Smart, Simple Ways To Eat Healthy On the Go

Eating healthy is something that most of us try to do, but fail at when time becomes an issue. Though it's not always the easiest thing for us to do, it's an investment that definitely pays off in many different ways.

Thankfully, we live in a time where having a great diet doesn't mean that you have to choose between living an active life and staying at home. Maintaining a good diet allows us to stay trim, healthy, and youthful for longer.

Nutrition experts have long been able to pinpoint the easiest ways to keep things healthy while on the go. Here are some of the best tricks for folks who often don't have the time to prepare their breakfasts, lunches, and dinners a la Pinterest.

Chop up veggies and fruits for a quick snack

The easiest way to guarantee that something is healthy for you is to choose vegetables and fruits in their raw form. Cutting up some vegetation doesn't take much time, and finding Tupperware to carry them with you doesn't take much time either.

Even so, this may be a bit much to do for some folks. So, it's worth pointing out that most convenience stores have caught on to the healthy eating trend's boom, and now sell chopped veggies and fruits in "to go" packs.

Shop smart

The best way to avoid eating foods that aren't good for you is to reduce the temptation to buy them. Doing this is actually fairly easy. It all comes down to the following small changes in your shopping habits.

Shopping smart means that you don't go shopping while hungry, and that you build a list with preplanned meals to buy - and stick to the list. Make a point of trying to opt for fresh foods or frozen foods over canned goods, too, since canned goods tend to have lower nutrient levels than fresh or frozen options.

Say no to soda

Soda tastes great - but that's really its only perk. It's expensive compared to water, is terrible for your teeth, and is filled to the brim with sugar. Drinking soda, even if it's diet soda, has been heavily linked to weight gain, diabetes, and even anxiety.

If you're traveling and feeling thirsty, stick to water or seltzer to get your drink on. Or, if you need a caffeine fix, choose coffee or tea instead of an energy drink.

Actually, you can also avoid overeating by drinking water, too

A lot of the time that we feel hungry, we aren't actually hungry. What we often mistake as hunger is often a sign of dehydration. By upping your water intake, you avoid eating more than what you really need to eat.

Moreover, drinking ample amounts of water also has the added benefit of filling up your stomach. So, if you're out to a restaurant, you can greatly reduce the amount of food you eat by drinking a glass of water before your meal arrives.

Learn the nutrition before you order out

Did you know that most chain restaurants actually have calorie counts and nutritional information for the foods they offer? It's true - and you may be very surprised to find out how many calories are in that salad you just ordered!

Before you head out to a restaurant, take a look at their nutritional information for calorie counts, saturated fats, and trans fats. This way, you can choose the smartest dish without having to worry about making the wrong decision.

Portion it

A very large percentage of successful dieting all comes down to portion control - and sadly, most Americans just don't have a good grip on what a healthy portion is. Schooling yourself on how much a typical portion should be is just as important as what you choose to eat.

If you aren't sure you can handle parsing things out into the right portion sizes, getting those easy 100-calorie bags you find at the grocery store can make a huge difference in your waistline size.

When in doubt, look for foods that don't have ingredients you can't pronounce

Hydrogenase? Monosodium glutamate? Maltodextrin? These hard-to-pronounce names definitely don't sound natural, and more often than not, they aren't particularly healthy for you. These additives are most commonly found in foods that tend to make us gain weight, feel cruddy, and just fall short of what good food is supposed to be.

If you want to avoid gaining weight or feeling crappy, stick to foods that have ingredients you can pronounce - like onions, fish, or eggs.

Read the food labels on the side of the box

It's kind of scary how often innocent-sounding foods can pack on calories, and how deceptive some "junk foods" really are in terms of nutrition. The only real way to get a good grip on how good food really is for you is to read the food labels that get slapped on them - or to look up their nutritional information online.

Sometimes, seeing those numbers is what makes you realize how much calories you're really taking in when you eat those "harmless snacks." Once you realize those snacks aren't really that harmless to your waistline, you might switch for something more health-conscious instead.

Don't clean your plate

Everyone knows that it's considered to be "proper manners" to clean your plate, but when it comes to typical restaurant portions, this isn't a wise idea. Studies show that a standard restaurant meal tops off the calorie charts at a striking 1,128 calories. If you add a beer to that, you can round out that figure to 1,300 or so - and that's well over half of your daily recommended calories.

The best way to avoid the caloric punch of a standard meal is to ask waiters to pack up half your meal before you even eat. This allows you to have two regular sized meals, without having to sacrifice flavor.

Plan ahead if you're going into a food desert

Food deserts, as Michelle Obama called them, are places where nutritious food is hard to come by. If you aren't sure there will be places that cater to your diet, plan ahead before you head out there.

Looking up rest stops that have veggies, nearby grocery stores, and healthy eating restaurants are wise ways to ensure that you don't have to go without good food for too long.