Fit Girl on the Go! Tips for Staying on Your Diet While Traveling

Hey everyone! This month has been pretty hectic for me! With the spring comes the commencement of the bodybuilding competitive season. Team 1st Phorm just wrapped up a big promotional shoot! I had the opportunity to work with the amazing Alex Ardenti, a leading photographer in the fitness industry. You will see all kinds of new and exciting things on the website from this shoot. On top of that, I have been working as an assistant to my own nutrition coach, Kit Kitson of In Shape Nutrition. He has asked me to work as a posing coach and mentor for his figure and bikini competitors. It has been a blast and it has been rewarding to help other girls take the stage with confidence for their first time and walk away champions! I also recently got back from a quick trip up north to my native land, Canada. I had a great time visiting with friends and family. Next week, Brett and I are headed to Mexico for a nice 6 day getaway right before we begin our prep for the 2010 IFBB North American Championships September 3rd. It will be nice to lounge in the sun for a week right before contest prep begins. It will be a long prep this year for both of us, as we take advantage of a full 15 weeks of dieting and training for the show. We both want to improve our physiques from last year and we feel like devoting the time and hard work to preparing for this competition will give us the results we desire!

Obviously, I do not expect to continue to diet during my Mexico trip- even I need a break from fish and rice. Generally speaking though, I do continue to follow a very strict clean eating plan when I travel. On my recent trip to Canada, I carried clean food onto the plane with me and ate a meal in between changing planes. It is really quite simple to eat clean wherever you go; you just have to be prepared. Here are some secrets that I use in order to eat clean when I travel:

• I portion out all my supplements into small baggies for my trip. This includes vitamins, 1-Db° & Thyro-Drive, BCAA powder and glutamine. I also use a larger freezer bag for my Level-1 and I portion out the number of servings I will need for my trip and toss the scoop in the bag. This really saves space that all those bottles and jugs would take up in my luggage! I always carry a shaker cup on the plane containing one scoop of protein and add water to it after passing through security when I am ready for it. I use that same shaker throughout my trip.
• I carry a ziplock bag with splenda packets, mustard packets, individually wrapped green tea bags, single servings of crystal light and small packets of lemon juice. This covers many of the condiments and beverages that I use on a day to day basis.
• Most people don’t realize that you can check food coolers with your luggage. When I competed at the North Americans last year, I flew to Cleveland and I had no idea where I would be able to get clean food from in the area once I arrived. Rather than risking it and hoping that I could find what I needed for those last few delicate days of the diet, I packed a rolling soft cooler with portions of grilled tilapia, baked sweet potatoes, steamed asparagus, grilled turkey and chopped peppers. There might have been some goodies in there for after the show but I don’t know how they got in there…joking! After dieting for some time, I was prepared to have some treats that I had been craving after the show was over. I had chocolate indulgence trail mix, rice cakes and peanut butter in my cooler and as soon as I got to the hotel, I locked those treats in the safe in the room until after the show.
• A word to the wise if you do check a food cooler as luggage: use leak proof Tupperware otherwise you will have a wet smelly mess when you get your cooler at baggage claim. I’m sure you have seen those guys tossing the luggage onto the cart off the plane. They are not very delicate! I like to use those blue cool packs (frozen) to keep the food cool on the plane. If your hotel room doesn’t have a bar fridge for you to use, you can call ahead before you check in and get one for your room. Most hotels are also equipped with a microwave somewhere for guests to use. Be sure to pack a few plastic knives, forks, spoons and plates to eat your food off of when you get to the hotel.
• If you are absolutely stuck, you can generally find a clean meal anywhere. I have even eaten clean at McDonalds! A few years ago, I arrived in Canada for a photo shoot a little before midnight because of a flight delay. I didn’t have any food with me and the only thing open was McDonalds. I panicked a little bit but I was starved and had to make something work. I simply ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, asked for it plain with extra tomato and lettuce and had it with a plain side salad. I got some vinegar from the hotel kitchen and I had a meal!
• You can carry a small cooler with you onto the plain, providing that you do not have greater than 3 oz of any liquids or gels (I found out peanut butter fits into that category when my jar of organic PB got swiped at Security in Canada last week). I had a small cooler with a rice, chicken and veggie meal in it and a shaker cup with one scoop of Level 1 along with a serving of almonds. Granted, I had to eat the meal cold, it saved me from eating peanuts and pretzels on the plane because I wasn’t prepared. You should have seen the people on the plane around me salivating over my clean meal!!

Here are some super portable clean snacks that you can carry in your bag anywhere you go for a clean meal anytime!

• Chopped veggies in a ziplock bag
• Almonds or unsalted peanuts
• Tuna packets
• Fresh fruit
• My fabulous 1st Phorm Oatmeal cookies (I always have some of these handy for a quick snack for myself or my toddler)
• A baggy of clean “trail mix”: make your own super lean trail mix with 1 cup of rice Chex cereal (totally clean and gluten free), dried raisins and cranberries (unsweetened) and almonds (I like to use the “Cocoa Roast” variety of almonds for a chocolate treat!

Well people, I hope you all find my travelling tips helpful! Whether you are jet setting or just road tripping it, be sure to take your healthy lifestyle with you! Are we facebook friends yet? You can find me on facebook at facebook.com/jillian.amy1. Drop me a line and let me know what you think about these tips or anything you have read on my blog!

Until next time, train hard and eat clean! Because there is nothing sexier than a fit body!

Gillian

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