Taking a family vacation, a business trip and or long car trip can wreak havoc on your diet. If you don't plan ahead it is very likely you could be snacking on chips, eating fast food, ice cream and snacking on candy bars and soda for a few days.

With the ease high sugar foods available at gas stations or the appeal of saving time by buying an extra-large pizza after a day at the theme park, making healthy choices while away from home can be a challenge. Eating whole grains, fruits and vegetables may not be on the top of the daily food list. But eating healthy while on the road is not as hard as it may appear. Here are several tips to help you maintain a healthy diet and still enjoy your time away from home.

One of the first items every vehicle should have is a condiment kit. A condiment kit is a very small backpack or leather shoe bag packed full of napkins, plastic utensils, wet wipes and a few plastic shopping bags for trash. This simple kit will fit easily under your seat.

After you have your condiment kit, carry a small cooler filled with bottled water. Try to buy your bottled water in 12 or 24 packs from the local grocery store or a warehouse club like Sam's or Costco. The reason is most gas stations charge well over $1 per bottle compared to $.20 or $.30 per bottle in the bulk pack. This extra water will not only keep you hydrated, but will save you money.

Fresh and dried fruit is also another of my favorite foods to have during a vacation or long road trip. Fruit not only helps to keep you full it also has a number of different antioxidants. You can keep fresh or dried fruit in your cooler or in your luggage.

So here are some of my favorite healthy snacks while traveling or taking a long road trip:

-String Cheese

-Fruits and chopped vegetables - carrots, apples, bananas, oranges

-Yogurt in a tube

-Popcorn cakes

-Dried fruit - dried tart cherries, dried blueberries, dried strawberries and raisins

-Low-fat pudding (for the sweet tooth) - use the plastic spoons from the condiment kit

-Premade sandwiches made at home including lean lunch meats, turkey, ham, etc.

But even with preparation you still may not have the ability to fully enjoy fresh fruit on a daily basis, on innovative choice of supplementing your daily intake of fruit-based antioxidants and health benefits is taking super fruit supplements.

Super fruit supplements are made using the whole fruit, are convenient and offers unique health benefits specific to the underlying fruit. For example, super fruit supplements offered by Fruit Advantage offers a complete line of fruit-based supplements including tart cherry, wild blueberry, pomegranate and cranberry. In fact, each serving of Fruit Advantage Tart Cherry Joint Formula equals the specific antioxidant value of over 5 glasses of tart cherry juice without the sugar.

By making healthy choices while on a long road trip or family vacation, you can not only watch your diet, you will also have the energy needed to fully enjoy your vacation time away from home.