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By:  Matt Weik

Are you looking for a road trip adventure or do you travel for work?  Regardless, proper snacking while traveling is extremely important – for many reasons (such as no one wants to be HANGRY).  This article is going to showcase five of the best snacks to consider packing while traveling as well as why you should consider each.  

Everything listed below is extremely affordable and can even be purchased in bulk to save you some extra cash.  With that being said, let’s dig into it.

1. Trail Mix
Trail mix is one item you should definitely consider for proper snacking while traveling.  For starters, it has an awesome mix of protein, carbs, and fats.  You generally get some sort of nut mix along with candy pieces or dried fruit – it’s the perfect combo to enhance your energy while helping you feel full in between meals.

Additionally, it can help satisfy your sweet tooth as well if you choose one with candy pieces.

2. Protein Bars
When it comes to protein bars, there seems to be something for everyone these days.  Regardless of how picky you are as an eater, there’s a bar out there for you.  One thing to note, however, is depending on the climate, you may want to choose a bar that won’t melt if the temperature is hot – such as chocolate coated bars.

Protein bars are (as the name would imply) high in protein and can help you feel satiated.  Check the macros of each bar you’re considering as many of them can be drastically different from a nutritional standpoint.  

3. Beef Jerky
Who doesn’t love beef jerky?  It definitely makes the list for proper snacking while traveling.  The packages are generally resealable and each package is slammed with quality protein.  Beef ready to go whenever you are?  Yes, please!  And let’s be honest, no one will complain about taking in more quality protein.

If you want to take things up a few notches, Brotein Candy is your savior.  Full of amazing and bold flavors, it’s easy to fall in love with this high-quality fitness jerky.

​4. Nuts
If you are allergic to nuts, well, you’re unfortunately out of luck.  Nuts are not only delicious but loaded with healthy satiating fats.  Grab a handful and you’re good to go.  Cashews, peanuts, almonds, pistachios, brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans, whatever tickles your fancy.  

But a word to the wise, get a package or container that is resealable.  It will allow you to grab as much as you need without having to figure out how to store the rest or the need to eat everything all at once.

5. Veggies
If you don’t have far to travel, yet far enough that you’ll need a snack, you can get away with some healthy vegetables as a snack option.  You can cut up these healthy carbs into slices or sticks and toss them in a Ziploc bag.  

You can pack things like carrots, peppers, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, celery, snap peas, or any other veggie you enjoy.  You can even take it up a notch by packing a little container of hummus to dip your preferred vegetables in for some added protein.

Regardless of your choice for proper snacking while traveling, these options can help you not only pass the time but prevent you from starving while you make your way to your final destination.

By:  Matt Weik

When it comes to your nutrition, the number of meals consumed per day, macro ratios, and more… one thing still reigns supreme.  PROTEIN INTAKE.  Without protein, you won’t be able to truly maximize your muscle-building potential.  

One question that so many ask is what’s the proper protein intake per meal?  To be honest, that’s a tricky question.  There are many variables that come into play such as your personal goals (weight loss, build muscle, maintenance) and gender.  We’re going to take a pretty broad approach to answer this question to hopefully give you a little more clarity.

​Why You Need to Focus on Protein
If you want to build quality lean muscle mass, you need adequate protein in your diet.  Protein is made up of amino acids.  Some amino acids are essential while others are non-essential.  I could write an entire article on the topic so for the sake of brevity, I’ll stick to the topic at hand – protein itself.

Protein can come from many forms, including plants and animals.  The direction you go with your protein needs is your own personal decision.  Some prefer not to consume animal products and stick to plants while others have no issue asking “Where’s the Beef?”

How Much Do You Need Per Meal?
Men and women have different protein requirements when it comes to the ideal quantity per meal.  And each gender themselves have various requirements as well.  As a rule of thumb, if you can take in around 25g of protein per meal, you’ll put yourself in a great position to help build the quality muscle you are looking for or preserve the hard-earned muscle you currently possess.  

So, how much does 25g of protein look like?  Think of it as if you had a deck of cards in front of you.  Use that as a guide to eyeball what’s on your plate.  It would equate to between 3-4 ounces coming from a protein source like chicken or beef.  Men who require higher protein requirements may need to bump up their protein to around 35g per meal.  You also need to look at how you split your meals up.  

If you follow an intermittent fasting (IF) nutrition plan, you might only be eating two meals a day within an eight-hour feeding window.  Therefore, you’ll need to increase the amount of protein you consume per meal.  If you consume, say, five to seven meals a day without a feeding window, from a normal American diet, you can clearly decrease the amount of protein in each meal to still get your daily requirements.

What Exactly Is Considered A Meal?
A meal doesn’t necessarily mean a full-blown sit-down feast.  It can literally mean a small meal such as a handful of nuts and an apple.  Or a protein/nutritional bar.  You could even count a meal as a packet of Brotein Candy and land yourself 30g of high-quality protein from a delicious beef jerky source.

You don’t even need all of the macronutrients present in order to call it a “meal.”  The main thing to understand is that when you consume food, at any time of day, you can consider that a meal.  We recommend, however, that every one of your meals contain protein.

By:  Matt Weik

I think that most people would have a hard time trying to make this type of relationship work – especially if either or both individuals are stubborn.  Having a situation where one individual spends some of their time exercising and preparing healthy meals while another potentially sits on the couch, relaxes, and eats whatever they want.  To be honest, to each their own.  Obviously, there are reasons why you exercise, and likewise, there are reasons why your partner might not exercise.  Whatever that reason, you need to be supportive (or rather, both parties need to be supportive of each other).  But, how can you make a relationship work when your partner isn’t into fitness?  Well, that exactly what I’m about to cover.

You’re not going to change someone’s mind to jump ship and live a healthier lifestyle if they don’t want to.  They, themselves, would need to make it a priority.  However, you can be a positive influence on that individual and it could lead them down the path to taking charge of their health and fitness.  Below are some ways to make it work and potentially help them get motivated to make some healthy lifestyle changes.


1. Engage in an activity that each other enjoys
You like to exercise, your partner doesn’t.  Your partner likes to relax and watch movies, you’d rather be doing other things.  What do you do?  Compromise.  You’ll relax and watch a movie once or twice a week so long as your spouse does something active with you like go for a walk or hike the same number of times – maybe one follows the other like you both go do some cardio outdoors after dinner and then come back and watch a movie to settle in for the night.

If you can get your partner to enjoy exercise while surrounded by nature and fresh air (oh yeah, and by enjoying your company), it might be enough to get him or her to rethink their stance.  In most cases, people hate exercise because it’s difficult and tests their body’s limits.  Try new things and see if there’s a form of exercise that your partner enjoys and has fun with.  Use that as a base and expand out from there into new forms.


2. Make subtle changes to your nutrition
If your partner enjoys pasta, it’s going to be difficult to get them to give it up.  And they shouldn’t and don’t have to.  However, it all goes back to compromise.  Maybe you change out the pasta you are used to eating for a whole wheat pasta or a zucchini noodle instead?  Experiment and see if you both enjoy the various forms available.  There are some delicious healthier options out there like spaghetti squash that can fool you into thinking it’s the real deal.  The key is to try it out together and see if you both enjoy the meal.  From there, branch out and try replacing other unhealthy options with healthier ones – like taking those boring bags of beef jerky and replacing them with Brotein Candy… the perfect anytime fitness jerky (shameless plug).


3. Incentivize to create healthy habits
Find something that incentivizes your spouse.  Maybe it’s eating at a nice restaurant or getting a new pair of shoes, etc.  Find out what the hot buttons would be and use them to your advantage – somewhat of a reward system to encourage healthy behaviors.  Maybe it's going out to eat if they engage in five days of exercise for two weeks in a row.  Another could be a new pair of shoes if they stick it out for a month.  
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It doesn’t need to be expensive things or even things that you need to buy.  It could be a reward such as you giving them a massage for hitting a goal.  Or making your spouse their favorite meal.  Whatever the case may be, incentives do work for many people and are a great way to get them to potentially change some poor habits into healthy ones.