Road Trip Food
Just got back from a 3-day business road trip. I didn’t take photos of what I ate, but I did try to stick to my low-carb program. It was a little challenging to accurately estimate my calorie consumption (I’m sticking to right around 1500 calories a day) but I did stay pretty strictly keto.
I thought it might be helpful to write up my food choices so that you have some ideas and go-to options for meals you can eat while traveling that will keep you and your diet on track.
Here’s what I ate so that you have an idea what’s possible for keto eats on a road trip:
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Sunday –
Morning – Just decaf with a splash of heavy cream until after noon.
Afternoon – Heading out of town…drove through Burger King. Got the Cheddar Bacon King – which is a double patty burger. Didn’t bother asking them for bunless because they always make them better if I just ask for no ketchup and remove the bun myself. I just wrap the patties, cheese, and bacon in the paper and it’s delicious and satisfying. Ordered ice water…but could have had a diet coke. What I really love about Burger King for fast food is that they advertise they are committed to 100% beef. No fillers, additives, or preservatives. So, for fast food…that’s pretty great.
Evening – Nice Mexican Restaurant – I was still full from lunch but ordered a roast pulled pork with no rice or beans or tortillas. Instead I got a side salad with shredded cheddar, sliced black olives, pico de gaillo, and used the salsa with a dollop of sour cream on top for dressing. I just put the pulled pork on top of the salad and it was amazing! Though, since I was still full from lunch I only ate 4 bites of that and then took the rest back to our hotel room. I ate the left-overs and an Atkins Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar for dessert.
Monday –
Morning – Drive-thru Starbucks decaf with a splash of cream kept me satisfied until afternoon. Then I had a couple of 160 calorie Atkins Chocolate Caramel Nut Bars to snack on.
Evening – Famous Dave’s Rib House – I got the dry rub seasoned rib tips (no sweet sauce or sauce of any kind) They were AMAZING! Side of steamed broccoli. They don’t have real butter (I asked our server to check to make sure it wasn’t margarine. It was. So, I skipped the butter.) I ordered a salad which was gorgeous with sliced hard boiled egg and chopped bacon bits on top! (Make sure you don’t eat the croutons if there are some.) Unfortunately, I was so full from eating the rib tips and small serving of broccoli that I took the salad in a to-go box (though I COULD have eaten it on keto!) Dipped my broccoli bites in the ranch dressing that the salad came with (totally fine on keto.) Never did eat the salad…
Dessert was a Chocolate Peanut Butter Atkins Bar later that evening in our hotel room.
Tuesday –
Morning – Again…we drove through Starbucks and I got another decaf coffee with a splash of cream. Our hotel offered a breakfast buffet so after I dropped Jeff off at his client’s office I checked it out. Surprisingly, there were little pre-made cheese-filled omelets available, so I had one of those along with three pork link sausages.
Lunch – Applebee’s – I ordered the breakfast burger with no ketchup. Took off the bun and didn’t eat the fries. Didn’t realize it had a little shredded hash browns on it, so I scraped those off. But it was delicious! Nice, thick burger patty topped with cheddar cheese and bacon with a fried egg on top. If I’d noticed on the menu that it came with hash browns on it I would have just ordered a bacon cheeseburger with a fried egg on top. Would have been easier. But the waitress came before I was really ready to order and since Jeff was ready I just quickly made a decision without really reading the ingredients. My burger also came with a lettuce leaf, tomato slice, red onion, and dill pickle slices. I only ate some of the onion and the dill pickle slices. Had a big diet Pepsi with lemon slice.
When we got back to the hotel I had a small 160 calorie Atkins Chocolate Coconut Bar for dessert. And that was all I ate for the day.
I packed some string cheese sticks for the road…along with some salted roasted mixed nuts…but we didn’t end up eating any. On other trips I’ve packed olives, and made 2 kinds of pre-filled celery sticks; 1 with cream cheese and the other with peanut butter, which are also great road trip snacks. Took non-caffeinated diet sodas to drink. Be careful of store-bought jerky options. You might think they’re a good keto option, but most are full of sugars, which you don’t want.
This List of 33 Low-Carb Snacks to Keep You Satisfied also offers some great pre-made and make-it-yourself ideas for foods to take on the road.
I hope that gives you some ideas for how to stay on a keto/low-carb diet even when you’re traveling. 
