Eating on the Road

MUSCLE INSIDER 18:
BIGGER & BADDER
By Ron Partlow

Eating on the Road
Through all the years of living the bodybuilding lifestyle and packing food everywhere I go, I’ve learned a lot of different ways to make sure I get all my meals in while traveling. I remember packing shakes, fruit, nuts, and roast beef sandwiches everywhere I went when I was younger. I always made sure I got all my protein and calories in every two to three hours. No matter how long I was away, I always found a way to get my meals in. As time went by and I got into competing, it eventually became necessary to learn how to pack the meals on my plan so that my diet stayed exactly the same. If traveling in the off-season, it’s a lot easier to eat some restaurant meals and hit the odd calorie bomb to keep the weight up and fuel the workouts. However, traveling during contest prep really teaches you how to pack and prep your food. Then I joined the Mutant team, and the travel schedule went nuts. It’s one thing to just take a road trip in the car for a weekend. That’s easy. You just pack a bunch of Tupperware into a cooler. If you make sure you get a hotel with a fridge and microwave, then you’re set. However, when it comes time to fly halfway around the world while prepping for a contest or photo shoot, things get more complicated. “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” Isn’t that how the saying goes? Here’s what I’m doing while flying, staying in hotels, and bouncing around from time zone to time zone.

It’s a few hours of work to cook and prep all the meat, rice, and veggies required for all my meals. I weigh out all the meals in the bags and let them sit open to cool for a while before sealing them with my Food Saver vacuum sealer (which both compacts food for travel and keeps food tasting fresh and moist when heated). Make sure you get the marker out and label each meal so you can tell your meals apart. For example, once they all get sealed up, it can be hard to tell which ones have one cup of rice or two cups of rice. Then I freeze them solid and pack them in a small cooler (I have fit up to 15 meals inside). I use my cooler as my carry-on in many cases. Don’t worry about food when going through security. People ask me all the time if I have problems, but I’ve only had issues if there was lots of sauce or liquid on or with my food. There shouldn’t be any trouble with food when flying. Also, remember to bring a nice big spoon to eat with … no forks.

Whatever meals I need for the flight, I pack into containers that stay cold with all the frozen meals. I’ve had a dozen ice packs taken away by airport security, so I never bother taking those in my small cooler. I also make sure I have an extra shaker packed with some whey, and a bag of nuts in case of a delay and I need an emergency meal.

If it’s a longer trip and I need upwards of 20 to 30 meals packed, I will use a hard-shell cooler with wheels (which makes it much easier for traveling) with some extra ice packs and check that as luggage. I pack all dry goods into ziplocks and just pack them in my suitcase. Don’t forget to pack a container to eat out of and any seasoning you want.

It may sound like a lot of work, but it’s really only a few hours of work for a whole week away. Once you’re at your destination, it’s easy to stick to the plan and eat right. In fact, it almost feels like a holiday because you don’t have to cook at all for the whole trip.