How to prepare logging while out of town

smontes16

I am going on a work trip Thursday-Sunday and I want to prepare my foods as much as possible. Last time we went on a similar trip, breakfast, lunch and dinner were all catered. I want to bring some of my own food with mixing some of their stuff in (so I'm not that snob with a cooler full of my stuff) trust me I already get enough jokes around the office for eating healthy. Does anyone have any tricks/tips? Will I need to check a bag of foods?

greaseswabber

One thing I usually bring to work trips is fruit. Catered meals are often lacking the variety and type of fruits I want to eat. I have eaten enough honeydew, cantaloupe, and pineapple fruit bowls to last for the rest of my life. Oranges, apples, peaches, bananas, berries if I'll have access to a refrigerator.

Eta: grammar

rumijs

I completely understand work trips. I travel a lot. That has been one of my hardest obstacles because 1. I don't want to pack my own food 2. as you said, it can come off snobbish if you start pulling out protein packs and veggies at a nice lunch/dinner lol. I'll usually go to a grocer when I'm at my destination (I don't like traveling with too much food) and buy fruit and veggies and pack them in cup size tupperware I've brought with me. Fits in laptop bag (or purse). I'll much on them before the meal, eat less of the meal (but not in a standoffish way), and then munch on some after the meal as I'm traveling back to the hotel or something.

smontes16

There was one lady who packed all her foods last time I went on a convention like this. She had smoothies, chicken she had them microwave all kinds of stuff (everyone was talking about her like wow that girl is crazy) I told my co workers that was going to be me next trip. She is far from crazy, she is organized and had a plan, something I was envious of! I wanna come back from the trip with a loss not a gain!

juliet3455

@smontes16

My #1 tip is contact your manager and request a healthy option in the catered meals. Explain your concern and ideas. A good manager will recognize your success and contact the caterers and get some Healthy Option Goodies added to the menu plan. As many people on MFP have re-learned Tasty Goodies can be very healthy.
You need to leverage that a Healthy Employee is a Happy Employee with fewer days lost to illness therefore more productive in the workplace.

dopeysmelly

I take baggies/small containers of mainly veggies with me in my hand baggage, and eat around what's provided - like dismantling sandwiches and scraping sauces off food. You have to think about (a) what's generally lacking in the catering, and (b) food that won't get smooshed or go off. I rely on things like sugar snap peas, cooked chickpeas, Wasa crackers (high fiber), nuts, cut up apples, peppers, cucumbers. I've also started taking a huge bag of greens like spinach or kale, but raw since they can be compacted but won't go off. Blueberries are good, but most berries are not. Bananas go smooshy because I travel light and am pretty rough on my hand baggage (I use my bag as a foot rest on trans-Atlantic flights). I also take a refillable water bottle - most US airports have water fountains you can refill after security, and getting dehydrated is one of the toughest parts of travel IMO. Overseas I just keep buying bottled water and top up my own bottle

Oh and phone ahead (or check online) to see if your hotel has a fridge in the room. I usually empty out the junk the hotel provides and put my own stash in. I also check out nearby grocery stores and print out a map and try to walk there as early in the day as possible.

dubird

Depends. Are you flying or driving? Are you going out of the country? If you're flying, you'll be a lot more limited to what you can bring. Your best bet is to either find a grocery store where you'll be at, or bring non-perishable items. If you're driving, you can bring what you want, just make sure where you're staying has a fridge for you to use.

staceybiomed

Great post - I travel a lot for work and have no willpower when people put out treats during meetings or there are exciting things on the menu at a restaurant I've never been to before!

ASKyle

If you're flying- Bring a meal with you to the airport. I always end up at the bar!

CaitlinW19

Maybe think about easy stuff to thrown in your purse too...like Lara bars. Trader Joe's sells nice single serve bags of nuts and trailmix that would be good too and help curb your hunger.

FatFreeFrolicking

I just came back from a work conference.

Half of my suitcase was food. I put everything in baggies so it wouldn't spill when on the plane. I brought Bear Naked bars, KIND bars, on-the-go natural peanut butter, oatmeal, and Planter's chocolate nut protein mix. I requested a fridge in my room but was lucky to be placed in an executive suite so it had a partial kitchen. When I arrived, I went to the grocery store and bought pre-cut veggies and berries which are easy to store.

All of our meals were catered as well. However, breakfast was the usual muffins, bagels, fruit, and other baked goods that I personally cannot eat due to medical conditions. There were a few days where they provided eggs, bacon, yogurt, and home fries. Otherwise, I ate eggs, bacon, and a hash brown at the hotel's restaurant.