I used to struggle a lot with food and feeling good in my body when I traveled…
- Feeling like I had nothing to eat.
- Being overwhelmed by options, and what I “should” and “shouldn’t” eat.
- Having digestive issues, dizziness, and fatigue when I traveled.
- Overthinking every meal, counting calories and macros.
- Worrying about my body and weight.
When I healed my relationship with food and fully integrated intuitive eating, I had a full 180 transformation with food and travel.
I went from being someone who was constantly concerned about food to someone who was having fun, not thinking too much about food, and feeling great most of the time.
There are two sides to this: The mental-emotional and the practical.
I worked on my mindset, beliefs, and emotions when it came to food and travel, and I created a flexible system so I would feel nourished and supported.
Spoiler alert: Changing my mindset, beliefs, and emotions was WAY more important than the system I created, but the system helps a lot.
First, let’s get into the mental-emotional side of how I solved my travel food struggles…
1. I began to see all foods as neutral.
Not good or bad. Just information.
I began to listen very closely and lovingly to the way my body responds to different foods.
Even though some foods, like trans fat, are objectively unsupportive of our health, seeing them as BAD isn’t helpful.
Where there’s an energetic charge, there’s fear, and often, a need to rebel.
When we practice feeling neutral toward all foods, we can overcome restrict-rebel cycles, and just hear what our bodies actually want.
Neutrality helped me make peace with all foods and eat a wide range of foods without fear.
When we eat with joy rather than fear, digestion improves.
Why?
When you’re afraid or anxious, your body may go into fight-or-flight mode.
In this state, blood moves away from the digestive system – which is considered non-essential in an emergency – and toward your muscles, so you can fight or flee.
This can slow down digestion.
I remember reading a book about French women when I was teenager, and how they practice eating everything with delight.
The author talked about the difference between eating a slice of cake in a state of anxiety, thinking about “what it will do to your body,” and eating that same cake in a state of joy.
When we’re in a state of joy and delight, digestion improves and metabolism increases.
Seeing all foods as neutral, and shifting to joy and delight more often, helped me remove the negative charge from my travel food experience.
2. I integrated next-level self-love.
Everyone loves the idea of self-love, but many find it difficult to integrate it.
To truly love themselves, rather than loving themselves in theory.
When self-love really integrates in your system, it can take root and expand.
This is what I mean by “next-level self-love.”
How can you truly integrate and compound your self-love?
One of the biggest pitfalls is faking it too much.
You don’t need to practice affirmations that don’t feel realistic to you, or pretend to LOOOVE a part of your body that you’re really struggling with…
… but you deserve a minimum of self-respect, the same way an imperfect child or your imperfect best friend does.
Make your self-love believable, and build from there.
Speak to yourself like you would an innocent child.
Notice negative self-talk and practice something positive.
Bring joy into your life in small ways by doing things you love, and minimizing things you don’t love.
As I really integrated self-love, my entire view of beauty changed.
I began to genuinely admire a wider range of bodies, and to genuinely love and celebrate my body more than ever.
As my self-love grew and compounded, my fear and overwhelm around travel food decreased.
3. I reworked my beliefs about food, travel, and my body.
Our beliefs inform our thoughts and actions.
They impact our nervous systems, and ultimately, they direct our lives.
What we believe about ourselves is what we bring to life, whether we’re conscious of it or not.
I used to believe that I was very sensitive to gluten, dairy, sugar, and lots of other foods – even though I tested negative for any true allergy.
I believed that I had to eat certain things at certain times, or I would feel sick.
A huge part of solving my travel food struggles was reworking my beliefs.
I do this in real time and in writing.
When I notice an unhelpful belief, I pause and mentally try on a new one.
For example…
Unhelpful belief: “If I eat that I’m going to be exhausted.”
New belief: “My body knows exactly what to do with that. It’s more important that I eat something, even if it’s not the perfect thing.”
Your new beliefs will be unique to you.
As someone who had an eating disorder, the above example was very helpful for me, especially when it comes to travel food.
A huge theme in my journey was lightening up.
Not worrying so much.
Freeing up mental space from food and body thoughts.
Shifting my nervous system from fear and anxiety around food to joy and delight had a huge mental, emotional, and physical impact on me.
Today I can eat a wide range of foods, in different amounts, at different times of day, and still feel great…
… in large part because I believe I can, and because I don’t have a lot of tension in my body when it comes to food.
In reworking my beliefs, I’ve strengthened my nervous system, and therefore my whole body, since the nervous system plays a huge role in digestion and immunity.
That’s what reworking beliefs in real time looks like, for me.
I also do journaling sessions that look very similar.
I’ll write out any unhelpful beliefs I’ve been noticing lately, then write out new, helpful beliefs.
Reading them out loud or setting them as reminders in your phone can be really helpful.
In thinking differently and writing out these new words, you’re showing your brain a new way of doing things, and your brain is communicating that new way of being to your body.
That covers the core mental-emotional side of solving my travel food struggles.
Now, let’s get into the practical side of solving travel food struggles…
1. I bring snacks when I can.
I don’t always pack snacks, and I don’t always eat them, but having options is huge for me.
I like to have full freedom to eat out as much as I want, and I like to have backups in case I get stuck somewhere, or none of the options appeal to me.
My favorite travel snacks are:
✓ Sandwiches
✓ Seaweed wraps
✓ Hard boiled eggs
✓ Carrots and celery
✓ Hummus
✓ Almond butter
✓ Nuts
The truth is that it doesn’t really matter what you bring, as long as you like what you have and you feel covered.
It’s more about the mental aspect of having food with you, so you feel a sense of nourishment and freedom.
2. I pick up core groceries on some trips.
I eat out and order takeout a lot, and I have no plans to change that.
Even though I’m almost always staying in an apartment, I sometimes don’t cook at all on trips.
But if I’m staying somewhere for over a week, I usually want to cook at least a simple meal here and there.
These are the core groceries I pick up:
✓ Eggs
✓ Beans
✓ Bread
✓ Arugula
✓ Onions
✓ Olive oil
✓ Butter
✓ Salt
✓ Sparkling water
✓ Tea
These are the essential ingredients I grab to make a simple breakfast, midday meal, or quick dinner if I’m having a night in.
I often pick up specialty items too, like a nice prosciutto or Serrano ham, some beautiful cheese, chocolate, pastries, local produce, microgreens, or anything else that looks good to me.
3. I place extra emphasis on my core ACTIVATE intuitive eating tools.
When we’re traveling, we’re processing a lot of extra stimulation.
We’re in a new place and new routine, and it can feel difficult to connect with your intuition and be present with your food.
When I travel I place extra emphasis on chewing, pausing, and breathing, so I can really enjoy the new environments and foods I’m experiencing.
When we bring more awareness to our meals, we can experience more pleasure and satisfaction, and improve digestion.
Daily meditation and kundalini breathwork, even if it’s just for a few minutes, also really support me.
They help ground me and clear out any funky energy, so I can hear my body’s cues more easily.
If you do none of the above, practice one thing:
Letting go.
When we let go of anxiety and overwhelm around food, we create space and silence to hear and honor our bodies.
We can’t control every experience…
We can’t always eat the perfect food…
And sometimes we don’t feel perfectly good in our bodies – digestive issues, dizziness, or fatigue happen…
… and that’s ok.
Letting go of control when it comes to food and travel opened up another world of health for me.
While it might sound scary to release control around food, I’m in better physical health now than I’ve ever been.
My relationship with my body is the best it’s ever been – I love the way I look, and I enjoy getting dressed and being seen.
Mentally, I’m stronger.
Emotionally, I’m so much happier.
Food feels easy, light, and fun, rather than feeling hard, heavy, and complicated.
Why?
Emotions can get stuck and compound when we attach ourselves to certain foods and routines, and allow the way we feel to dictate our entire lives.
Perhaps paradoxically, when we let go and let ourselves be imperfect, we usually wind up feeling better physically, too.
Do you struggle with travel food, or does it feel easy to you?
I’d love to hear your experience, and any questions you have for me, in the comments below.
I hope the tools I’ve shared today support you!
Much love,
Lula