Nutrition tips for business travel

tthorne421

I'm going to be on business travel for almost a week. Any tips on how to stay on track? I'm going to the beach a week after and I don't want to lose all the progress I've made over the past months. Thanks.

KAS0917

Some of the things I do:
- have a good, but healthy breakfast: eggs, sometimes a little bacon, fruit or Starbucks Oatmeal, with 1/2 a cut up banana and the package of 100 calorie nuts (leave out the sugar, the banana sweetens it!)
- For dinner, no more than 1 glass of wine
- Keep it simple: grilled fish, or grilled chicken, or sirloin. Steamed vegetables. Ask for no added butter. Order sauces / dressing on the side so you control the portion.
- The fancier a salad sounds, the more calories it probably has. Don't get kid yourself that a (fabulous tasting) salad with a lot of nuts and cheeses and dried cranberries and other stuff is 'healthy' or low calorie.
- Keep water with you at all times and DRINK it. Restaurant food has a ton more sodium than what I use when I cook at home.
- Most restaurant meals are huge. Ask for a box when they bring your food. Box up 1/2.
- Leave the bread basket in the kitchen. Or ask them to bring you 1 roll, not a basket full.
- Realize that it is much easier to be healthy when traveling these days - it just takes a little effort and you have to be willing to really look around! I was in a gas station last night where I saw: greek yogurt, indidivudal cheese sticks, 2 packs of hard boiled eggs, dried fruit, whole fruit, individual cups of fruit, etc.
- Take some healthy snacks. I always have an apple and an individual packet of Justin's peanut (or almond) butter in my purse.
- Kind 'dark chocolate and sea salt' bars are the best healthy candy bar you could ever ask for. Trust me.
- pack your workout clothes and USE them. Nothing more annoying than packing my tennis shoes then leaving them in my suitcase. I'm doing T25 right now, so I pack my DVDs, and play them in my hotel on my work laptop. If if you can only go for a 10 minute walk, it's better than nothing!

My #1 thing (and the hardest thing for me to keep in check!): Remember - this is a WORK trip. NOT a vacation. No reason to over-indulge. Save that for a fun trip (like your beach vacation)! Work trips are not the time to get out of your habits. Treat it like you would a day in the office, just in a different setting.

RubyRunner14

Stay in a place with your own fridge and stove. Pack a small portable cooler with a few pieces of tupperware and. Buy groceries at your travel location (unless you can't) and then cook, pack and bring your food with you everywhere. I went to Disney and managed only one meal (which actually was a trout and asparagus dish) that wasn't what I cooked or packed myself.

At restaurants:
Ask for baked, broiled, grilled or sauteed entrees. Always order/drink water. Never feel compelled to finish your meal at the restaurant, ask for take-out box. Buffet restaurants are good because they usually have basic protein and a salad bar.

keith_w61

My #1 thing (and the hardest thing for me to keep in check!): Remember - this is a WORK trip. NOT a vacation. No reason to over-indulge. Save that for a fun trip (like your beach vacation)! Work trips are not the time to get out of your habits. Treat it like you would a day in the office, just in a different setting.

What great advice!

lpburg211

Love this- one of the things I dread most about my job is the travel..... I travel throughout the fall for 6-8 weeks, full days with a quota for appointments....I have done it for 5 years and always worried about scheduling in time for healthy eating and exercise, but this year I have a boss who said I could use my per diem for food to stock up on healthy items to pack along and stay at a residence inn. helpful to hear others do the same.

hananah89

Good tips, I travel by car for several months each fall and spring. Hopefully this fall I can control my cravings for a wonderful Chickfila breakfast and pack my own lunches and snacks in a cooler. Its harder to do when you travel with other people not doing the same thing as you. But at least I can save my per diems!