How Much/What foods to eat for a LOOONG Drive?

My husband and I are driving to Pennsylvania from Louisiana (about a 20 hr drive) this upcoming Friday after work (leaving LA around 1 pm) and we plan to take turns driving and drive through the night until we get there.  We'll have 4 hour shifts and I know when it's night time I'll need snacks or lots of coffee to keep me awake and occupied.  I have low calorie snacks and we're taking a cooler so i'm packing yogurt and drinks...i guess i'll take the baby carrots we have also...

So my question is (and I'm not sure if this is the right forum to be posting it), how should i calculate these calories i'll be eating?  Should I stop at midnight and put anything eaten after 12am in as the next day?  I won't be really 'going to sleep' that night...I guess i won't need much since i'll be very sedentary for those 20 hours...hm...Anyone else do a long trip like this successfully?  Any tips?

yeah Id just stop at midnight.  Like you normally would.  Itll all balance out in general. 

Also, you could bring dry cereal to munch on to keep you awake.  Bars, sandwiches, etc etc...maybe even a protein shake in a bottle....SF red bull isnt bad if you get sick of the coffee...

There's always fast food (salads, potato+chilies at wendys, etc)...

Also keep in mind, driving burns extra calories and its not the same as riding in a car.  so thats good! haha...for example, ever feel how sore you are after driving for awhile....theres a reason for that haha

I am going on a nice long drive on Friday afternoon too!!! What I plan on doing is pretty much keeping my diet the same because I eat A LOT of protein for lunch which typically holds me over for a very long time. During my drive we will probably stop at whole foods where I will probably get a large salad and same salmon or other lean protein which will fill me up nicely for the rest of the night. I really try not to have driving interfere with my diet & exercise routine - I treat the day as any other and take it all in stride. If you stress over long drives nothing good will come of it and you will probably want to eat more due to anxiety, etc! My trick for you is to just eat a lot of protein rich foods so your not constantly thinking about food and what to eat next! Instead you can focus on the road, enjoy your husbands company and play car games! (no matter how old we are, we always play car games! ha ha!) 

Bring a mixture of filling foods, such as yogurt, nuts, and sandwiches, as well as some munchy foods that'll keep you awake or give you something to do, like raw veggies or crunchy apple slices. And don't forget lots of good music!

My son and I love to eat sunflower seeds on a long trip.   It is a lot of work for a little seed but we love them.  We save a couple of tin cans wash them out and use them for the shells.  Frito lay sells flavored seeds.  We especially like the hot ones.

I love to munch when I drive long distances. Sometimes I stay the course and load up on raw veggies, and sometimes I splurge and go for the pringles.  I have to admit, I feel a lot more fresh and energetic upon arrival if I stick with the healthy stuff.  Have fun, be safe!

I always have a few luna bars handy and if we stop at a gas station with a convenience store I get a container of cold skim milk for the protein.  We always take a cooler with yogurts, apples, oranges and bananas, baby carrots and celery (sometimes sugar snap peas).  I like to have a box of Barbara's Bakery cereal with me.  Puffins are great because they don't crumble and are good finger food.  Some whole almonds or other nuts is good too.  We don't stop for fast food, but stop to have snacks frequently.  If it's going to be a really long trip we like to pack hummus and whole wheat pita and some shredded lettuce and sliced tomatoes to make fresh sandwiches. 

Bill and I came up with this because too many times we stopped at a diner and were stuck with deep fried everything and not a vegetable in sight. Now we just don't worry about what restaurants are going to be along the way.

We don't carry any drinks except plenty of cold water.  You can always get coffee, tea, soft drinks and usually juice along the way.

I hope you have a good trip.  I made the trip from Houston to Pennsylvania in August.  We broke it up in 2 days since it was only me in one car loaded with all my belongings and my mom in the car behind me with the rest.  So that meant no real rest.  My cat was also in the car meowing up a storm every now and again which didn't help.

I would just count the calories for the one day unless you are driving past 4am. 

Everyones suggestions for snacks sound pretty good.  I remember having some granola type bars as emergency energy food and we stopped for coffee numerous times.  We had one sorta long stop at a small little diner that really saved me.  I needed the extra 20 minutes to just sit down, stretch, relax and chug some more coffee and had a slice of homemade pie.

Have a safe trip!

i like to bring baby carrots, cucumber, celery, stuff like that.  it's hardly any calories & keeps you munching.  :D

it drives my family crazy!  hehe  but sometimes they start eating it, too! 

good luck on your trip!