How to eat on the road? Nicola Vachová will tell you!

If we eat healthily and have set our regimen, not only in food but overall during the day, as it suits us, a business (or other) trip can be a definite step out of our comfort zone. For many of us, thoughts of how we will manage a few days away from home and without the ability to prepare our own meals start to run through our minds. If you find yourself in this situation, don't hang your head, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be forced to have a hot dog or bagel at the gas station and spend the following days over fried food and sugary sodas. I've put together the following few tips on how to manage to travel without having to deviate from your healthy eating habits in any significant way.

The first option I can think of is preparing my favorite foods ahead of time, for a few days of takeout in boxes. It's a great way to survive 2-3 days away from home and not have to interfere with your eating habits. However, it is important to find out in advance if there will be a possibility to store the prepared food in the fridge in the room, or check with the staff if it would be possible to store it in the hotel/guesthouse kitchen. If you decide to travel in this way, it is advisable to choose food that has a long shelf life. The ideal option is oatmeal, from which we can prepare both porridge and oatcake (it seems more suitable for travel than porridge). Plus, if we know that there will be a kettle in the room, the problem of breakfast or snacks is taken care of - we take a packet of cereal, protein, nuts, etc. and within a few minutes we have a simple, wholesome breakfast or snack for the morning and afternoon.

Want to get in shape or change your lifestyle? Order a customized diet or workout from Supertrener.cz

We can add fruit to the porridge, which we don't need to store in the fridge and so we don't have to deal with quick consumption. In case someone is clinging to eggs, I would choose the alternative of boiled eggs in that case. You can boil the eggs, peel them, put them in a carton and eat them at any time of the day and at any time in your diet, for example with rice bread, which, like cereal, is a great on-the-go companion and we don't have to worry about storing them. As for the types of meats, I would choose any (chicken, turkey, beef, etc.). I wouldn't go for fish such as salmon, which has a very intense, specific smell, and as for fish in general, I find it's best eaten immediately after cooking. Durable side dishes on the go can be baked potatoes/batatas, rice, or the aforementioned rice breads.

In case we find ourselves without a fridge, or any other way to store boxes of food, or if we don't want to venture into the possibility with boxes, there is a second option for us. Fitness enthusiasts (like Robert and I) on vacation, where self-catering and boxing go by the wayside, will surely love this option. It involves eating at the restaurant or hotel where we are staying and so we have to choose our meals from the menu that is available. Even in this case, however, we don't have to abandon our established eating habits and our willpower comes into play (believe me, it can be more than difficult for many of us to eat moderately even when we have x variations of snacks under our noses, from salty to sweet).

However, if our priorities are really such that we don't want to (or even can't) deviate from our eating rituals, it is possible to choose dishes at restaurants or hotel buffets that are virtually identical to those we normally eat. However, you must take into account that the chef in the restaurant is unlikely to bring you a steak without using oil, sauce or other ingredients that you do not normally include in your diet, which of course increases the calorific value of the food. But you'll never get anything for asking the staff, and if you insist on making your meal as dietary as possible, try asking the staff. I believe most establishments will accommodate you.

When it comes to buffets in hotels, in most cases you can always choose foods that look more dietary. These will be boiled eggs, various types of bread (wholemeal, rye, etc.), white yoghurt, cereals, nuts, hams and a wide selection of cheeses. In terms of meat selection, I would opt for slices or noodles of lean meat (or fish) without sauces or other added flavouring with a side dish (couscous, rice potatoes, pasta...) and a wide selection of vegetables without toppings. The hotel tables will certainly never lack a variety of fruit, which can be included at any time of the day as a small snack.

A business trip or vacation doesn't necessarily mean several days of uncontrolled overeating followed by several weeks of getting back into your routine. There are always more ways to handle your eating, and not just at home. Packing and choosing as many appropriate foods as possible is the key to maintaining our consistency in eating.

For more from the world of fitness, eating, workout tips and more, follow our instagrams nikci_fit and supertrainer.com.