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
Tricks is my fav topic. Thanks for sharing information on that issue. Thanks, Arbesa
Great post!
This post has some great suggestions!
My Fiance and I are driving Route 66 for our honeymoon. As primal eaters (from London) we don’t really know the states that well. If anyone has any good suggestions for eateries that are primal friendly along route 66 that would be awesome!
I don’t have any eatery suggestions but will tell, (warn) you there is a LOT of wide open spaces between cities from California thru Texas. Sometimes hundreds of miles. Do take the detour up through Santa Fe New Mexico if you can. It will be worth it. Also if you can detour to the Grand Canyon, do that.
I would say bring food and water, not much of anything to pick from during some of those long stretches of road except for the scenery and even that is lacking in some places. Eastern NM, the panhandle of Texas and probably most of Oklahoma is pretty flat. Sky country for sure.
A great way to prevent all that fruit from spoiling is to buy a dehydrator and use it to make yummy snacks when the fruit is at low prices.
Stop at parks and swim.
Great post guys, as a guy who drives around Australia a lot (and that’s a wole lotta drivin’!!) I’ve had my fair share of crappy meals and snacks on the road. I’m printing this out for next time!
Cheers Mark and Steve
I have been on the road a LOT recently. Most recently, I was trapped on an Air Force Base with no viable food options except the grocery store.
I had a microwave and a refrigerator in my room, so here were a few of my solutions:
Hard-boiled eggs in the microwave.
Berries and baby tomatoes for snacks.
Packets of tuna.
Canned red salmon.
100 calorie packets of Wholly Guacamole (portioned so the avocado doesn’t turn black, not because I’m worried about 100 calories!)
Cans of sardines in olive oil.
Jars of salsa.
Baby carrots.
Homemade kale chips.
Macadamia nuts. Except that I found out I wasn’t digesting them… the hard way…
Anyway, that’s my solution. A small cooler of things like eggs that are mildly perishable, and then packets of fishies to give me protein. I did pretty well, if I do say so myself!
Thanks for the post and all the great comments! I travel for work in the summer (4 months on the road) and we work as professional face painters at state fairs and carnivals! Talk about temptation! Truthfully though, watching the sad fat zombie people wolf down Krispie Creme Burgers (yes, it’s a real thing…fully loaded cheeseburger smashed between 2 glazed doughnuts) is really disgusting…Not to mention we do these fairs in the midwest so it’s pretty easy to look around and see why we live primal and aren’t “corn fed”. The hard part is keeping fresh healthy food alive in a cooler all summer when we ‘re too busy to eat it. We buy good stuff and stock up our cooler, but after being on our feet 12-16 hours at a time, we forget to pee let alone eat or exercise. We try to chug as much H2O as possible, but most days we end up IF on accident and all that nutritious food is warm or wilted and we definitely don’t feel like eating it. So we crash HARD, only to wake up and do it all over again for 10 more days, hit the road, and start another fair. We are sooo drained. We always start the summer with a plan to commit to keeping up our workouts, but sleep wins out.
Any advice for how to live primal around this hectic schedule? I’m serious when I say WAY TOO busy all day, if any of you have ever stood in line with your kids for a face painter at a fair in 102 degrees and complained that it’s not moving fast enough, well…please don’t reply- I will have nothing nice to say to you.
But seriously, getting some almonds and water in my mouth while parents b*tch at me for taking a second to eat is an everyday occurrence for me. HELP! Even some good comebacks for those parents would be great! 
Great post! I especially like the idea of getting in a quick workout at the gas stations, rest stops, etc. Thanks for the food list as well—my family and I travel often and snacks are a must, especially for the kids!
We are heading to Lake Michigan this Friday with three small kids, a seven hour drive. Our favorite travel food is deviled eggs. They never last long. I also take some Applegate turkey lunch meat and wrap a little cream cheese and pickle inside them. Stick a toothpick to hold it together. We’ll be making skewers of ham and pineapple. I’m making some jerky this week from steak as well. A veggie tray is a must for us as well as I get the munchies sitting in a car all day. The good thing about traveling with three small kids is I get to practice my yoga moves as I stretch to the rear of the car trying to grab whatever it is they need to make it a bit farther. Fun times…not
I’m soooo glad my drive to Lake Michigan is only about 1 and 1/2 hours
N, E, or W we run into large bodies of water living in the middle of the lower half of Michigan… In years gone past we found it easier to load up about sunset and drive while the little angels were all sleeping. Of course, that was before we learned all about Paleo/Lower Carb eating. We now know all about the carb/blood sugar cycle that drives parents insane right along with the kids when they eat sugar/carb containing snacks, no matter what the setting, particularly doing hours of forced confinement. Enjoy the water!
I am heading into a 24 hour road trip in a few weeks so this is perfect timing. Great information too.
Last time I was leaving from California and was able to stock up on quality buffalo jerky and a small cooler with a bag of apples and a bag of pre washed spinach. It’s going to be more difficult to find good food this time, but I am definitely going to try out some of the workouts.
Great ideas, all. I’ll have to try those gas-station workouts too:)
From my own road trips, I’ve found that bringing a cooler makes all the difference. Admittedly, I was focused on budget, as I had yet to learn of the Primal lifestyle, but the cooler made the difference on both counts. This way, we could bring meat and other healthy perishables otherwise off-limits. And of course, we felt better for it
Travel centers are usually better than gas stations about stocking hard-boiled eggs and lettuce salads.
I discovered a Sheetz gas station that made fresh breakfast burritos. I’m not sure if having a wheat-based layer to keep the paper dry is considered acceptable, or if you need to claim mild gluten allergy to get a bowl.
My friend and I like to make a “Smoothie in a Jar” for long day trips.
If you have an immersion blender, just toss some fresh or frozen berries into a 32 oz mason jar, a nice big glug of the creamy part of full fat coconut milk, and any other fruits we may have around for extra flavor. Lemon juice adds a surprisingly nice zing!
Add water and ice and then stick the immersion blender in and blend! A 32 oz smoothie in a jar lasts us all day and keeps us full. We don’t drink it all at once, and the coconut cream keeps us full and satisfied. Literally, it lasts us all day long. (note to self: why haven’t we added protein to it? usually we take along protein rich snacks in addition to the smoothie).
We eyeball the ingredients or I would be more specific as to measurements, but try it anyway! Great for long day trips, easy to make, drink, and clean. The lid on the jar means we can toss it in a bag and not worry about it spilling.
Interesting note: We forgot to clean out a jar one day. Left it sealed and forgot about it for about two months. When we found it, no visible mold or fungus was seen in the jar! It did not smell funky! I don’t know if that’s because we live in Seattle where it’s cool enough that nothing gross would grow, or if it’s because of some amazing properties in coconut milk. Either way, it was an easy cleanup.
Hmm the same thing happened to me while driving across Texas. I learned the hard way. :/
Great post! The secret is tuppaware!
Cook in great batches, get a big cool bag and put everything into tuppaware containers. Beleive it or not, I have lived like this on the road for three days and never bought a single meal!
Love the advice for the road trips especially in the humorous manner delivered. Great snack ideas and stretches. Thanks for the great travel tips!