1. Hold a meeting—Are you traveling with your grandkids or your friends? Before you start off, it’s a good idea to have a meeting in which everyone accepts the need for wise food choices while traveling. It helps if you can agree up front about limiting trips to national donut chains, cheeseburger outlets, and ice cream shops. Each traveler might even get involved in packing his/her own small cooler with healthful treats, like small containers of juice (not juice drinks or sodas, which are mostly sugar), protein bars, and fruits.
2. Find out more about restaurants— If you are dining in wellknown chain restaurants, you can trying checking out their menus online before you leave. Look beyond your usual favorites for the healthier options many chains have added. Choose fresh fish dishes made any way— except fried or drowned in sauce. Also, ask friends who have visited the area if they have a local place to recommend.
3. Take advantage of local foods—Check out the local farmer’s market for nutritious snacks, like fresh and dried fruit. Is seafood a big draw where you will be?
4. Be wary of the menu—Look for words or phrases that generally indicate a high-fat content: creamed, fried, au gratin, etoufee, or breaded are some warning signs. If the menu doesn’t say how the dish is prepared, ask, so as to avoid hazards like creamed sauces.
5. Avoid white flour products—Whole grains are much better than white flour products in your diet. Look for oatmeal or high-fiber foods for breakfast instead of bagels. See if the menu has a whole-grain version of a favorite food, like pasta or pizza.
6. Watch portion sizes—Most restaurants now allow you to split an entrée for a small surcharge. That’s less expensive and better for your waistline, than each of you trying to consume a whole plate alone.
7. Choose salads wisely—That’s right. Salads. They aren’t automatically healthful. Consider the high-fat content of a Mexican salad with refried beans, or Greek salad with tons of feta cheese.
8. Plan healthful activities—The more walking you do, the easier it is to keep pounds from piling up even when you overindulge. Simply parking your car farther away in the parking lot can help.
9. Be smart about dessert—Fresh fruits are usually a better option than rich cakes, but even the fruit can be a problem if it’s drowned in rich cream or buried in tons of pie pastry. It helps if you share portions.
10. Watch out for alcohol—Many alcoholic drinks, especially mixed ones, are very highcalorie.
11.  Don’t feel guilty—You are on vacation, so if you don’t stick rigidly to your goals don’t turn it into a catastrophe. That often leads to even more problems.

Finally, remember that athough we don’t encourage you to gain weight on vacation, a few extra pounds are not an utter disaster. Just make sure to incorporate ways to take them off once you get home.

Preventive Measures Always Key to Good Health As you read the tips on staying healthy while traveling, and men and women’s health mistakes, you will notice they have one major thing in common. They stress preventive health care measures. That’s not surprising, considering the watchwords of Erickson HealthSM are preventive medicine. Doctors use Erickson Health’sSM Centricity, an electronic medical records system to check for potentially dangerous drug interactions before writing prescriptions. This year Bone Health Centers (including state-of the-art DXA bone density scanners) were introduced at two communities built and managed by Erickson. These are just two of the many ways preventive care is emphasized through Erickson HealthSM.