Fruit, Fitness, and Holiday Snacks!

Keeping fit and eating well on holiday is always a challenge. If you stay on home soil, there is less navigating to be done and things are more manageable. Jump on a plane and go abroad, and things immediately get much more interesting!

Not knowing the area, or food choices you may have, can affect your mood and fitness for the whole trip. This can leave you exhausted and not feeling yourself.

A holiday is a complete change of routine for both mind and body, and therefore needs to be prepared for! If you look after your food intake, then your fitness becomes a little easier.

Snacks are the way to go, and for me, fruit is right up there at the top for many reasons.

Compared to many European countries that get a lot more sun, Ireland’s fruit quality can be poor. The packaging and travelling needed to get some varieties of fruit to our shores upsets its taste and texture.

Luckily for us typically freckly white Irish, we gravitate towards sunnier climates when trawling the internet looking for our next holiday destination!

Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal are all top spots, and each country has lots of delicious fruit to choose from.

Fruit has been given a bad rap in recent times for the amount of calories it has. When I hear this, I really get annoyed that people are turning away from fruit for this reason. We need calories for energy.

What isn’t being talked about is the quality of calorie consumed. A calorie is still a calorie whether it’s from a banana or a chocolate bar, but do you really think they are the same?

The mix of fibre, vitamins, and minerals from fruit make it an absolute must for anyone with a hectic lifestyle.

No other food gives you so much for so little. Some fruit even has homemade packaging built in, in the form of its skin!

Fruit is an excellent holiday choice for many reasons:

1. Convenience

   You will find a fruit shop close to you in almost every destination you can think of that isn’t completely isolated. Because of this, it’s very easy to stock your hotel room with a variety of in season fruits like oranges, pears, melons etc. Once you get settled in your hotel room, pop to the nearest fruit market/shop and buy enough for your stay.

2. Price

   Compared to many commercial “Fitness bars” or snacks, fruit is extremely cheap, especially in countries like Spain and Portugal.

3. Freshness

   

   You know a piece of fruit is fresh just by looking at it and touching it. This ensures you are getting the highest quality produce available at that time.

4. Fibre

   Unlike that chocolate bar, fruit that is not juiced, but eaten whole, is full of fibre. This fibre slows the release of energy from the fruit, and therefore doesn’t mess with your blood sugar levels like a glass of Coke, or sugary cereal bar.

5. Fights Hunger

   Hunger is your enemy when it comes to making good food choices. Once you let yourself go past a certain point, you will literally stuff anything into your face to get the calories you need. More often than not, this is junk food, which affects your energy levels and therefore your holiday workouts too.

6. Counteracts Holiday Excess

   As mentioned earlier, fruit is packed with vitamins and minerals. Guess what your body craves after those late nights and alcohol?

   Consuming some fruit first thing in the morning gets your day off to the right start, and gives your body an immediate boost. Holidays are there to be fully enjoyed, so the better we manage our bodies, the more contentment and enjoyment we’ll feel.

The one thing that a lot of fruit is lacking is protein. Protein is excellent at keeping us full for longer and prevents food cravings and binging. To keep us in balance, let’s throw a little protein into our holiday snacks and add some other non-fruit choices.

Excellent Holiday Snacks:

• Almonds

  

  These are my favourite! High in fibre and protein with a nice mix of good fats. Add a square of dark chocolate to sweeten the deal!

• Peanut Butter

  This is so versatile. You can spread it on a piece of bread, put it on a rice cake, mix it with a banana, or eat it straight from the jar! The better quality peanut butters have very few ingredients and are extremely natural. You get a nice bit of protein and fibre from the peanuts. Grab a jar, and pack it in your suitcase before every holiday!

• Rice Cakes

  

  These are easily packed in your luggage and act as a great base for a very healthy snack. Try a rice cake with avocado or peanut butter on top, or a chopped banana. These come in lots of varieties, like chocolate and yogurt covered, so they act as a nice treat while out and about.

• Cans of Tuna

  A can of Tuna is almost indestructible! It’s so small and compact, and will stay fresh and packed with protein until you rip its lid off. Now with “No drain” varieties, there’s no mess like before. Definitely a wonderful quick holiday tummy filler. Buy them at home to make sure you have the flavours you love.

• Biltong

  

  This dried beef snack is now becoming very popular among athletes and on-the-go busy people. It’s a sugar free, high protein snack that’s extremely easy to transport across the Atlantic in your suitcase, or tucked in your backpack as you explore new places.

It can be tough to figure out the local cuisine while on holiday. After spending a lot of time in Spain, my first few months were spent unable to get to grips with a new way of eating.

With the proper preparation and by simply throwing a few high quality snacks in your carry-on, you will be more than ready for a great holiday. Add this to the delicious fruit available once you land, and you have the recipe for a very successful holiday.

Not only will you be taking care of your health and fitness, you’ll be in one hell of a good mood too!