Traveling With Kids - The Healthy Way
While we were at the seminar, countless people asked my husband and me how on earth we managed to produce such "well behaved" children! We laughed, because these fortunate souls didn't witness some of the less-than-charming moments shared between our kids! Many days in tight quarters tend to do that! Anyhow, I was bound and determined to keep us all as healthy as possible; despite the limited time and resources we had available on this trip.
(I believe it's because of maintaining their healthy foundation that the kids were able to be so "well behaved" for so long.
) What do I mean by limited time and resources? Well, the car rides had to involve some combination of mommy-packed food and restaurant food.
Our trip there was much more single-focused...
"just get there!" We didn't have the time for leisurely, home-cooked meals! Once we were at the hotel, we were dealing with a very tight schedule, expensive and not-necessarily-healthy 'hotel food', and limited options.
So, I had a plan.
My plan involved doing the best we could regarding our nutrition, exercise, emotional health/mindset, outdoor time and rest.
I allowed for plenty of 'wiggle room', knowing things wouldn't be perfect! Kinda' like life.
As far as our nutritional health, I relied heavily on groceries rather than restaurants.
We packed a big cooler that got us through the car ride and most of the weekend.
We re-stocked some produce one time over the weekend at a local grocery store.
I had packed all the necessary kitchen-like supplies: a small cutting board, utensils, small bowls with lids, a portable mini blender and so on.
I knew I'd be creating most snacks and meals right out of our hotel room! I find the two biggest nutritional challenges on a trip like this are fresh, live foods and protein.
Most "kid" meals in restaurants are heavy on the simple sugars and starches, or they're made from toxic quality meat.
IF they offer any side veggies, those poor little vegetables usually look pretty unappealing by the time they make it to the table! I'm not sure if there's a nutrient remaining in them after they've been nuked or boiled! No wonder kids think they don't like vegetables! To overcome these two roadblocks to nutritional sufficiency on our trip, I packed super-sized amounts of fresh produce and a few healthy, clean sources for protein.
We brought along tons of carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, frozen peas and beans, as well as plenty of fresh fruit - apples, bananas, blueberries, grapes and so on.
For protein, I cooked several days' worth of hard boiled eggs ahead of time, and packed a little bit of cooked chicken breast, almond butter, almonds and our non-toxic protein powder for smoothies.
I also brought along the healthy-as-possible fixings for almond butter and jelly sandwiches.
Did we stray from our healthy nutritional rituals? Oh, sure.
The kids had cereal in the hotel room for breakfast each day, along with their heaping servings of fruit.
We don't normally have cereal on a daily basis at home, not even close.
But I was NOT going to spend double digits on each child's breakfast from the hotel restaurant! I just made it as healthy as possible by bringing organic, whole grain cereal and organic rice and almond milk.
When we did eat in restaurants, we stuck to the same plan we normally stick to back at home - do the best we can! The kids only drink water wherever they are.
We order veggies, if they're available.
And they don't eat 'restaurant meat' 99% of the time, unless it's shown to be from a 'clean' source.
We lucked out this time and were able to find a couple restaurants on this trip that had a homemade veggie burger with NO soy products, and another place that served healthier sandwiches made with organic whole grain bread, organic cheese and free-range turkey.
Not too shabby! I also took advantage of any restaurant meals to have salads for everyone, since this was one thing I wasn't even going to attempt to conquer from the cooler or hotel room! We did opt for a cheese pizza one night, though.
We even had left overs for lunch the next day.
I kept it healthier by serving several veggies on the side.
I think my mental and emotional health was greatly enriched by choosing take out pizza for dinner rather than spending 5 times as much at a restaurant! It all balances out! The kids also had a couple mini M&M's baggies while were in the seminar...
they were sitting right out in the open in self-serve bowls in the seminar room! It was almost more than they could handle, so mom gave in a couple times! Based on all the other healthy nutrition rituals we maintained, I'm pretty sure they'll live through the toxic experience of M&M's! Next time, I'll share how we maintained some movement sufficiency despite the sedentary nature of a hotel seminar experience...
(I believe it's because of maintaining their healthy foundation that the kids were able to be so "well behaved" for so long.
) What do I mean by limited time and resources? Well, the car rides had to involve some combination of mommy-packed food and restaurant food.
Our trip there was much more single-focused...
"just get there!" We didn't have the time for leisurely, home-cooked meals! Once we were at the hotel, we were dealing with a very tight schedule, expensive and not-necessarily-healthy 'hotel food', and limited options.
So, I had a plan.
My plan involved doing the best we could regarding our nutrition, exercise, emotional health/mindset, outdoor time and rest.
I allowed for plenty of 'wiggle room', knowing things wouldn't be perfect! Kinda' like life.
As far as our nutritional health, I relied heavily on groceries rather than restaurants.
We packed a big cooler that got us through the car ride and most of the weekend.
We re-stocked some produce one time over the weekend at a local grocery store.
I had packed all the necessary kitchen-like supplies: a small cutting board, utensils, small bowls with lids, a portable mini blender and so on.
I knew I'd be creating most snacks and meals right out of our hotel room! I find the two biggest nutritional challenges on a trip like this are fresh, live foods and protein.
Most "kid" meals in restaurants are heavy on the simple sugars and starches, or they're made from toxic quality meat.
IF they offer any side veggies, those poor little vegetables usually look pretty unappealing by the time they make it to the table! I'm not sure if there's a nutrient remaining in them after they've been nuked or boiled! No wonder kids think they don't like vegetables! To overcome these two roadblocks to nutritional sufficiency on our trip, I packed super-sized amounts of fresh produce and a few healthy, clean sources for protein.
We brought along tons of carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, frozen peas and beans, as well as plenty of fresh fruit - apples, bananas, blueberries, grapes and so on.
For protein, I cooked several days' worth of hard boiled eggs ahead of time, and packed a little bit of cooked chicken breast, almond butter, almonds and our non-toxic protein powder for smoothies.
I also brought along the healthy-as-possible fixings for almond butter and jelly sandwiches.
Did we stray from our healthy nutritional rituals? Oh, sure.
The kids had cereal in the hotel room for breakfast each day, along with their heaping servings of fruit.
We don't normally have cereal on a daily basis at home, not even close.
But I was NOT going to spend double digits on each child's breakfast from the hotel restaurant! I just made it as healthy as possible by bringing organic, whole grain cereal and organic rice and almond milk.
When we did eat in restaurants, we stuck to the same plan we normally stick to back at home - do the best we can! The kids only drink water wherever they are.
We order veggies, if they're available.
And they don't eat 'restaurant meat' 99% of the time, unless it's shown to be from a 'clean' source.
We lucked out this time and were able to find a couple restaurants on this trip that had a homemade veggie burger with NO soy products, and another place that served healthier sandwiches made with organic whole grain bread, organic cheese and free-range turkey.
Not too shabby! I also took advantage of any restaurant meals to have salads for everyone, since this was one thing I wasn't even going to attempt to conquer from the cooler or hotel room! We did opt for a cheese pizza one night, though.
We even had left overs for lunch the next day.
I kept it healthier by serving several veggies on the side.
I think my mental and emotional health was greatly enriched by choosing take out pizza for dinner rather than spending 5 times as much at a restaurant! It all balances out! The kids also had a couple mini M&M's baggies while were in the seminar...
they were sitting right out in the open in self-serve bowls in the seminar room! It was almost more than they could handle, so mom gave in a couple times! Based on all the other healthy nutrition rituals we maintained, I'm pretty sure they'll live through the toxic experience of M&M's! Next time, I'll share how we maintained some movement sufficiency despite the sedentary nature of a hotel seminar experience...
Source...