Traveling Sports Nutrition Tips
Take responsibility for your own success. When you travel away from home you need to be more organized. Here are some helpful tips for when you are traveling:
- Bring your own food with you on the trip so you don't have to rely on deli's or fast food outlets.
- You can request special meals for the plane ride, just ring the airlines about a week prior to departure to put in your order.
- When you arrive, organize to do a food shop for evening meals and breakfast, as well as snack foods for during the day.
- Keep hydrated on the plane. Humidity is around 10-15% on a plane and moisture is drained from you. So drink mineral water, juices or soft drinks whenever they are offered to you to avoid dehydration.
Eating street food poses lots of problems for traveling athletes- Avoid alcohol as it also dehydrates. It is detrimental to your sports performance and will affect your games. Save it up for after the last game when you can celebrate all your wins!!
- Avoid tea and coffee on the plane, as they are diuretics and will cause fluid loss (for dehydration as well as avoiding using the plane toilets).
- Long hours of travel can upset your digestive system. To minimize constipation, drink plenty of fluids and eat fiber-rich foods.
- Many sporting venues do not supply nutritious foods, they tend to be high-fat/low-carb foods, e.g. deep fried meat products, chips and spring rolls. Take snacks with you, avoid snacking on junk foods at the venue.
- If eating at restaurants, don't hesitate to ask the people serving you for help to describe meals. Ask for extra rolls, a larger serve of rice or pasta, to reduce the cream or cheese content of the meal. Try to avoid food that is high in fat or deep-fried.
- Traveling from warm climate to the cold may entice you to eat more than is required, and choose high fat foods. Be careful of this.
Related Pages
- Sports Nutrition for the Traveling Athlete
- Airport Stopovers — a guide to healthy eating at the airport.
- Packing Healthy Snacks — a discussion about packing healthy snacks when you travel.
- Tips for Beating Jetlag for the Traveling Athlete
- Eating Healthy While Traveling
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
