PRN Healthcare provided this article.

For many travel nurses, eating healthy can often feel like a chore due to them being on the go and not having enough time. Many travel nurses will often get into the habit of “eating out” and ordering “take-out food” as options while traveling. These options may be convenient at the time, but they can get expensive. Also, many takeout meals are not the healthiest for you and can contain high levels of sodium and sugars, which can increase your risk of heart disease or stroke. In the meantime, save some of those takeout meals for a day when you want to treat yourself with some friends or coworkers. Below are some tips for healthy meal prepping as a travel nurse.

1. Start Planning Early

The first step to eating healthy as a travel nurse is to plan meals you want to eat during the week. If you don’t preplan, you can waste groceries because you are unsure what to make. Once you figure out what meals you want to have, then you can start to write a grocery store list on paper or on your phone of what food items you need from the store. There are also some meal planning apps and options out there for travel nurses to use with calendars to help plan meals for the week.

2. Grocery Shopping

After creating a list of meals, you want to eat during the week; then it is time to put together a list of foods that you need to buy at the grocery store for your meals. It has become popular for travel nurses to use grocery shopping list apps to help set reminders, keep the necessary ingredients organized, and prevent more trips back to the store.

A few examples of grocery store apps that can be useful when it comes to organizing ingredients and saving money with store coupons include:

3. Meal Prepping

Now onto the meal prepping stage, which is the most important step to pay attention to! First, you want to plan out what day of the week you want to start to meal prep. Most people would typically pick a day or night that they have the most free time. For example, some may want to grocery shop on Sunday and then meal prep for the week on Monday night. Meal prepping allows you to eat a healthy and balanced meal during the week when you decide to cook your first meal; you want to make more than you typically would because you want the meals to last a few days at most. Just a reminder that you don’t have to meal prep for every meal during the day. You could just meal prep for your lunch at work if you want. Meal prepping can seem tedious at the beginning when you first start doing it, but it will be worth it and save you money!

If you need some good inspiration on ideas for different recipes and meal prepping ideas, make sure to check out Pinterest. Pinterest has a bunch of great options for easy-to-make recipes at home or on the go. Also, some other websites that are good for recipes include All Recipes, The Food Network, Yummly, and Epicurious. All these websites have a variety of fun and healthy recipes to make and meal prep for.

4. Stock up on Snacks

Most people don’t know that snacking is a part of healthy meal planning. When you go to the grocery store, make sure you are grabbing work-friendly snacks. Some people have a snack break between meals or when they start to get hungry but don’t want a huge meal. The snacks can become dangerous when the choices are not healthy (chips, candy, chocolate, crackers, etc.).

Avoid the salty and sugary snacks from the vending machine or cafeteria and try some of these snacks as a replacement!

Fruits (Apples, Blueberries, Bananas, Oranges, Strawberries)
Vegetables (Carrots, Broccoli, Green Peas)
Nuts (Almonds, Pistachios, Walnuts, Cashews, Pecans)
Whole-grain crackers

As you can see, the importance of healthy meal prepping is key for travel nurses. It can save you a lot of time and money, and lead to a healthier lifestyle and help with portion control. Remember, if you keep good food in the fridge, you will eat and feel good!

Our job board is a great place to search for your next travel nurse assignment. If housing is an issue, we have you covered with our housing page. You can search for what you are looking for.

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

START HERE

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

One reason busy, stressed people gain weight is that they eat fast food or go out to eat more frequently. This is reasonable; you may not have time to come home and make something from scratch after a long day of running about. When you’re stressed, though, healthy eating at home might help you lose weight since the meals you prepare are generally healthier. (They’re healthier than fast food, and the quantities are typically smaller and lower in fat than restaurant fare.)

Cooking at home can also save you money, which may reduce your stress levels indirectly by relieving the financial burden. Coming home and cooking something healthy or fresh after a long day may seem overwhelming, but it’s easier than you think. Here are some fast and easy tips to help you prepare healthier meals at home.

Ways to Reduce Stress with a Healthy Eating Plan:

Plan Ahead:

Going grocery shopping once a week and planning the week’s meals is a vital first step in a healthy eating plan. That way, you’ll have all of the ingredients you’ll need and won’t have to worry about picking what to eat each night; it’ll be pre-planned!

Silly, keep it simple:

You are not required to prepare a four-course dinner. What is often beneficial is also simple. (Think about it: a salad is easier to make than fried chicken, and grilled chicken is easier to prepare than lasagna.) Simply aim for a healthy balance of protein, fruits, and veggies, with minimal fats and carbohydrates. Also, if you have a sugar craving and want to eat something sweet, you can try Vegan Nutella. It’s so incredibly rich and delicious that you won’t believe it’s vegan.

Cook in advance:

You may save time by making more food than you’ll need and reheating it later in the week or month. Some individuals devote one day a month to preparing entire meals and storing their freezers, ensuring that they have nutritious, handmade food to eat throughout the month with no work. Others prepare a pot of soup or chili once a week and eat it for lunches with salad or as part of supper on a couple of nights. It’s a terrific way to eat less and incorporate more vegetables into your diet! Here’s an easy method to prepare supper for a week.

Use a Crockpot:

They’ve made a resurgence and are an excellent addition to any balanced diet. Crockpots, also known as slow cookers, are popular these days since they allow you to add a few ingredients in the morning and return home to the delectable scent of dinner ready to serve.

Try an Instant Pot:

Crockpots are fantastic for individuals who just have a few minutes in the morning and want to return home to a ready-to-eat supper, but they are limited in what you can create with them. (They’re best used in soups and stews, but they may also be used to cook chicken.) The Instant Pot, which is a cross between a crockpot and a pressure cooker and can be used to produce a variety of recipes, is becoming increasingly popular.

Additional Suggestions

Once you get into the practice of eating more nutritious meals at home, you may find that you can prepare something in fifteen minutes or less—roughly the same amount of time as a drive-through and less time than a sit-down restaurant. If it still feels too stressful, here are some extra suggestions to help:

Prepare ahead of time:

Before going to bed, set the table for the next day. It will only take a few minutes this way, and those minutes will be spent while you aren’t hungry and attempting to prepare dinner.

Enlist Help:

If you have a family, assign certain tasks to them. When you know you’ll have help, cleaning up after dinner won’t seem so daunting. Put some music on and see how much you can do as a group before the conclusion of a song or two.

Use paper:

For those who truly want to cut down on cleanup, throwaway plates and flatware are always an option. While not as ecologically friendly, if the convenience of just throwing the trash once you’ve finished dining makes the difference between eating out and eating at home, go for it. You’ll save more than the cost of the plates in terms of money spent elsewhere. Hopefully, these suggestions will assist you in breaking free from your eating-out routine and establishing a new healthy eating regimen. Your stress levels will not raise, and both your health and your bank account will reward you.

We hope you found this article on ways to reduce stress with a healthy eating plan helpful. Have you found ways to reduce stress with a healthy eating plan? Comment any tips you would like to share with your fellow travel nurses below.

Are you looking for your next travel nurse assignment? Click here to search our job board. Do you need housing for an upcoming travel nurse assignment? Click here to search our housing page.

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

START HERE

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

This article provided by Cross Country Nurses

Healthy food choices are a breeze when you plan ahead!

Healthy Eating Really is Possible for Travel Nurses with a Plan!

Probably the most important part of a healthy eating plan is consistency, and for travel nurses who are always on the go, this can prove a difficult goal to achieve. Your routine is disrupted and rearranged every few months, which can make it easy to fall into the trap of eating whatever’s most convenient. If you’re wondering how to stay on track when you move from assignment to assignment, here are some tips you may want to try.

Create a Routine and Stick to it!

Before you start your next travel assignment, do some thoughtful research. Map out grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and restaurants that offer the kinds of choices that work best for your unique dietary concerns. Decide what days you are going to shop when you are going to cook and then stick to that plan! You may want to consider purchasing an air fryer or crockpot to help you cook things more conveniently. Make sure you bring some to-go containers to bring your meals to work so you aren’t tempted to eat something bad for you.

Meal Prepping

Nobody likes to eat super healthy all the time, but you probably know what foods will keep you looking and feeling good that you can tolerate on a regular basis without getting bored. A common combo is some kind of protein and veggie combination, like grilled chicken and salad or a turkey burger patty with steamed veggies. These items are easy to cook, and you can change up the taste by using a variety of herb and spice combinations to keep your taste buds tantalized. Spend a day cooking and then divide the portions into individual containers to grab and go for each day of your workweek. Meal prepping is a great way to save time, money and calories that you could otherwise spend going out to a restaurant or eating in the cafeteria.

Healthy Snack Are a Must

Travel nurses know better than most that a regular lunch schedule isn’t always possible, so it’s important to identify your favorite healthy snacks and keep some on you at all times. Whole fruits and sliced veggies are full of necessary vitamins and minerals and are easy to eat while you’re multitasking. There are also numerous options for boxed or canned snacks on the go but be careful of the hidden fat and calories many of them contain. Typical culprits include granola or protein bars, energy drinks or fruit juices and snack dips. Always make sure to check the label for ingredients that might surprise you.

Download a Calorie Counting App

When you’re trying to create and maintain a healthy eating routine, one thing is certain: math never lies. Download any of numerous available fitness apps currently on the market and you will know exactly how many calories you are consuming on any given day or during a single meal. Many of these apps, like MyFitnessPal, will alert you when something is too high in one of the three macronutrients of carbs, fat, and protein or when a meal is just generally high in calories. This is a great way to examine what you actually eat and ways you can reduce the overall calorie count that you may not have considered otherwise. Plus, many of these apps will let you connect with friends and encourage each other on your healthy eating journey.

Ready to devour your next travel adventure? Choose from one of these delicious new opportunities on the menu.

Finished the travel nursing guide and are ready to look for an assignment?

healthy eating tips for travel nurse

Healthy Meal Prepping Tips for Travel Nurses

1. Start Planning Early

2. Grocery Shopping

3. Meal Prepping

4. Stock up on Snacks

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

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Reduce Stress with a Healthy Eating Plan