Following a Keto diet at home can present enough challenges for many people. Trying to eat Keto on vacation takes it to a whole different level.
In a previous life, about 14 years ago, I was a different person. That person was 120 lbs heavier than I am now. Going on vacation would mean grabbing quick take out meals, eating at restaurants and lots of snacking. It would not be unusual to come home 5 pounds (or more) heavier. These days things are a bit different.
The former me would not have done something crazy like plan a trip to go rock climbing. Yes it was a bucket list thing and, for a gal who is rounding the corner to 50 this 120 lb lighter me actually did it!
My husband and I spent a few days up in Vermont and New York. We made a stop at Ausable Chasm and did a little rock climbing.
Yes, that’s me. Standing on a small piece of wood, hanging on to metal bars to scale the sheer rock wall.
And that’s me climbing up the sheer wall to get to a single wire bridge to cross the chasm.
I can tell you that 14 years ago and 120 lbs heavier this was not possible. It’s important to me to stay eating on plan so I can continue to do all these crazy things that I wasn’t able to do years ago.
With a little planning you too can go away on vacation and avoid gaining weight.
If you’ve been following a keto diet then you know that it takes a bit to get into ketosis. Ketosis is the state in which your body uses ketones, which are created during the breakdown of fats in the liver, as a fuel source to give you energy. If you eat carbs then your body will use glucose that comes from the carbs as the main source of fuel. Getting into ketosis doesn’t happen overnight. It usually takes a few days to kick in and can even take weeks for your body to become fully adapted to using ketones for energy.
Because of this, having a “cheat day” where you eat lots of things containing carbs will kick you out of ketosis. Then it’s back to the beginning again. Once in ketosis I’ve found it’s just much easier to stay there rather than yo-yoing in and out of it. Planning my meals and keeping ingredients for my favorite meals on hand helps me stay in ketosis.
Which brings me back to the question of what in the world can I eat while on vacation?
Success loves preparation. Since I wanted to succeed then I had to start planning some quick, easy meals that required no cooking or heating. I had access to a cooler and we could pick up ice to keep things cold so that would help. With a bit of creative planning I came up with the following meal plan for our trip.
If you are tracking your macronutrients (fat, protein, carb and fiber) I have included some basic information for you found at the very end. Always check the stats and the serving sizes of the products that you use and keep in mind that not everyone will have the same macronutrient goals.
Drinks:
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We brought a case of bottled water with us and a few of our favorite no calorie drinks
Condiments/Salad Dressing:
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If you enjoy using particular condiments with wraps or dressing with your salad (which made up some of my meal plan) then pack a small container. In our case I brought a small plastic container with mustard and mayo as well as a small bottle of our favorite salad dressing.
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We also brought along some salt and pepper because we enjoy it on our eggs. Check your local grocery store spice isle for a set of cheap salt and pepper shakers. I found a set there for about a dollar.
Breakfast items:
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cooked breakfast sausage
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hard boiled eggs
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avocados
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low carb tortillas
I found burrito sized lower carb tortillas at my local grocery store. They were big enough to make a large burrito. It also made a good sized meal even when split in half.
We planned to eat the sausage and eggs for breakfast. On one day I also used some of the low carb tortilla rolls to make breakfast roll ups.
Got a favorite breakfast roll up ingredient? Why not pack it for your trip.
For our next trip we are going to include a small jar of salsa to use in our breakfast roll ups.
Lunch items:
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low carb tortillas
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cooked, shredded chicken
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cooked steak, onions and peppers
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sliced cheese
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avocados
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cheese roll ups
The cheese rollups are made by taking our favorite sandwich meat and rolling it around a cheese stick. For our trip I used mozzarella, cheddar and pepperjack cheese sticks. The sandwich meat included turkey breast, ham and a delicious rosemary ham that I found at the deli counter. They make a great grab and go snack or can be used as part of a heartier meal.
Our planned lunches included low carb burritos filled with a mixture of shredded meat (chicken or steak), cheese, avocado and salad greens topped with dressing or mustard. We also made burritos filled with avocado, several cheese rollups, salad greens and mayo/mustard.
Dinner:
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prebagged salad mixes
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cooked, shredded chicken
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cooked steak, onion, pepper mix
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avocados
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hard boiled eggs
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cheese
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dressing
The original plan was to make a big loaded salad to eat for dinner each night. But it takes a lot of cooler space to pack individual salad items. We bring our scooters with us so we can travel around to see the sights while on vacation. The small cooler we strap on the back doesn’t hold a whole lot. Packing on those ingredients would have been impossible.
But then I had a great idea for a quick and easy meal. Before we set out on our adventure we cut the top of the salad bag open, added our extra salad fixings (shredded chicken, steak, cheese, avocado, diced egg, etc), packed the salad dressing and forks then we were on our way!
These salad on the go were great! No plates to pack. No extra ingredients to take up cooler space. Super easy to clean up after eating. When you’re done you just toss the bags.
A quick word on the bagged salad mixes. My husband loves the bagged salad blends from Fresh Express. They include chopped cabbage which gives it a great crunch. These salads contain a blend of greens plus a packet that contains dressing and some other ingredients. Not all the extra ingredients are keto friendly. Some of the dressing mixes are high in carbs as well as some of the extra ingredients such as tortilla strips and croutons. Depending upon how many carbs you eat in a day you may want to avoid those mixes, or at least remove some of the ingredients, and stick with the mixes that only contain salad greens.
Snacks:
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Almonds
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cheese slices
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Hummus/Carrots (please note: these are higher in carb items and not typically eaten by those on a keto diet. Occasionally I enjoy having them but I am aware that I can eat a higher amount of carbohydrates and not get kicked out of ketosis. Your mileage my vary on this item).
In the end we found the meals to be filling enough that we didn’t really snack on anything except for a handful of almonds here and there.
And how did the meal plan work out?
Great!
Except for one meal out at a steak house, my husband and I ate all our meals from the food we brought. The food was tasty and we didn’t spend a small fortune on purchasing meals out. There was enough variety to not be bored. The meals were able to be easily packed into the cooler for traveling. And the best part of all, unlike other vacations away, I returned weighing exactly what I did when I left. That’s a win in my books!
Below you will find some of the nutritional information for what we ate. Of course, depending upon what you use, this might not be exact.
Key:
F = Fat
C = carbohydrate
P = Protein
FB = Fiber
K = Calories
gm = gram
– cooked breakfast sausage (1oz serving/1 link K=95, F=8gm, P=5.5gm, C=0gm, FB=0 )
– hard boiled eggs (K=72, F=5g, P=6.3 gm, C=0.4gm, FB=0)
– avocados (1/2 avocado, K=183, F=16gm, P=3.5gm, C=12gm, FB=8.5gm)
– low carb tortillas. The burrito sized tortillas I found at my local grocery store had the following K= 110, F3.5 gm, P=7gm, C=23, FB= 13.
– cooked, shredded chicken (½ a chicken breast K=142, F=3.1gm, P=26gm, C=0, FB=0)
– cooked steak, onions and peppers (3 ounces of steak K=155, F=6gm, P=23.4 gm, C=0, FB=0/ onions/peppers (1/3 cup cooked has K=20, F=0.2gm, P=0.7gm, C=4.6, FB=0.7gm)
– sliced cheese (1oz American sliced cheese has K=92.7, F=6.8gm, P=5.5gm, C=2.3 gm, FB=0gm)
– Feta cheese (1 ounce K=74, F=6gm, P=4gm, C=1.1gm, FB=0)
– avocados (½ an avocado has K=161, F=15gm, P=2gm, C=8.5gm FB=7gm)
-cheese roll ups (1 cheese stick with 2 slices ham sandwich meat (K=140, F=7.4gm, P=16.6gm, C=1.4gm, FB=0gm)
– salad mix (½ bag of Chipotle Cheddar Fresh Express Salad mix (K=195, F= 13.5 gm, P=4.5gm, C=13.5gm, FB=3gm)
If you stick with a plain bag of salad mix such as the Fresh Express Premium Romaine then ½ a bag of salad mix contains (K=30, F=0gm, P=1.5gm, C=6gm, FB=3gm)
– Ranch dressing 2 tablespoons (K=110, F=11gm, P=1gm, C=2gm, FB=0gm)
– Dry roasted almonds (22 nuts/1 ounce K=169, F=14.9gm, P=6.2gm, C=5.4gm, FB=3.3gm
Total for a day of eating ½ breakfast burrito with 2 sausage/2 eggs, whole lunch burrito with chicken, feta cheese, ½ an avocado, bit of salad greens and some dressing and ½ a bagged salad with steak, onions, peppers, hard boiled egg, cheese and ½ an avocado came in around 1,700 calories, 102 grams of fat and 40 net grams of carbs. As I aim for 50 net grams of carbs and under this worked for me.
Looking to cut more carbs out? Simply eat the breakfast and lunch items without the low carb burrito to reduce the carb count to 25 net grams.
The three day meal plan is also easy to adapt to some of your favorite types of foods.
The meals are very simple and designed to be portable and require a simple cooler for storage during your trip. Swap out some of the food items you don’t like and replace them with your favorites.
The meal plan gives you a good foundation of quick and portable meals that you can build on.
Planning a vacation? Wondering how you will be able to stay on plan while away? Looking for some quick, no cook meals? Then stop by, check out the post, grab the menu with all the nutritional information to help you eat keto on vacation. It’s easier than you think!
Not going on vacation and just want some ideas of what to eat? Why not use the meal plan to create some meals at home? The meals are filling and you can switch things up to create a variety of meals for yourself.
Can these recipes be printed and how?
Hi Donna, If you scroll down to the recipe card, right under the recipe name, there is a button that allows you to print the recipe.