Playing away

When you're competing away from home, at whatever level, whether for England or your local team, organise food and drink in advance and take these with you.

When you're travelling don't rely on service stations, fast food restaurants, railway/airport catering outlets because healthy choices are often limited.

And make sure you take plenty of drinks, in case of delays. Air-conditioned travel in cars, coaches and planes can quickly make you dehydrated.

Here is a list of suitable snacks and drinks for when you're travelling:

• Sandwiches filled with chicken, tuna, banana, peanut butter or jam
• Rice cakes
• Oatcakes
• Yoghurt
• Fresh fruit
• Dried fruit
• Prepared vegetable Crudités such as carrots, peppers, cucumber, celery
• Fruit bun
• Cereal bar
• Small bags of nuts

Drinks

• Bottles of water
• Yoghurt drinks
• Smoothies
• Sports drinks

If you're eating out, you can still eat healthily by making the right menu choices. See the table below:

Type of Restaurant	Good choices	Unhealthy choices
Pizzeria	Tomato, vegetable, ham, spicy chicken or seafood pizza toppings	Salami, mince, beef, pepperoni, extra cheese toppings
Burger	Plain or grilled burger. Flame-grilled chicken. Fruit	Large burgers. Chicken nuggets. Fries. Doughnuts, apple pies. Salad with high-fat dressings. Milk shakes
Indian	Chicken tikka. Tandoori chicken. Dahl. Channa dahl. Rice. Chapatti	Meat curries, meat dansak/korma/ madras. Samosa, bhajis. Puri, paratha
Chinese	Chicken, vegetable or prawn chop suey. Stir-fried vegetables, seafood or chicken. Boiled rice, boiled noodles.	Duck. Sweet and sour balls. Fried rice, fried noodles. Prawn crackers. Egg foo yung
Mexican	Bean burrito, tortillas or tostadas with beans/vegetable chilli. Fajitas with vegetables/chicken	Tortilla chips. Potato skins. Beef chilli. Tortillas or burritos with beef. Chimichangas. Sour cream, onion and garlic dip
Italian	Ciabatta. Pasta with tomato or vegetable or seafood sauces (e.g. neopolitan, primavera, spinach). Risotto. Gnocchi. Grilled chicken or fish. Pasta filled with spinach and ricotta	Pasta with creamy/buttery or meat-based sauce (e.g. carbonara, alfredo, bolognaise). Lasagne. Cannelloni. Garlic bread
Steak House	Grilled steak. Salads. Jacket potatoes. Fruit	Fried or battered fish. Garlic mushrooms. Garlic bread. Scampi. Steak with creamy sauces. Creamy salad dressings or dips. Puddings