Fasting While Traveling
7 Helpful Tips
Traveling is, by far, one of the most exciting activities these days. There’s nothing like the anticipation of a trip ahead of you, nothing like sitting down in a seat waiting for your plane to take off and bring you to your destination.
And yet, traveling isn’t always as luxurious as we’d like it to be. Whether by plane, train, bus, or car, traveling can be exhausting, fatiguing, and require a lot of planning to maintain a healthy routine. One of the more disruptive aspects of travel is regarding your microbiome.
If you’ve noticed irregular bowel movements, a shift in eating regularity, or dehydration due to travel, you’re not alone. At Kroma, your health and wellness are a priority, which is why we’ve compiled this concise list of helpful tips to support you while fasting and traveling.
How Can Fasting Help While Traveling?
Whether you're fasting during Ramadan, or seeking balance on multi-day journeys, fasting has numerous benefits for your health and wellness.
Though fasting may not seem like the most obvious choice to help regulate your system while traveling, clean fasting is a highly effective way of ensuring that your body is getting the nutrition that it needs while also addressing the tempting (yet non-nutritious) food options that seem to be around every corner while traveling.
What is Clean Fasting?
Clean fasting refers to a style of fasting where you consume only plain water, black coffee, or plain tea during your fasting window, and avoid consuming any calories, artificial sweeteners, or other additives. The idea behind clean fasting is that by consuming only zero-calorie beverages, you can maintain a fasted state that may have additional health benefits beyond simply reducing calorie intake.
How Can I Succesfully Fast While Traveling?
At Kroma Wellness, we know how important it is to prioritize your mental and spiritual wellness and physical health. When you’re traveling, those two priorities can feel at odds, particularly if you don’t have food options that are healthful, whole-foods, or protein-rich sources to keep you nourished throughout a long day.
Here are seven tips, including fasting techniques and whole-food snacks and meal options crafted by Kroma to support you whether you’re jet-setting or need a mid-day boost.
1. Pack Healthy Snacks for Eating Windows
Packing healthy snacks is where pre-trip planning comes into play. Though it may seem like a lot of extra effort, selecting healthy snacks ahead of time is one of the best ways to not only ensure that you will have food to eat on your travels but that it is food aligned with your health and wellness goals.
Particularly if you’re traveling via airplane, it can be easy to reach for the most convenient snack or meal, which usually isn’t the healthiest option. Figure out what kinds of snacks are for you, and prioritize a section of your travel bag to carry those snacks.
When fasting while traveling, select snacks high in protein so that your body, during eating windows, is getting the necessary amount of healthy fats, carbs, and protein to keep you sustained through fasting periods. Or, you can avoid the hassle and fuel up with our Kroma Travel Kit which includes almost everything you’ll need for a day on the go.
2. Get Plenty of Fluids
Can you drink water while fasting?
Yes, you can and should drink water while fasting to ensure you stay hydrated.
While hydration is always a key component of a healthy lifestyle, prioritizing getting plenty of fluids during travel is even more critical. With travel often involving a significant amount of sitting (if you’re driving or flying long distances), your body may not feel like it needs fluids, but it does.
Ensure that you are getting the recommended 11-15 cups of water, especially when you travel since your body’s schedule will be disrupted due to a change in time zones, climate, and eating habits. Remember, you can drink water while fasting to stay hydrated.
Ensuring you are drinking enough water can help your body pass regular stools, keep your skin clear, and avoid dehydration. Our Cranberry Hydration Elixir, perfectly crafted for those of us in motion, is designed for on-the-go hydration outside of your fasting period. With natural electrolytes and fasting supplements, this elixir adds the boost your water is looking for.
Instead of reaching for a sugar-packed sports drink, our Cranberry Hydration Elixir can help support your immune system and hydration without unnecessary sugars or additives.
3. Try Tea To Curb Cravings
If you’re craving sugar, salt, or any other food that might not keep you feeling full and nourished, try drinking tea to curb those cravings. Our Perfect Fast Tea is designed to keep you on track regarding your fasting goals and keep you feeling nourished and full in-between meals during fasting while traveling.
Crafted with organic ginger, turmeric, licorice, orange peel, and lemongrass, this tea is designed to help calm your appetite while supporting your digestive system and mood stability. Easily prepare this tea in the morning or evening during travel or fasting to keep you feeling supported and regulated.
4. Prioritize Nutrition During Meals
While flavor is certainly one of the most important aspects of eating, nutrition is also critical. Especially when you are fasting while traveling, ensuring that you are nourishing your body is important to ensure that you are getting enough energy, powering your brain and body, and keeping your body nourished during fasting periods.
When you’re traveling, it’s easy to reach for snacks like chips, bread, and protein bars that are high in carbohydrates. While these choices are high in calories and provide energy, they typically don’t contribute much to your nutritional needs. Instead, try the 40/30/30 approach, which involves eating 40 percent carbs, 30 percent protein, and 30 percent fats.
Prioritize whole foods, fresh vegetables and fruits, protein-rich fat sources like nuts, and accompany your meals with hydration that isn’t packed with sodium or sugars. Building your meals around nutrition (as opposed to convenience) will have you feeling better in the long run and keep you fuller for longer.
5. Opt for Protein During Meals
One of the easiest ways to power your body through long days of travel is to prioritize protein during meals. Though it may be tempting to move through an entire day snacking on delicious treats or reaching for something convenient, it’s usually the quick-fix meals that are packed with salt and sugar and have little-to-no protein to keep you nourished and full.
If you’re planning for meals or traveling in search of the perfect lunch, be sure to prioritize protein alongside whole grains and vegetables. Protein can keep you feeling fuller and provide you with sustained energy.
If you’re wondering where to get your daily protein, we recommend our 24K Beef Bone Broth or 24K Chicken Broth. Our Bone Broth is not only a great source of protein, but it’s also full of vitamins and nutrients that contribute to your daily nutrition, and help you feel fuller, for longer.
6. Get Plenty of Healthy Fats at Mealtime
Healthy fats are a good thing; like protein, your body needs it to support brain and heart functioning. Without any healthy fats, your body will be searching for something to fill it up – and that’s when we tend to reach for less-than-healthy snacks on the road.
Our Super Porridge is packed with healthy fats and protein, establishing a strong beginning to your day. When you’re on the road and fasting, it’s critical that you eat enough to avoid fatigue, headaches, or dizziness. Overall, Super Porridge is a great start to any busy day and you can easily make it into some deliciously satiating protein balls.
If you want a quick and easy way to sate your appetite outside of fasting periods, we recommend our OMG Cookie Butter. This butter is specially formulated with vitamins and nutrients to support your health and is also a great snack to eat while you’re on the go.
7. Give Yourself Some Flexibility
Here’s the thing: one of the best parts about traveling is being able to try all sorts of new cuisines. We wouldn’t expect you to travel to Italy and never try homemade pasta since that’s part of the joy of exploring new places and getting to understand different cultures.
Giving yourself some flexibility means granting yourself permission to enjoy the foods you might discover along your journey while fasting and traveling. If you find yourself making friends with someone local to an area and they offer a delicious meal at a tucked-away spot — try it!
The best parts of the journey are the ones you couldn’t have planned, where flexibility of spirit and diet come into play. However, be mindful that alcoholic beverages can be as carbohydrate-packed and calorically dense as a meal. Be mindful of your hydration and alcoholic beverage intake during your travels, particularly because it can be tempting to drink your way across destinations.
While it can be fun to get a little spontaneous, don’t forget to keep your health on track when you get back home. After a traveling period filled with spontaneous diet choices, Reset your system with our 5-Day Reset.
The Bottom Line
Traveling has innumerable benefits for both your mind and body, as experiencing new places and communities allows you to take a step back and re-orient yourself. This world is an incredibly diverse place with as many kinds of foods, traditions, and communities as there are languages.
One of the best parts of traveling is trying new food and discovering new places. And yet, one of the most disruptive things to your health can be an influx of new items to your diet in combination with time and travel differences which can throw off your circadian rhythm.
Our Kroma Travel Kit can help keep your diet on track by promoting easy, flexible, and travel-friendly options while fasting and traveling.
As you prepare for your next trip, prioritize hydration before and during your travel. Hydration will help you regulate your system as you make your journey and support the regular passing of stool.
Additionally, prioritizing fasting techniques that include high-protein foods, craving-curbing teas, and healthy fats will help support your body as it moves across time zones and through your journey. When you return home, your body will be as hydrated as it was when you left, and maintaining a regulated schedule with fasting techniques will help you re-acclimate home.
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The 5-Day Reset: Deluxe
The simplest and most delicious way to detox, rejuvenate and energize. Recommended for first-timers.
The Travel Kit
Travel light. Travel bright. Travel done right. Exactly what you need, when and where you need it.
Everything But Dinner
Take health with you. Convenient & nourishing, it's perfect for the busy parent or professional.
Cranberry Hydration Elixir
Elevate hydration & add electrolytes with this delicious, light elixir. Just the right amount of sweet.
Super Porridge
Move over eggs & hello Super Porridge. Fuel your body with this power-packed superfood breakfast.
OMG Cookie Butter
The perfect pre- or post-workout (or anytime) snack. You won't believe it's this good for you.
Perfect Fast Ginger Turmeric Tea
Sip & sit back. This soothing tea blend curbs appetite and supports mood and digestion.
24K Chicken Bone Broth
Liquid gold in a cup. Nourish and heal your gut biome with this ‘natural immunity medicine’.
24K Beef Bone Broth
Finally a bone broth as good as homemade. Rich in protein, collagen, zinc, B vitamins and turmeric.