Eating for Heart Health on Vacation

Lately it feels like most of my clients are troubled by what summer travel has done to their eating habits. Are you feeling this way too?

“I was doing so well getting on the right track and then when I went on vacation I ended up right back at the start. Since I’ve been home I haven’t done any better.”

Travelling can throw a wrench into our eating habits, thanks to everything from sleep disruptions to eating on the go to that extra glass of wine and yummy food on the deck.

I want you to enjoy your holidays! And if you can come back feeling more refreshed than regretful, even better. So I thought I’d share this short video with quick tips about how to eat for heart health on vacation, for anyone who has a trip coming up. I discuss:

Why to get a kitchen if possible
Stocking a hotel room with no kitchen
Vacation meal planning tips
Restaurant eating

(Note that I recorded this in the fall of 2020, which explains the comment at the start “You remember vacations, right?”)

Related resources:

Heart-Healthy Snacks for Wherever You Are – including sections for snacks you can pack at home or pick up at coffee shops, convenience stores, or grocery stores
Meal Planning Tools – including a template and list of some of my favourite heart healthy meals and snacks
Vacation meal ideas – crowd-pleasing, heart-healthy meals with just a few ingredients
A detailed list for stocking a heart-healthy hotel room

If you did get off track this summer

If you feel like your nutrition took two steps backwards over the summer, don’t worry about it! Worry doesn’t help anything, and when we feel discouraged, motivation disappears.

Truly, a week or two of eating more for fun than heart health isn’t the end of the world. Most people’s health journey is more zigzag than linear.

You can get back on track today if you want! Each meal is a chance to eat something that nourishes your heart. The trick is to let go of the idea that a massive correction is needed.

If heart healthy eating can be described on a scale from 1 to 10, where 10 is “perfect” eating, where are you now? If it feels like you’re at a 5, can you aim for a 6 or 7 at your next meal? Don’t aim for a 10. Perfect is the enemy of good, right?