Tips for Staying Keto on Vacation

Following a ketogenic diet on vacation can be a daunting task!

Everywhere you travel to, there are new foods to try.  Deserts that will tempt you. Pasta that will call your name.  And then the inevitable fruity alcoholic beverage. Because of this, some find that staying Keto on vacation can be difficult.

Or maybe they thing Keto on vacation isn’t worth it.  They want to try all of the new foods they are introduced to during their travels, which is ok too!

If you do choose to stay Keto on vacation, here are some tips and ideas that we followed when keeping Keto on our honeymoon.

Keto for Breakfast

Breakfast buffets can be taunting!  We found this to be the case when on our Honeymoon.  Since breakfast was included, we ate at the breakfast buffet each morning which was packed full of every breakfast carb imaginable.  

I found breakfast to be very easy to keep Keto while traveling. We tried to stick with eggs and meats, like bacon and sausage.  Luckily there were hard boiled eggs available each morning. *Side note – I had never tried hard boiled eggs until this trip, I thought I didn’t like them.  Ended up eating them every morning, ha!

Sometimes an omelet station was a breakfast option, which is also great!  Some buffets also have cold cuts and cheese available (my personal favorite.

We found sticking to eggs, meat and cheese was our best bet.  The protein would keep us full, some days so much so that we didn’t even need to order lunch (which I loved, one less meal to purchase!).

Another alternative is to pack some breakfast options and bring them with you.  For example, I love to have a Quest bar in the morning. We checked an entire box and they were gone well before our trip was over!

If you’re not really a breakfast person, that’s ok too!  You could always do intermittent fasting while traveling to keep you in Ketosis.

Keto for Lunch

I found lunch to be rather easy to keep keto while on vacation.  Most days we would either order burgers or chicken sandwiches without the bun/bread.  

Salads are another good lunch option but watch out for carbs in dressing.  Most oil based dressings are generally low in carbs. I would also stay away from salads containing a lot of fruit as obviously, those too will have carbs. 

Keto for Dinner

As a lifelong lover of all things pasta and bread, I always find dinner to be the hardest for me to stay Keto when traveling.  If I even see a pasta on the menu that catches my eye, I have a hard time not ordering.  

Over the last year of following a ketogenic diet, I have found I am most likely to be successful at eating dinner out if I review the menu ahead of time and make my selection prior to getting to the restaurant.  I also find this to be true on vacation. If I go into dinner saying I’m going to order the chicken, I find I’m less tempted by other things. 

I think many of the principles mentioned above for lunch can also be applied to dinner.  I often think dinner can be easier to stay keto (depending where you’re eating) as there is an entree consisting of meat.  Steak, chicken or fish, as long as they aren’t served in something with a lot of carbs, are generally great Keto friendly options. 

If your meal selection comes with a starchy side of say potatoes, see if you can swap that out for a vegetable so you aren’t tempted. 

Lastly, say no to the chips and bread before dinner if you can.  Just having it there on the table can be tempting! 

Keto Friendly Alcohol

Stay far and I mean FAR away from those fruity drinks.  They are packed full of carbs. Also, anything with rum, just say no.  

When we were on our honeymoon, if there was a tropical drink that I just could not get off my mind, I would ask if they could do vodka, soda and a splash of the mix from the fruity drink.  This will give you a little bit of the flavor from that drink you’re craving, but also keep the carbs low.  

Another idea is to get a flavored vodka, like Absolut mandarin orange (0 carbs according to their website) with soda water.  This will give you a touch of fruit without the carbs!

For those who don’t like mixed drinks, wine is a good keto friendly option if its dry, not sweet.  Sweet wines have more carbs while dry wines (depending on brand) can range between 3-5 carbs per glass.  

Lastly, you can stick with a light beer like Bud Select 55 (1.8 carbs), Miller Genuine Draft “64” (2.4 carbs), Michelob Ultra (2.6 carbs).

Keto Snacks

When packing for our honeymoon I brought a lot of snacks.  I did NOT want to be tempted by the crap in the mini bar. 

I brought my favorite Quest bars, individually packaged 100 calorie nuts, along with some low carb nut bars I found at Trader Joes.  I thought this really helped us not only during the trip but also at the airport to stay away from those tempting high carb snacks!

Other Keto Eating Tips

Just because you’ve decided to stay Keto, doesn’t mean you cant indulge in the local cuisine.

If you see something on the menu that interests you, but you aren’t sure if its Keto friendly, don’t be afraid to get out your phone and consult your good friend Google. There is no harm in Googling something to find out the macros if you aren’t sure!

And lastly, when in doubt, there’s always cheese 🙂

All in all, it is relatively easy to stay Keto on vacation if you are committed.  As long as you want to try, to you will always be able to find Keto options when traveling, but we hope these tips will come in handy!!

Want more information on our Honeymoon? Click here to read all about it!