What a Nutrition Coach Eats While Traveling (Real Life, Not Perfect)

How to stay consistent with nutrition and training on a busy travel weekend

This past weekend, I flew to Calgary with my daughter for her gymnastics competition.

It was a packed few days—early mornings, Uber rides to team building activities and competition site, hotel food, airport food, and a lot of time out of routine.

So instead of a “perfect plan,” I thought I’d share what this actually looked like in real life.

Not because you should eat exactly like this—but to show how to stay consistent with nutrition while traveling, even when things aren’t ideal.

First—A Quick Reality Check

What I eat on a trip is influenced by a few key things:

I still prioritize movement (I trained both mornings + walked a lot)
I aim for high daily steps whenever possible (take the stairs, post dinner walks, micro walks during Jamie’s team events and competition to break up sitting)
My protein targets stay consistent whether I’m home or away

👉 Your version might look different—and it should.

The goal isn’t to copy this.
It’s to understand the principles of healthy eating while traveling and apply them to your life.

The 4 Things I Focused On All Weekend

Instead of chasing perfection, I stuck to:

Anchor meals with protein and produce (veggies/fruit)
Don’t let myself get overly hungry
Use what’s available vs. waiting for “ideal”
Flexibility > perfection

What I Packed (This Is Half the Battle)

Before we even left, I set myself up with easy wins:

Protein powder packs
EAAs
Baby cucumbers
Turkey pepperoni
Cheese strings
Frozen blueberries (also doubled as an ice pack that could clear security)
Protein Oatmeal Pacs for breakfast (which we didn’t actually end up needing…read on)
A few bars and snacks for my daughter to add carbs, calories and “fun” for her (Chocolate mint Cliff bars, Dill Pickle Pretzels, Chocolate covered acai berries)

Nothing fancy—just simple, portable options so I wasn’t relying entirely on airport or hotel food.

Friday (Travel Day + Recovery)

This was already a lower-intensity day for me, so I leaned into that:

Easy morning spin on my old exercise bike while answering last minute emails + dog walk
Regular breakfast at home (oatmeal + protein)

At the airport:

Coffee + milk
Turkey egg white breakfast sandwich from Starbucks (my usual go to – Feta and Egg White Wrap was sold out!)
Cucumbers on the side

On the flight:

2 Turkey Pepperoni + cucumbers + diet coke

Dinner (Hotel Night 1)

We walked to a grocery store and built something simple:

Bagged salad
Rotisserie chicken

That was my “base.”

Then I added what I actually wanted:

Cereal + almond milk
Raspberries
A few chocolate-covered snacks

👉 A mix of structured + flexible eating—not all or nothing.

Saturday (Training + Long Day)

Morning Training-6am

5K treadmill run + leg workout
Fueled with water + EAAs

(Not perfect—no creatine/collagen which are in my “usual” workout fuel—but for a short trip, that’s fine.)

Breakfast (Hotel Buffet)

Buffets can go either way. I kept it simple:

Eggs + turkey sausage + salsa
Yogurt
Banana
PB (on the banana)

Skipped options that didn’t appeal.

Lunch Reality Check

Back in the room:

Salad + chicken (again)

Still hungry →
I added a small croissant we ended up with from an Jamie’s airport order mix-up earlier in the trip.

👉 This is important: I didn’t ignore hunger. I adjusted.

Coach Takeaway:
Ignoring hunger often leads to overeating later. Adjusting in the moment is a smarter (and more sustainable) strategy than trying to “be perfect.”

Dinner (Team Dinner)

Burger on a pretzel bun → this was my “10”
Caesar salad (dressing on the side, skipped the croutons)
Skipped fries + desserts

👉 Not restriction—just choosing what felt most worth it.

Sunday (Competition Day + Travel Home)

Another early start for a 5:30 am workout:

Short run + upper body workout
Adjusted order (cardio first) based on what I’d realistically do. (Ideally weights would come first, but I new my motivation might wane to do a little run post weights for each of my workout days)

👉 Not “optimal”—but realistic.

Breakfast

Frittatas + egg whites + salsa
Yogurt
Banana + PB
Coffee

Travel Nutrition (Where Most People Struggle)

Instead of one big meal, I broke it up with what the “on the go” schedule allowed:

Snack 1:

Protein shake (PP pac in 2 cups unsweetened almond milk left over from our cereal purchase)

Snack 2 (airport):

Apple
Cheese
Cucumbers
Dry Cereal + pretzels combo (small serving to manage “munchies”)

Coach Takeaway:
You don’t need perfect meals while traveling—you need consistent decisions. Small, simple choices add up over the course of a full day (or weekend).

What About My Daughter? (Quick Note)

Her weekend looked different—and that’s intentional.

For her, the priorities were:

Energy for performance
Easy-to-eat foods
Familiar options
A bit more flexibility (it’s a big, fun weekend)

That meant things like:

Waffles + chocolate milk at breakfast
Simple snacks
A few treats to celebrate her win (salt and vinegar popcorn, Frozen slushy drink, her choice of candy)

All anchored with some more balanced options—she had salad and protein (chicken or burger) at meals, and also had snacks like turkey pepperoni, baby cucumbers, and cheese strings along the way.

(And yes—she finished 1st overall 🥇)

👉 Different goals = different approach.

What This Comes Down To

This weekend wasn’t perfect.

But it didn’t need to be.

Because consistency isn’t built on perfect days—it’s built on:

Planning ahead (even just a little)
Making solid—not perfect—choices
Adjusting when things don’t go as planned
Keeping movement in your routine

If You’ve Got Travel Coming Up…

Whether it’s:

Kids’ tournaments
Long weekends
Summer trips

You don’t need to “start over” when you get back.

You just need a plan that works in real life.

You just need a plan that works in real life.

If you liked this blog, check out:
Staying Healthy on an All-Inclusive Without Missing Out

“Business Travel” Nutrition: How I stayed on Track During 5 Days Away

Need help building that plan?
At Performance Institute, we help you bridge the gap between
👉 knowing what to do
and
👉 actually doing it consistently

Book your Training or Nutrition Assessment today and let’s build a plan that works for you.

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