Five athletes explain how they eat healthy while traveling. Their professional careers keep them on the go which means they need to figure out a way how to still eat what they need to, to stay powerful.
How you eat while traveling begins with where you stop. To eat, that is. Sure, it can be a challenge to eat healthy on the road and the first thing that pops into people’s minds is usually fast food. For most outdoor athletes, the locations of competitions are not always conducive to eating healthy while traveling.
However, all professional athletes understand that eating healthy food and drinking plenty of fluids, mainly water, helps to maintain your energy levels and fuel or your muscles.
With that in mind, here is some wholesome advice from athletes on the best way to eat healthy while traveling.
Joan Benoit Samuelson – Runner
Winner of the first women’s marathon at the 1984 Olympics in L.A., Joan Samuelson, says that when she travels she likes to be dependent on what is in her immediate environment. She told Outside Online that she likes to get her nutrition through whole foods and that she can usually adapt pretty well to her environment.
If her destination presents some nutritional challenges, she likes to pack whatever is in season from her garden and her favorite homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for energy.
Rebecca & Laurel Wassner – Triathletes
The New York City-based twin triathletes are constantly on the go for races and training camps, which makes it difficult to always fuel themselves with wholesome meals. Rebecca says that while she travels she likes to bring one home-cooked meal for the flight as her pre-competition fuel.
Her choice is often a kale and sweet potato quinoa salad. It travels well, it’s healthy and full of protein, and carbohydrates, and it won’t stink up the plane said Rebecca on Athlete Food. It’s simple and quick to prepare and it comprises a wholesome meal you can make yourself.
David Villa – Soccer player
The Spanish former World Cup winner and current striker and captain of New York City FC, says that proteins are important for strengthening and making our body strong. Villa has declared his love for fabada or Spanish bean stew.
Low-fatty foods are another part of his on-the-go diet to eat healthy while traveling, including fresh fruit, veggies, and grains. Villa helped NYCFC finish 2nd in the Eastern Conference in 2017 with 22 goals. And the team are expected to do well against this campaign with Villa at the forefront of New York’s attacking play.
Due to their relatively successful season last year, the Bwin football betting page has NYCFC 1.45 favorites to beat Orlando City in their next game.
Villa is a big reason why New York are favorite, as he is one of the best players in the league regardless of the fact he is 36 years of age. Villa still focuses on his fitness and nutrition, and it has helped him prolong his career at the top of the game.
As a result, he has been instrumental in propelling his club to the top in only their third year in the MLS. Despite the long air miles he racks up each year in the U.S., Villa’s diet is just one of the reasons why he remains a formidable force on the pitch.
Diego Estrada – Long-distance runner
Olympian and professional runner, Diego Estrada, had to make many changes to his diet when he became a professional. His first go-to drink is a cup of coffee, but once settled he likes to find the nearest grocery store and buy some easy snacks like pistachios, strawberries, and cereal.
To load up on carbs and proteins the day before a race, Estrada likes Mexican food, pasta and occasionally lobster and shrimp from Red Lobster. Pasta is his favorite, however, and if he doesn’t have any the night before a race he feels like he would lose his confidence, he told GQ in a featured interview.
Dean Karnazes – Ultramarathoner
Author of Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner, and Time Magazine’s World Most Influential 100 People, Dean Karnazes, won the infamous 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon in 2004.
He confessed to Marine Magazine that he follows a Neanderthal diet, full of fresh fruits and vegetables and monosaturated fats, olive oil, and lean proteins. Even when traveling he maintains the same diet as best he can, with his favorite quick snack being packets of smoked salmon. That’s how he can eat healthy while traveling.
Are you a traveling athlete or runner and don’t know what to pack? Then check out our Runners Packing Guide!