Eating on the road

mishi6111

Hello all,

I have a series of long trips coming up for work. Basically I will be on the road living out of a hotel for about 3 weeks only coming home on the weekend. I know at the very least I can get into the gym and get some type of modified workout in but I am extremely concerned with keeping on track with my food. HELP!!!!!!

_Waffle_

Just make sure and keep an eye on the road. Some people say it's a dangerous as texting and driving.

gail1961

If you are traveling by car pack a cooler with healthy meals and snacks and make good choices when eating out. Use MFP to look up nutritional values. If it comes up with more than one choice, just do the best you can to choose the closest one.

morning_joy

Find out if you will have a little fridge in your hotel room. If so, you can pack a little cooler with zip lock baggies of cucumbers, celery, apples, grapes...ect. I have great greens/protien powder I take on the road. All I need is some water, ice and my shaker cup with it and I have a great meal for 176 calories. I also like staying at a hotel with a small breakfast. I will take an extra light yogurt and a couple pieces of fruit to my room for later.

mishi6111

I unfortunately do not get to drive. I fly in on Monday and go straight to work and then fly out on Friday late afternoon.

rach3649

Find out if your hotel has a fridge and a microwave. Have a look on google maps about what is in the area.. subway..restaurants with healthier options if your not wanting to cook. Look at their menus prior to going and chose what your going to eat and log it before you go so you know its fits your day.
Grab a bunch of diet pop, bottled water, healthy snacks from the supermarket.

tameko2

Assuming you have your calories set to a reasonable number and not something super low, you should have no trouble even if you eat out for every meal.

For example (I'm just spitballing these numbers, and thye might be slightly off....but they're close enough)
Room service breakfast:
2 eggs cooked in oil or butter = 180 cals
2 slices of bacon = 100 cals
2 slices of sourdough toast with a light amount of jelly - 200-250
Coffee with a touch of cream = 30 cals
= 550 cals (roughly)

Lunch:
Any basic moderate sized sandwich (turkey, etc), no cheese = 450
Chips = 150
Calorie free beverage of your choice = 0
= 600 (a larger sandwich may run you 650 cals - so drop the chips and you're still hitting around here)

Dinner:
Chipotle burrito bowl, no cheese or sour cream, yes guac - 550
Calorie free beverage of your choice


Total for the day - roughly 1700 -1900. You said you're going to exercise so you'll certainly maintain at this number, and most likely you'll lose (unless you're extremely tiny or your metabolism is crazy slow due to a medical condition).

And no real major sacrifices or difficult to find food choices. Easy-peasy. This is an extremely typical day for me when I'm traveling for work - the breakfast might get swapped out for a fast food breakfast sandwich but otherwise I can pretty much eat like this and not even worry. (There's nothing wrong with dairy, if you can digest it, but I can't and its an easy shortcut to remove calories from food.)

The only real trouble will be if there's a culture of drinking and appetizers with coworkers. If there is, plan accordingly. I usually get one beer or glass of wine and have a few pieces of whatever - as long as you exercise a little restraint it won't generally exceed 400-500 extra calories, and my diet can handle that. If yours can't, then don't drink or nibble.