Five ways to a five-a-day holiday

Once you’re into a healthy routine at the office, getting your five-a-day isn’t hard: perhaps you’ve established the habit of snacking on apples and eating a big salad at lunch time, or you always have a handful of dried fruit on your breakfast cereal.

But what about when you’re on holiday, enjoying a much-needed vacation? If you’re anything like me, sometimes you’ll get to dinner time and realise that your entire fruit and veg intake for the day has consisted of a small salad garnish…

Here’s five great ways to make sure you keep on hitting that five-a-day target whilst on holiday:

1. Take fresh fruit with you while travelling

If you’re heading off in a car or train, take some fresh fruit with you to munch on the journey. Apples, satsumas, bananas, pears and grapes can all work well – just be careful to pack them securely so they don’t get rattled around and bruised.

Service stations often don’t have anywhere selling fruit, and if they do, it tends to be overpriced (often in the form of pre-sliced apples or small pots of fruit salad).

2. Drink fruit juice at breakfast time

Whatever sort of breakfast you’re served, full English or Continental, it’s very likely that fruit juice will be on offer. Grab a small glass – it counts as one of your five-a-day. Just remember not to glug it down like water: juice is high in sugar.

3. Have soup for your lunch

Sandwiches are often an easy on-the-go lunch from a café – but many little eateries offer bowls of soup, and these can be a surprisingly good way to sample some cheap and healthy local dishes (such as onion soup in France, gazpacho in Spain, borscht in Russia.)

4. Buy dried fruit to snack on

Depending on where you’re holidaying, fresh fruit and vegetables might not be safe to eat. If you’re in the First World, you’re fine – just rinse before eating as you would at home. In Third World countries, buy packets of dried fruit from a supermarket rather than risking the fresh fare on offer at street markets.

Dried fruit is also a great choice if you’re walking or camping, since it doesn’t take up much space.

5. Order a side salad (or vegetables) with dinner

Almost any restaurant will have side dishes including salads and seasonable vegetables – have a salad as a starter, or alongside your main course. The smear of tomato sauce on your pizza won’t count as a vegetable portion for the meal, but a mixed tomato and red onion side salad will.

And if you need more tips on getting your five-a-day during your normal work days, try
Seven quick ways to up your fruit and veg intake.

(Image above by HarlanH)