Paleo on the Road

I travel all the time for work.  I'm usually gone two or three weeks out of the month, at conferences, visiting sites etc.  All of this travel wreaks hell on my diet, not to mention sleep and exercise. 

But to focus on how/what to eat while traveling, I can report that even after traveling into Haiti I was able to stay well fed on a modified version of the diet.  I did stray once, and had some white rice...but that's only because the chicken came with it...and even then I only had a few bites.  Being in the Army, and at an Army camp in Haiti, my choices were obviously limited.  The rule of thumb to follow here is to eat the salad and greens, and any fruit and then stay away from the starches...check out what was served...oh yeah, I took a pear on the way out of the chow hall as well:

Seeing as the beans are legumes, I stayed away from them...I ate the chicken and the salad and was pretty full.  Cases like this are not frequent, but they occur. 

More frequent challenges occur with the travel days themselves.  As I find myself in and out of airports, where good food is already a scarcity, it can be a real challenge (to eat paleo) that is complicated by an overabundance of really unhealthy foods.  This week I returned from a trip to Indianapolis, where I was able to stay on diet by eating fruits and salads, and at dinner usually having a fish entree or chicken.  However, when my flights were delayed, and I ended up in the Hell on Earth terminal at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, my hunger was tempted to be assuaged by things like Nathan's Hot Dogs, McDonalds, and a multitude of fast food nightmares.  After searching for some time I was lucky to find a Berghoff Cafe (Terminal 1), where they serve fresh roast beef sandwiches...and tomato/onion salads.  I asked the server if I could just have the beef and a side of salad and voila:

Some pictures of the meals I had while on travel this past week:

Taco flavored chicken on top of greens, with guacamole.

Chicken and veggies that are typically found at a conference buffet.

Oysters!  Any good restaurant can give you this paleo healthy treat.

Fresh snapper and shrimp.  Note, I thought it was a spinach side, but it was a black risotto which I had to pass on...but c'est la vie on paleo...the fish was fantastic though.

Overall, life on the road presents its challenges; but I really believe if you have the conviction and discipline to want to eat healthy, it absolutely can be done.