WIAW: On the road again

Today is one of the biggest travel days of the year. According to AAA, 42.5 million people will be going somewhere - anywhere - for the holiday.

And you know what that means? Besides the requisite fight with your husband because he still hasn't packed or you've spent 100 minutes too many with your in-laws, of course. It means eating on the go.

Eating while traveling can be a minefield of fast food joints, eating out of boredom and gas station temptations.

Here are my best bets and tips for eating on the road.

Breakfast

People like to act like oatmeal is the greatest thing on the planet and maybe it is. For me, though, if I don't have some kind of protein, I'm a hangry beotch about 45 minutes later. The Subway egg white muffin melt is a good choice. Sure, it's not whole wheat but it is a good combination of fats, proteins and carbs. The Sunrise Subway Melt, which has bacon (and bacon makes everything better), clocks in at 210 calories. Subways also sell yogurt, which will bump up the protein and round out the meal. Oh, and don't forget the decaf.

Mid-morning snack

Tall Skinny Peppermint Mocha (100 calories) and a banana from home (105 calories)

Lunch

It can be really hard to stay on track when everyone else is eating like crap. If you really can't say no to the fries, employ one of my favorite tricks - order off the kids menu. A cheeseburger Happy Meal from McDonald's will run you 300 calories for the cheeseburger and 35 for the apples (no dip). A small order of fries is 230 calories. Not bad but I'd rather spend the calories on an ice cream cone, which has 150 worth-every-bite calories.

Afternoon snack

I always, always travel with a bag full of food. Carrots, celery sticks, fruit, granola bars and whatever else I can scrounge up. My favorites to bring are the cashew bar from Nature Valley, Z bars from Clif, 100-calorie packs of Blue Diamond wasabi soy almonds and grapes. After all, who wants to hang on to a peach pit or an apple core the whole trip?

Dinner

Pitching Taco Bell on the road can be a tricky thing as it can have an, umm, interesting effect on people's digestive systems. But, you can do it right. Or sort of right. Try the steak salad - fresco style - (220 calories), a fresco style chicken taco (150 calories) and an order of cinnamon twists (170 calories). Hey - a girl has got to splurge!

This might sound weird but whenever I travel, I have a list of meal options for fast food places that we might stop at. I can go in with a mission rather than being tempted by less-than-stellar options.

What are your rules for the road?