Days out and healthy eating

I love getting out and about but still want to eat healthy.

I love it even more when it's nice weather and today, it has been a lovely Saturday so far. I went to Hampton Court with my friend and we spent a number of hours enjoying the gardens, admiring the architecture and getting lost in the maze.

Of course, whenever you're going out for the day, it can be hard to stick to your healthy eating plan, especially when you're out all day. You could bring lunch with you, which is certainly a preference, however sometimes it's tricky - when there are bag searches, or when you don't want to lug the cool-bag around with you all day. You could leave your lunch in the car, however if it's a warm day a limp, warm sandwich or even better, carton of sushi isn't overly appetising. 

I knew I would be in Hampton Court so decided to plan: I had my usual porridge for breakfast which certainly keeps me going for a few hours. I also brought a packet of Marks and Spencers Wholemeal Honey BBQ snacks in my handbag and set off with them and a carton of grapes.

Hampton Court was amazing - the architecture was beautiful and the antiques in Henry VIII's apartments were lovely. I can't believe we walked so much but we actually managed to walk over 10,000 steps in just over 1.5 hours! 

Then came lunch time - We went to the canteen to get a drink as I knew that a lot of the time if you're feeling hungry it's not because you're actually hungry, it's because you're thirsty. We checked to see if there was anything healthy to eat in the canteen: Sadly not - Although they did do fruit. As a lot of the sandwiches were hand made (and quite expensive... £5.50 for a sandwich!) We decided to pass on them as there didn't seem to be any healthy options and I had no idea what calorie / fat content they had.

In the end, we sat on a bench outside and munched on low fat crisps and grapes - hardly the most filling of lunches but certainly enough to keep us going for another few hours until we got back home so I could eat sushi.

I haven't been to Hampton Court for a number of years and despite the admission cost (£19.30 per adult) being quite high, it's certainly a good day out and I really enjoyed myself - More than can be said when I got home and tried the Marks and Spencers Sushi that I had bought this morning - It just looked, well... not that great :-( Tasted 'OK', but certainly not something that I'd have again in a hurry.

If you've got a day out planned, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do I have a cool bag? If you want to take food with you, make sure you can keep it as fresh as possible

2. Does the place I go have bag searches? A lot of places search bags before you go in and if you take a lot of food, they might be there, looking through all your nosh.

3. Does the place I'm going allow bags? If not.. you might face a long walk back to the car

4. Do I have healthy food in the first place? I planned an additional 15 minutes into my journey time so I could go and buy healthy food. If you're planning on making it, factor that into your day and if you make it the day before, make sure you have the right ingredients.

5. Can I wait until I get back? If the place you're going isn't too far away, could you take something that's both healthy and light and keep something more substantial in your fridge for when you get back?

The more planning you do, the more you're likely to stick to your healthy eating plan.

Tonight I'm looking forward to making Singapore Noodles - should be healthy AND tasty.