners, and sometimes they really overcharge for the healthier options, which aren't really that thought out to be "healthy" but rather have an air of healthiness. 

Still, I'm doing the best I can. I feel I'm making good choices, and in fact my body tells me when I am and when I'm not, so via self regulation I maintain a decent diet. I am sure I can make it through the next few weeks without absolutely going off the rails. 

Tracking my way to success: This is why I use MyFitnessPal

Weight loss and healthy weight management can feel like such a chore if you're one of those, like me, who seeks out food whenever the going gets tough. My mantra throughout my 165-pound weight loss a few years ago was simple: Food is food, not your friend! So that's why I'm glad there's a tool like MyFitnessPal - it is THE quintessential food-is-fuel tool!

For me, MyFitnessPal is perfect, because I have four things I like to track as I'm working toward achieving weight loss success, and MyFitnessPal helps me track them all - for free!

First and foremost, I track my water intake. Hydration is the keystone to staying on track. I drink the typical eight glasses of water a day, but I drink five extra - one glass for every twenty pounds I need to lose. My goal is to lose 100 pounds in 2014, so I log 13 glasses of water every day.

Tracking portion size and calories can be a chore - not with MyFitnessPal!

Second, I track my portion size and calories. Portion size is tricky, but tracking healthy portions on MyFitnessPal is a snap. All the foods I eat are easily searchable, so I can log my food intake immediately and not have to worry about forgetting to do it later. I use the website as well as the app on my smartphone, and they sync my info so I don't have to!

Third, I track my exercise. My goal is 60 minutes of cardio per day and four days of strength training. Sometimes I conveniently forget whether yesterday was a workout day or not, but with MyFitnessPal I have a constant reminder and proof of what I did.

Tracking my exercise helps me make sure I give myself credit for hard work!

Finally, I track my measurements. Sure, I weigh myself and log that. But sometimes pounds don't come off as quickly as I'd like, but maybe I have a success in waist size. That's a win, too, and I want to be aware of how far I've come as I make my way toward my fitness goals.

If you're on a weight loss and fitness journey as I am, please feel free to friend me on MyFitnessPal so we co-motivate each other. I'm Fitness400. On Instagram I'm fitlifechronicles. And on Twitter I'm myfitlife2day.

Looking for healthy options in the chain restaurant minefield

Being on the road there is just no way to stick to routine. Eating out becomes the norm, and even with all the choices of where to eat, there are surprisingly few healthy options. Sure, you can make do at any old place. But wouldn't it be nice if there were more restaurants that had more healthy options than unhealthy ones for a change?

Why can't fast food look more like this?

I've tried all the chains, and the only one where I can consistently eat what I would like to eat if I were making it myself is Panera Bread Company. The caveat with Panera is that as a side you get a choice of bread, chips or an apple. I would normally choose the apple, but the ones they have are usually gross looking - and besides, when I choose apples I always go organic since it's on that dirty dozen list. So I opt either for whole wheat bread at lunchtime, or nothing. (Choosing nothing is counter-intuitive for me, so it's a tough option, but do-able when I realize I don't need the extra calories from the bread.)

Panera's sister company, Paradise, is another decent option menu-wise. But the default side at Paradise is a cookie - a very delicious cookie I find it hard to say no to. As a result, I avoid Paradise these days.

Here in the Palm Springs area where I live I have found a few local, organic and vegetarian places I like, but I'm looking for chains to step up so eating out isn't like treading through a minefield of unhealthy options every time I'm on the road. If you have had success with chain restaurants serving up healthy options, please let me know! Leave a comment below or contact me through my splash page.