I remember the days when my weekends were spent lounging on the couch watching new movies and eating takeout in my pajamas. Nowadays with two teenagers and a toddler weekends are spent traveling from place to place. I love all the activity and experiences we get to share. With all of these full day outings I have come to realize that eating out is just not as convenient on a keto diet. After much trial and error I have finally succeeded at remaining in ketosis for an entire weekend of travels with the family.
Here are the top five tips to successfully surviving a family day trip on a keto diet:
- Always pack snacks
- Bring a cooler
- Pack your travel mug
- Stay hydrated
- Know your options for eating out
Surviving a family day trip on a keto diet is all about being prepared. Continue reading for more tips on prepping yourself for keto life on the road.
#1 Always Pack Snacks
There’s a reason this tip is number one. It is basically my life mantra. Unless I’m just running to the grocery store I hardly ever go anywhere without a snack. Even then I may pack a couple pepperoni sticks to munch on if I’ve recently skipped a meal. Going on a day trip requires a great deal of snacks, especially if you have children.
Luckily having children to pack for makes this rule a no brainer. If you’re going out of the house you’re likely packing your kids snacks anyways, so get some of your own snacks in the cooler. If you’re planning on eating out at some point during the day your kids are going to be able to enjoy anything they want while your choices will be more restricted. Although we’re always focusing on ensuring our kids are 150% taken care of at any expense to ourselves, now is not the time to be selfless. Ensure you have enough snacks to keep yourself energized the entire day.
As I mentioned before, I am a pro at to-go snacks. The options are endless and I’m sure by the time you are reading this I’ve already created a separate post on the best keto friendly to-go snacks, if you don’t see it on the site keep an eye out, it’ll be coming soon. A few of my favourite options are pepperoni sticks, cheese sticks, hardboiled eggs, olives, pork rinds and celery sticks. These snacks are affordable, take little time to pack and are easy to eat in the car. I also like to pack these items because they are snacks that my kids enjoy and have gotten used to eating on a road trip. This way I don’t need to pack two completely separate sets of snacks. I’ll pack a combination of these items and a container of crackers and/or fruit for the kids and we’re good for snacks for the day.
Snacking Quick Tip # 1: Make sure at least one of your snacks doesn’t need to be refrigerated and can easily be thrown in your pocket or purse. There’s nothing worse than leaving the car for a few hours only to realize that you either have to bring the entire cooler with you or go hungry until you get back to the car because every snack you brought needs to stay cold.
Snacking Quick Tip #2: Pack something special that you enjoy eating. I like to pack a small square of dark chocolate, but whatever keto friendly treat that you look forward to eating throughout the day will make it easier to stick to your diet while your family munches on carb-filled goodies.
#2 Bring a Cooler
When you’re going out for the day and you know there’s going to be a lot of walking it is a huge convenience to avoid lugging around a cooler by packing non-refrigerated options. I strongly recommend that even if your snacks don’t require refrigeration throw a small cooler and ice pack in your vehicle. From experience I can tell you that about ¾ of the day trips I have been on have unexpectedly ended up with my family not knowing where we could find a keto friendly meal and resorting to stopping at a grocery store instead of a restaurant. When you go into the store knowing that whatever you purchase can be kept cold for a few hours your options increase significantly.
#3 Bring a Travel Mug
Bringing a travel mug with coffee or tea will keep you energized and ready to enjoy quality time with your family. This tip should save you from any unnecessary coffee stops throughout the day as well. It may be impossible to avoid coffee stops completely, but the more they are avoided the more you can avoid the temptation of all the sugary snacks in them.
When possible I try to avoid stopping at a coffee shop more than once throughout the day. Baked goods are one of my major weaknesses. I know that when I’m out having a good time I may want to just enjoy sharing a donut or some other baked good with my daughter as a special treat. Avoiding multiple trips to get a beverage usually helps keep myself in check with this one. You know your own weaknesses. If staring at a donut while ordering your coffee doesn’t affect you at all then you can just skip this tip.
#4 Stay Hydrated
Just as I don’t go anywhere without my snacks, I also don’t go anywhere without my water bottle. Staying hydrated is important for everyone in the family. Keep your water bottle on hand everywhere you go to ensure that when you do eat it’s because you’re actually hungry and isn’t just your body telling you that you need water.
I find when I’m in ketosis I become dehydrated quicker. I like to keep a little bottle of carb-free electrolyte drink in my snack bag to squirt in my water bottle. This keeps my electrolytes full and gives me something sweet to drink when I get bored of water.
Bringing your own beverages when you go out can save you a bit of money. This means you have a little extra cash to spend on a keto friendly restaurant option as these tend to be more expensive than the average takeout meal.
#5 Know Your Options for Eating Out
Knowing ahead of time where you can find a keto friendly meal makes your day easier to plan and avoids impulse food purchases that are higher in carbs. Spend a few minutes googling the area you’re travelling to and learning your options. This is a great activity to do in the car if you’re a passenger or if you have older kids you can get them to do the researching for you which gets the entire family involved.
Our family enjoys being adventurous when it comes to deciding where to eat. While we all have our favourite restaurants we also like to try new foods and have new experiences. I believe this is a great example to set for kids so I always do a little research online to figure out the unique keto options in the area. This used to be a difficult task but as low carb diets become increasingly popular more and more restaurants are offering keto and low carb meals to their menus.
One thing to consider is whether or not you will be going to a franchised or chain restaurant. The more locations a restaurant has the more precisely you’ll be able to keep track of your macros. Larger chains will usually have a website full of nutritional values for everything on the menu. If you enjoy trying smaller more one-of-a-kind mom and pop style restaurants be aware that they aren’t going to have a nutritional label available for each meal. This doesn’t mean you can’t eat there. You just need to be cautious of what ingredients are in your meal so you can plan accordingly.
Having more than one option to choose from is an enjoyable aspect of picking a restaurant. While a franchised fast food restaurant may tell you exactly how many carbs you’ve consumed you may only be able to eat one item on the menu. Meanwhile, if you go sit down at a homestyle restaurant there may be multiple options such as a piece of chicken with salad, a bunless burger or roast beef and steamed vegetables. As always your decision is going to be based on what works for your family. If you’re in a hurry or if you’re really trying to keep track of every gram of carb a fast food restaurant is a great option. If you’re feeling adventurous and don’t mind estimating your carb count for the day a restaurant unique to the area may be ideal.
#6 Bonus Tip
One final tip is to stay flexible. You can plan all you want but unexpected things happen. If you have to stop at three different donut shops or you end up eating dinner in a grocery store parking lot just remember that you’re doing your best and you’re spending precious time with your family. That’s all that matters.
