Primal Road Trip: Tips and Tricks for Staying Healthy While Traveling
This is a guest post from Steve Kamb of NerdFitness.com
“ROAD TRIP!”
Are there two greater words in the English language?
Well, yeah probably. I mean, “free money,” “Royal Rumble,” and “grassfed steak,” just off the top of my head. But work with me here!
Anyways, everybody loves a good road trip – piling your friends into a car, picking a far-off destination, rolling down the windows, and singing Katy Perry at the top of your lungs (no on the Katy Perry? Okay cool, yeah me neither).
Whatever reason you have for putting rubber to the road, it’s important to not fall into the dreaded road trip trap that would make Grok weep: a backseat full of empty Red Bull cans and Funyun bags, enough candy wrappers to make Willy Wonka legitimately concerned, and the flexibility of a steel girder.
Let’s learn how to turn your road trip into a Primal adventure that would make Fred Flinstone proud.
Plan Ahead
Before going on a long road trip, you probably have a list of things to do:
- Clean out the car
- Get gas
- Plan the route
- Pick places to stop and places to stay
- Load up the road trip playlist on your iPod
- Make sure somebody feeds Spike, your pet cat/dog/tarantula
But everybody forgets the “plan out my Primal meals” part!
Which is why you end up stopping at Taco Bell at 10:00 pm as it’s the only place open, which results in you spending the next day in cruise control, curled up in a ball, feeling like there’s a brick in your stomach, driving 800 miles across Texas.
(Yes, that happened to me on my cross-country trip six years ago. Good times!)
Anywho, if you’re going to road trip, it means understanding ahead of time how long your trip is and what your current fitness goals are (weight loss? mass gain? maintenance?). Once you’ve got these things planned out, you can prepare ahead of time.
Here’s a sample list of Primal foods you can bring with you, with more Primal snacks here:
- Fruit – A bag of apples? Pears? Bananas? Whatever floats your boat!
- Beef Jerky – Not that processed junk you find at a gas station, but legitimate jerky! If you’re resourceful, you can even make your own.
- Protein powder – Pick up some Primal Fuel or protein powder, get a mixing container and you will always have a meal. One scoop, fill up with water, shake, and chug.
- Almonds – I never travel without a bag of almonds these days, as they’re delicious, nutritious, and filling. They are higher in calories than normal snacks and high in omega-6s, so aim for small servings. Almond butter is a great option too – a small amount spread across some apple slices might be the best snack ever invented.
- Baby carrots and other veggies – Vegetables are fantastic because they’re loaded with nutrients and incredibly low on calories. They fill you up the right way.
- Water – Apparently this stuff is pretty important.
If you have a mini cooler, you can toss it behind your seat or in the passenger seat and use that to keep your food cold and fresh.
Know Your Restaurants
At this point I’ll assume that you won’t just be eating snacks for the entirety of your trip…You’ll also be swinging through establishments of consumption called “restaurants.”
Here’s the first rule of healthy road-tripping: If you’re getting food from a drive-through window, it’s probably not good for you. Instead, identify a few choice restaurants that you already know have healthy options, and plan your stops around those.
The best method I’ve found for healthy road tripping is using an app called iExit (for iPhone or Android), which shows you how far away you are from your favorite restaurants. Once you know which restaurants offer your favorite Primal meal (like Chipotle or In-N-Out), you simply check a box and they tell you when they show up. It’s also a great app for finding gas stations, clean bathrooms, places to stay, and more. Well worth the $2.99 (though it’s currently on sale for 99 cents).
No smartphone? Do the best you can with what you’ve got. Aim for restaurants that allow you to maintain your style of eating.
Super late night driver? Try a Walmart! It’s usually safe, open 24-hours, and often has a food section that allows you to grab a rotisserie chicken and salad. On top of that, Walmarts are generally very close to the highway and a much safer stop if you’re road tripping solo than a gas station or truck stop.
Have time to swing a bit farther off the highway? Look into a Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, or other grocery stores. If it’s open, try out the hot food section, grab one of their Primal-approved meals, and enjoy!
What if your ONLY option is a crappy restaurant? Do the best you can. Generally the grilled chicken options tend to be the least awful and processed. On top of that, most fast food places are starting to offer salads, fruit, and other healthy options. The toughest part will be smelling all of the amazingly disgusting unhealthy foods inside the restaurant. Instead, go through the drive-through, pick the healthy options, and move on!
Utilize Your Stops Effectively
There’s nothing worse than that stiff feeling in your legs, hips, and lower back after ten hours of driving. You walk around like a Lego character with no mobility for the rest of the day…not cool. Let’s try to avoid that.
I understand the importance of wanting to get wherever you’re headed as quickly and efficiently as possible. I know that sense of accomplishment you get from completing a trip in seven and a half hours when Google told you it would take eight. Swallow your pride, my dear friend, and spend a few minutes here and there taking care of yourself – your body will thank you.
Just because you’re on a road trip doesn’t mean you get to neglect your personal well-being by skipping out on your workouts. Remember that ANYTHING is better than nothing.
Fortunately, you’re versatile (right?), which means you can work out anytime, anywhere.
Road Warrior Workouts
Get your workouts done in the morning before you begin your drive. Yeah, you can do it at night once you get to your destination, but I find that an early morning workout outdoors or in your hotel room is much easier to complete than one after fourteen hours of driving.
Try one of these workouts:
- The prison workout
- The hotel room workout
- The playground workout
- Endorphine mainline Primal workout
- Primal bodyweight exercises
In addition to that, you can also get back to nature by building a hike into your schedule. If you’re on a road trip through a particularly pretty part of the country, why not time your rest stop to coincide with a great hike? Here’s a huge searchable database of trails around the country.
Pressed for time? Try these five minute workout/stretch sessions every few hours to stay alert, limber, and strong.
The Gas Station Workout
While your gas is pumping, you can get your blood pumping too (see what I did there?).
Yes, I’m dead serious!
Who cares if everybody around the gas station thinks you’re a weirdo? You look good naked and they don’t. Follow up your workout with an ice cold protein shake and build some muscle.
Here’s the Gas Station Workout:
- Jumping jacks or jump rope – one minute
- Walking lunges – one minute
- Push ups – one minute
- Body weight squats – one minute
- Plank – one minute
The Rest Stop Yoga Routine
Spend just five minutes doing this routine every two hours and you won’t feel like a miserable human by the end of the day. Who cares if you’re not very bendy yet! Get started now and you’ll be surprised how much progress you can make in just a few weeks.
Here’s your Rest Stop Yoga Routine, holding each for 5-6 deep breaths (learn about the different movements here):
- Stretch and reach for the sky with your hands WAY above your head.
- Downward dog
- Lunge into Warrior
- Repeat with other leg
- Downward dog
- Lunge into Triangle
- Repeat with other leg
- Chaturanga (push up position)
- Downward dog
Alternate the Gas Station Workout and the Rest Stop Yoga Routine every one to two hours (neither of which should take more than five minutes) and combine it with healthy eating, and you are going to DOMINATE your road trip.
Other Primal Tips and Tricks
Put an emphasis on sleep and rest! Stop for your meals so you’re not always eating off your lap while driving, and switch out driving when you’re too tired. You’ll be far healthier and most importantly, a lot safer on the road.
Caffeine – Bring your own green tea bags, and stop for hot water at gas stations. If you’re going to need heavy doses of caffeine, go with black coffee…but really put that focus on only driving when fully rested and completely alert.
Practice your posture – We all have a tendency to slouch when driving, and it gets worse and worse as the hours go on. Adjust your rearview mirror once you’re sitting properly (head up, shoulders back), so you can quickly tell once you start to slouch – the mirror will no longer be aligned with the back window.
Books on tape – If you’re on a long road trip, why not exercise your brain too? Snag a book or two on tape, or some of your favorite podcasts to pass the time. Unless you want to hear “Somebody That I Used to Know” 75 times in a row on the radio. Your call.
Roadside produce – Depending on which part of the country you’re in, you might be able to find some roadside stands selling fresh produce. Snag a great deal, support the local economy, and score fresh food? Everybody wins!
Avoid “healthy” foods and drinks – Just because those Naked Juices are six dollars and claim to be healthy doesn’t mean they’re good for you. In fact, they’re terrible for you. Yeah, they might have some nutrients, but any of the good stuff is negated by the ridiculous amount of sugar. For example, the “Green Machine Superfood Smoothie – no sugar added” has 50 GRAMS OF SUGAR in one bottle, more than a can of Coke. Read those labels!
Skip the continental breakfast at the hotels – Just because it’s free doesn’t mean you need to eat it. Grab some of their fruit and maybe the eggs and bacon if they don’t look awful. Avoid the mountains of cereal, muffins, bagels, toast, and every other carb-heavy option.
Drive On, Grok On
Armed with this knowledge, you are now able to become a true Primal Road Warrior.
I wish you the best of luck – drive safe, be happy, live well.
What other tips do you have for your fellow road trippers?
What are your favorite snacks or resources?
Let’s hear it!
Flickr Photo (CC)
When he’s not doing pull ups on tree branches and exercising around the world, @SteveKamb helps nerds, desk jockeys, and average Joes level up their lives at NerdFitness.com.
Posted By: Mark Sisson
I’ve just done Bratislava to Medliaborce (the Andy Warhol museum town)and back in two days (600 or so miles). My friend was driving, pretty hair-raising drivng, but I travelled with a bag of almonds, water, and nakd bars (dried fruit and nuts, nothing else added!) and at each stop, which were fairly numerous as he was a heavy heavy smoker needing his ‘fix’, I moved about doing qigong and yoga and spent 5 minutes lying on my back with feet elevated!
See http://www.cavegirl-goes-east.blogspot dot com for the extended version!
I don’t know about the safety of Walmart. According to the movie Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price (streaming on Netflix), those giant parking lots are high crime spots, and what appear to be security cameras may be remnants of the last union busting effort, and not in use. Ladies, be careful getting from the car to the store in the middle of the night.
I recently travelled from England to California to do a state-wide theme park trip. I couldn’t bring food with me but bought jerky and almonds to snack on (and yes, I did go to a Walmart at night – no problem!) and was able to find healthier options in most of the parks. At restaurants I went for salads (Cali is good in that calorie counts are on the menu, so I avoided falling for the high calorie salads) or things like meat or fish with veggies. I didn’t gain weight on this holiday so I figured I did pretty well!
There’s nothing like feeling great while on the road. Thanks for the tips.
I hear that song on the radio 75 times in a row commuting to university this morning… and it’s only a 35 minute drive.
These are also decent ideas for food to keep on hand during my long school days, or a ten-hour work day if anyone has one of those (yuck). Great idea for those of us who have to hang out at school or work all day while all you cool kids go on road trips! In fact, I didn’t have time to pack my Big Ass Salad this morning, so I hit up a publix for some beef jerky (as clean as I could get) and a couple Larabars (a little carb-y, but most are just nuts and dates with no added sugar or garbage!)
I’m considering getting a small cooler and a reusable ice pack or three to keep in the backseat so I can just run back to the parking garage for a snack instead of lugging my lunch on my back.
Not that I don’t like lifting things… I just have a bad case of “student neck” and “global ligament hyper-laxity” it all gets exacerbated by too much crap in my bags.
“Make sure somebody feeds Spike, your pet cat/dog/tarantula…”
Having owned two pet tarantulas in my lifetime, they are the ideal pet for travellers. Tarantulas can go up to two years without food.
Fun and informative article, thanks!
Best line: “Who cares if everybody around the gas station thinks you’re a weirdo? You look good naked and they don’t.”
Good timing on this post, I’ll be trekking up the California coast to a MovNat workshop pretty soon.
I would also add to the gas station / rest stop workouts idea – plan ahead with Google maps to find neighborhood parks somewhat along your route. Then you can get some quick field sprints in, or pull up bar / dips etc at the jungle gym. Maybe climb a tree or two while you’re at it. Plus the terrain would be likely less littered than at a rest stop or gas station.
not sure how far up the cali coast your going but i used to live in far nor cal (redding area) and our rest stops were huge around there. lots of space to sprint and plenty of tree’s to climb too. by far the best rest stop in california (that ive visited) is the klamath river rest stop just before the siskiyou summit and oregon border. it runs along the river, has huge grassy areas and picnic tables galore. lots of beautiful big trees. at the base of all the gorgeous mountains. and if you look for it, across the way after the high way entrances (if your heading south, it will be before you turn into the rest stop if your heading north) theres a more private area, no facilities, but you can walk straight to the river, and theres a 4wd track a long side it. we used to run our dogs out there and let them swim in the summer time during our road trips north into oregon a couple of times a year
You’re too right! I love that rest area. Upstate New York, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Washington, Ohio have great stops too. There are others, but I’ve forgotten where they are. City parks are rarely an option when you drive a 72′ truck. Most grocery stores are rather hostile, too.
Travel light and pack little.
Functional workouts. Carry bags and other bags, walk, light jogs.
Easy!
Katey Perry is bloody hot
Another great Steve!
I have Vega One (berry flavor) for breakfast so I take it with me wherever I go. If you are travelling with a laptop, a GSP RushFit dvd might be a good idea. I have been on this training regimen for 4 weeks and it is the best dvd work-out I have done because I don’t need any fancy equipment except a pair of dumbbells (10-15lbs). Mostly body weight exercises.
GSP is a beast!
excellent ideas! i was pretty clear on the food tips, but i really thought the road trippin’ exercise tips were great. it’s always nice to stretch the body out a little while on the road.
I’m still working on changing my mindset.
To me the best two-word phrase in English has always been, “There’s pie”.
Any suggestions for a 12-15 hour flight? Im flying to the Philippines next year.
boy, will your arms be tired!
I’m envisioning some kind of container you would wear on top of your head, filled with liquified coconut, with a tube down to your mouth..
Sleep and i.f.
depends on which airline you fly but air nz had some gluten free options and their food was surprisingly good.
Let’s all have contest. Whoever gets the most weird looks from other non primalists wins!
We do 5-7 day bike trips every month during the summer. We eat most meals out, and I stick to grilled steaks/chicken/fish for lunches/dinners, veggies/cheese on dry-as-I-can-get-’em hashed browns (I add the butter back in), and coffee with cream and “jet fuel” (coconut oil, raw honey, and crushed cardamom) for breakfast.
For snacks on the bike: water, of course; almond butter and apple slices; homemade beef and turkey jerkies. I’m fat adapted…that’s all I need.
I find myself unexpectedly going on a road trip soon. I love these tips and plan to use them.
I am also packing a cooler of salad jars a la
http://www.bigredkitchen.com/2011/07/how-to-make-mason-jar-meals-part-1/
I am wrapping up my first Whole30 and don’t want to get off track now!
We just had a big day out and cut up and cooked like 10 chicken breasts and 5 pork loins. Spiced them up a bit and threw them in the lunchbox with some fruit, lightly steamed veggies and just stuffed our face with those on the way.
Worked pretty well, shame the green tea I bought had f**king wheat in it!
Gotta be careful out there, if you did not catch it and kill it (or buy it I suppose) then try your best not to eat it!
My neighbour’s on a serious road trip (Alberta -> Ontario) and he mentioned what I think is a great idea: listen to the comedy channel on satellite radio (if you have it), it’s impossible to feel tired or fall asleep when you’re laughing your head off!
I just completed a 50-hour cross country trip with my husband and 4 young children and managed to maintain our primal lifestyle the whole time. It took planning every meal and snack in two coolers worth of primal fare, but we made the drive there and back without falling off the primal wagon. I found I had to rely on fruit a bit more than I would have normally (cabbage and broccoli doesn’t travel well, but bananas and organic applesauce does.) We also ate a bit more dairy than I’d prefer, but I figured grabbing a cup of greek yogurt for everyone for breakfast at a gas station was preferable to a bagel. We avoided fast food and drive thrus completely. Chipotle, Chiles, and Ruby Tuesdays were reliable places to forage. Ultimately, we were rewarded when we arrived at the beach and ate fresh seafood caught that morning and produce from the many local farm stands. Totally worth it. If I can do with with a minivan load of little primals, anyone can!
I love that it’s mentioned to not forget about rest and sleep. It’s so easy (esp when in an exotic local) to home from a vacation needing a VACATION! My favorite roady food is strips of beef, chicken and jumbo shrimp chilled in the cooler with mct oil mixed with hot sauce in a wide mouth jar for dipping. Gas stations are getting better at offering fruit too. Great article!
Wow, nice post. I’ll add stopping at those lovely rest areas with security and walking trails. My dog and I may often be found charging up and down landscapes hills and jumping narrow drainage ditches. My snack of choice are.hard boiled eggs. Mostly though, I use my drive time for IF. Since I drive about 3200 miles a week, I have some experience. I don’t have the healthier choices that most of you have, but I still have some success. I’ve lost about 68 lbs since September.
Just got back from a long drive (across Texas, no less). I did ok on the food part, but I didn’t stop for stretching enough. My right hip hurt during the drive.
Then the day after I got home, I was getting down off a chair that I was using as a ladder, and my right knee just buckled. I fell and caught myself with my right hand, and now my right wrist is sprained, and my knee hurts too. All this might have been avoided if I had stopped every hour or so I think.
I use powdered green tea I get from TenRen tea company. About two grams a serving, works great! Add it to primal fuel or it makes great iced or hot tea.
I am currently living off of safeway rotiserrie chicken. They have a delicious broccoli salad (w raisins and nuts) to go with it. I made the drive non-stop from LA to San Jose (no traffic)w/o caffiene. I ate a total of 3 ginseng herbal energy tablets. I am staying for a week in a hotel (no kitchen) and jogging 1 mile to the safeway store for food. They are also selling roast turkey alongside the chickens. Anyways, cannot wait to get my own kitchen again!
Nice post. Lots of good ideas. Thanks.
One thing I’m surprised isn’t here is FASTING. Since traveling involves so much sitting, it seems like a great time to multi-task a little and get in some good fasting hours.
You know – fuel the ride on caffeine. Works great on a bike and in a car as well. I’ve done both.
P.S. No Walmart for me – ever, for at least 2 reasons: 1) they’re a major retailer of firearms; and 2) they treat their employees abominably (hence all the pending litigation against the company).
Fasting on a road trip, you can travel with just your break-fast food, and have a pre-made plan for where you’re going to stop for the feast (which can include a restaurant or food store you’ve plotted out, if you prefer).
Works well. I’ve done it.
Walmart cut back drastically on firearms sales. Not enough profit in it. The few that do sell them do so because of the demand from hunters. Hoplophobia is treatable once you will admit the problem.
As to the employee treatment, I have no clue, have never worked in one. However is they are guilty of worker abuse the courts will help them see the error of their ways. (Walmart can’t stand to lose money.)
Frank
I’ve just done Bratislava to Medliaborce (the Andy Warhol museum town)and back in two days (600 or so miles). My friend was driving, pretty hair-raising drivng, but I travelled with a bag of almonds, water, and nakd bars (dried fruit and nuts, nothing else added!) and at each stop, which were fairly numerous as he was a heavy heavy smoker needing his ‘fix’, I moved about doing qigong and yoga and spent 5 minutes lying on my back with feet elevated!
www . cavegirl – goes – east . blogspot . com for the extended version!
Great post….I’ve been car tripping for years as most of my family is anywhere from 5 to 13 hours away. Bringing my own food has always been a must but in the past 5 years I’ve been making use of the ‘rest stops’ along the way and Walmarts/Menards/Targets. I can either walk outside or inside and a little retail therapy is always fun. I don’t feel like I have to stop at all the fast food chains along the highway any more. Yeah!
Perfect timing once again. Saturday, I start a 16-17 hour drive (moving to Georgia) by my lonesome. Have my apples bought but couldn’t keep up with the homemade beef jerky as the DH and I ate it all.Baby carrots, almond butter-check. Planning to stop every two hours-check. Loved the gas stop workouts!
So this will sound funny, but sometimes we head up to “the land” (two hours away, roughly) where we raise chickens for meat and eggs. We get a late start and realize halfway there that it will be too late to let a fire burn down long enough for the grassfed steak or pastured pork we brought. The dinner becomes the next days lunch and we stop for something quick. There is no Chipotle (did you know you can order their bowl with no rice, fajitas, and just meat and guacamole?) and while Arby’s or McDs seems fast the tummy objections cancel it out. We stop at Smiths for a salad, some decent cheese, and reasonable deli meat. While its not the best meal ever, the local grocery can provide a selection that is a lot closer to primal than any main stream fast food joint.