Holiday Pounds: 5 Tips to Keeping Them in Your Luggage and Off The Scale

As the busiest travel day of the year approaches, I know staying on track to reach your weight loss goals can pose a challenge. It feels like you have less control of your food, your schedule, and let's be honest, your will power. 

But I have to tell you, it isn't as difficult as it seems when you have a plan. I once had a client site traveling as her biggest barrier to weight loss as her job shipped her around the country two weeks out of the month. Often times she was staying in small towns without a lot of options.

However, after we created a plan, and after she committed to the plan (another key element to success), she now will tell you how easy it is for her to maintain her healthy habits no matter where she goes. 

So here is your plan for staying nutritionally on track as you travel this holiday season.

1. Pack your own food.

With all the great travel food options now, there is literally no reason to rely on crappy airline food or the minibar at the hotel.

Watch the video above to see some of my favorite travel foods that you can take with you on planes, trains, and automobiles. They are airline compliant, by and large are nonperishable, require no kitchen to prepare, and even include some treats so you don't feel deprived. Can't watch the video right now? Here's my list:

Mighty bars - larabars - Bullet Proof protein bars - bananas - apples -oranges - grapes - tangerines - dried fruit - nuts and seeds - Smashmallow gluten/diary free marshmallows - Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Coconut Bites - brown rice cakes - Harvest Snaps green pea snap crisps - Beanfields black bean chips - Vega One nutritional shake powder -  dry roasted chickpeas 

For my full Healthy-On-The-Go Guide get your free download below.

2. Plan your meals ahead of time as much as possible.

Look up restaurants in the area where you'll be. Find the healthiest ones so if "Where should we eat?" gets asked, you can direct the group to a decent option. 

Or even if you don't have control over where you go, if you ask what the itinerary is ahead of time and can look at the menu in advance, you'll undoubtably make better choices than if you wait until you're hungry and everyone around you is ordering the chicken-fried steak. 

3. When in doubt, portion it out.

I say it all the time, and I hate to tell you, I'm not going to stop saying it any time soon. If you have absolutely no other control over what is going in your mouth, you do have control over how much is going in your mouth. 

But the truth is, given the insane portions at restaurants in America, most people don't actually know what a proper portion size looks like. 

So to be safe, if you haven't already, download my portions guide below to eliminate any questions about what your meal sizes should look like. 

4. Be a thoughtful guest. 

If you are staying as a guest at someone's home, you are not slave to what they are preparing. Be a helpful guest by telling them ahead of time that you want to thank them for hosting you by cooking them a few meals. 

When you get in town, head to the grocery store and pick out some healthy ingredients for your thank you meal, and grab some fruit and other healthy snackables to have on hand while you're at it. 

5. Do your best, and forget the rest.

Ok I know that's my second rhyme of the blog post, but it fits! Traveling and not being able to eat as healthy as you would at home is not license to have a free for all. 

Use the strategies above to the best of your ability, put in honest effort, and if things go slightly awry, fine. But slightly awry is leaps and bounds better than, "Oops! Gained back those 5 pounds I worked so hard to lose!" 

Do you have your own awesome healthy travel tips?? Post them in the comments section below, I'd love to hear from you!