About nine months ago I wrote this post – Healthy Take From Home Road Trip Food Ideas for Summer 2018 – with a list of suggestions for healthy foods to take on the road when traveling. Having spent the past 54 weeks (quite happily and contentedly) in nutritional ketosis, I thought I’d offer a quick update with a few thoughts.
Metabolic Flexibility Rocks on the Road
Though you don’t hear everybody talking about it, count me among the die-hard fans of the concept of being metabolically flexible as you charge through the challenges daily life brings to hand.
Being metabolically flexible means, in this context while traveling, you’re not looking to eat every 2-3 hours, buying chips, sugary drinks (sports drinks and fruit juices still aren’t good choices, no matter how crafty their marketing), and crappy candy to “keep your energy up”.
Being metabolically flexible on the road means, when adequately hydrated, fasting comfortably if you need to stretch a day or travel outside your normal activity window in a day. For example, my wife and I hit the road on a 24-hour drive about 1pm yesterday and drove into the wee hours today to make our upcoming vacation schedule work; we had both fasted since dinner the evening before, and we were absolutely comfortable nibbling on keto snacks along the way, choosing to forgo a sit down meal to get on down the road.
Not fat-adapted or as metabolically flexible as you’d like to be? Stay with it, you’ll get there. (I can help you with the process too).
What About Foods for the Road?
Having spent a little over a year in the keto world, the list I posted here last year still stands. This particular trip to Montana (both of our kids live still live under the Big Sky), we have another 1/2 gallon of our favorite cold-brewed coffee on hand in the cooler, with some great cream to go along with it.
As suggested in last year’s post, we have cold-grilled salmon, some high quality German salami, several nifty cheeses, my go to keto snack trimmed radishes, some full-fat, whole milk, pastured yogurt, good dark chocolate, nuts, and unsweetened coconut chips.
Finally, I made a batch of these Spicy Southern Sausage and Cheese Balls – they’re great cold and will keep a week or so in the cooler/fridge.
After another fasted start this morning, we’re back on the road and will be in Missoula later today, stocking up at a wonderful grocer our daughter has found there, and getting ready for a week of fly fishing and hiking.
What are some of your favorites for the road?
[…] outlined some of our favorite road trip foods here and […]