Business travel tips

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Janice6543
Janice6543 Posts: 92 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Any strategies for losing or maintaining weight while travelling for business for long periods of time? Especially when co-workers like to drink and eat at nice restaurants!

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  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    lifeisbeautyfull wrote: »
    I travel for business a lot as well, and it is challenging! A few things I do:
    1. Reframe eating out. For lots of people eating out is a treat & a nice time to indulge a bit more. But if you're eating out all of the time, you have to be disciplined just like you're cooking at home. Every meal is not a celebration or reward!
    2. Accept that you don't know exactly what is in your meals since you're not preparing them & assume they are likely more caloric than what you prepare at home. I usually quick add 100-200 extra calories to try and account for it.
    3. I stick to low-carb options as it helps me control things better. So, no bread basket, carb-laden sides or dessert. At home, I can eat these things in moderation as I prepare them myself and can weigh & measure. Its easier for me to just avoid them when I'm away on business. Its a slippery slope for me so I just don't go there.
    4. I also try to stick to lower calorie drink options- vodka soda, sparkling or red wine. And alternate with water. But I know I will have a drink almost always so I just have to factor in those calories!

    Good list, esp #1
  • achagpar
    achagpar Posts: 493 Member
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    Agree with all of the above. I still find it tough... a few other tips:

    1) before you indulge in all of the goodies they put out at breaks, ask yourself if you're really hungry or are just being social
    2) try to get some activity in
    3) pack some healthy snacks you can eat on the plane or when you get to the hotel so you're less likely to eat out the first day
    4) if you can, hit a grocery store when you get there -- for meetings where all your meals are provided, this doesn't apply as much
    5) drink a lot of water
    6) remember you don't have to clean your plate. Eat slowly and ask yourself if you're full. If yes, stop eating.

    While I can give this advice, I find I still gain a bit after business trips. They key point forme is, no matter what the damage is, when I get back home, I try not to wallow but rather get back on track.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
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    I'm not travelling so much this year, but have travelled LOADS for business in the past...

    - Check out gym provision at your hotel in advance, and plan to use whatever's there. If the gym is rubbish, consider a swim, a power walk round the grounds/neighbourhood, a jog or whatever. Pack appropriately. Often the concierges are very helpful with local running or walking routes.

    - Don't be afraid to turn down the occasional meal with colleagues to do your own thing. Even if it's just a trip for 3-4 days, I would generally expect not to eat with my colleagues for at least one of those evenings. It gives me more control, lets me fit in a gym session, and also a bit of time to myself! Similarly, a day where you don't drink alcohol is fine - nothing wrong with that at all.

    - Stick to the "safe" options at meals - load up on salads (undressed, avoid croutons, all the normal culprits!) and sensibly-cooked veggies, along with grilled or steamed meat and fish. Kind of obvious really, and not too hard to do at hotel buffets. I find it harder at restaurants to be honest.

    - Take your own snacks, if you're a snacker. If you're a protein person, consider taking bars or powder and a shaker with you. I've found individual sachets easiest to get through airport security, but have taken it loose as well - I always just mention it to the security guy before I put it through the x-ray machine. I particularly have to take my own snacks on long haul flights or I just eat junk the whole way...

    - Take the opportunity to sleep more than you do at home! No cleaning, no chores etc = more time for sleeping! I try and bump my sleep up to 8-9 hours a night while I travel, work permitting. I also try and take more time for long baths, full body moisturising etc that I never seem to get round to at home.

    If you're consistent with your approach, your colleagues will most likely just get used to it and may even join in. On one recent deal where I spent a lot of time in Oman, two of my colleagues also started going to the gym and watching what they ate, because they saw me not losing my discipline just because I was away!
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    My husband travels a lot for work. He says he only goes out for "the one big dinner" on any given trip. Otherwise, he cooks in his hotel room. Yes, it's less social, but he's noticed that most of the people in his group go overboard, so he'd rather not be tempted. He goes grocery shopping the first day of his trip and has food and snacks for the whole long weekend.

    I travel for a hobby that sometimes involves sharing space with a lot of other travelers and not having a full kitchen. I still go to the grocery store and get snacking fruit, usually a bunch of bananas, grapes, and nutty snack bars. That way, as I am busy, I have food so that I never get ravenous, even if we're eating out. To keep calories low with drinking, I stick to wine or clear liquors mixed with calorie-free beverages. I really like gin + vitamin water.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Travelling can be tough esp if there is no way to cook in your room (which I couldn't do when I was travelling)

    however there are lots of ways to lose weight while travelling.

    If you are eating out every meal like I had to ensure you check online for the calories and log it.
    Use the gym at the hotel or office or local gym (usually drop in fee) or go for a walk/run or bring along exercise bands/apps videos etc.
    Keep life normal...if you don't snack in the evening don't buy them for travelling unless you will be missing meals on planes etc.





  • lifeisbeautyfull
    lifeisbeautyfull Posts: 9 Member
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    I also use the Mind-Body App to find yoga studios, gyms, etc in the city I'm in- especially if the hotel gym isn't great. Not only do I get my exercise in, but I also get to try new classes, teachers, styles etc.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
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    All of the above. Bring healthy snacks along. They might be a pain in the butt to carry but they prove well worth it.

    If you also bring breakfast bars, then you can occasionally intentionally under eat (for example, salad only) and leave yourself hungry at a given dinner out or other arranged meal (or just skip the meal altogether) and have those when you get back to the hotel instead. As noted above, try to treat most meals out as utilitarian. Not every meal needs to be a celebration or special event especially on an extended business trip.

    I generally try to be very opportunistic in picking when and where to avoid calories. Lunches tend to be relatively easy...if I know that I won't starve over the course of the day and especially if dinner plans are already known, then I'd eat only a very small lunch, back it up with a piece of fruit in the afternoon, and then make as reasonable a choice as possible for dinner (again, snacks back in the hotel room make it much easier to do this).

    It might be a little anti-social and outright impossible depending on the nature of the trip, but on any trip more than 4-5 days or so, I would actually get into the habit of skipping every other (or at least every third) evening meals out with co-workers. Even before considering the benefits of being able to better control food intake, I found the private time absolutely critical to my mental health.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    I lost most of my weight during a year when I was doing a ton of business travel.

    Use the hotel to your advantage. If you get breakfast there, figure out a usual meal that fits your goals. Use the mini fridge (if you have one) to stock foods that do the same. Stay in a workout routine that is as similar as possible to what you do at home. Hit the store right away when you're in a new place so you don't fall into the trap of having to eat whatever.

    When you're traveling for work, eating out isn't a special occasion. If you're in an area with a specific food culture or special item you want to try, don't deny yourself. But everyday meals aren't special occasions, they need to be treated like meals at home as much as possible. Just like you probably wouldn't impulsively add french fries or cheesecake to a regular weeknight dinner (unless you had extra calories), don't do it when eating out. If your workplace culture allows it, try not to eat every meal with the group (unless you want to).

    In many work cultures, nobody cares if you drink or not. Don't drink to fit in or because everyone else does. If you want a drink and have the calories, go for it. But otherwise (in most workplaces), nobody is going to think less of you if you have a diet soda or sparkling water instead.

    Don't eat food just because it is there. Many times when you are travelling there will be snacks brought in or a snack area set up. If I see something I want, I just tell myself I'll buy some later if I still want it. Most of the time when "later" arrives, I no longer really want that bagel or bag of candy.

  • Janice6543
    Janice6543 Posts: 92 Member
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    Thanks for all the tips. I hit the gym this morning, had a very small breakfast and lettuce salad plus modest portion of flank steak for lunch. So in good shape for dinner out and a drink. The conference room is so cold today, I'll probably burn an extra 100 calories shivering
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
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    Have fun
  • 150poundsofme
    150poundsofme Posts: 523 Member
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    ..."Every meal is not a celebration or reward! ...or special event" This is a great thought. I eat out a lot or take in a lot too and overdo it. Just a regular meal. And interesting also someone mentioned that if you don't normally snack, why have snacks on the plane (unless it is mealtime).
  • lili200
    lili200 Posts: 200 Member
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    I take some food with me in case I won’t find suitable alternative. At the restaurant I will always start with non dairy soup
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
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    150poundsofme wrote: »
    ..."Every meal is not a celebration or reward! ...or special event" This is a great thought. I eat out a lot or take in a lot too and overdo it. Just a regular meal. And interesting also someone mentioned that if you don't normally snack, why have snacks on the plane (unless it is mealtime).

    Snacks on the plane can be helpful even if you don't normally snack on international overnight flights. Since the airline will generally feed you twice and at least one of those meals will come at a time when you don't normally eat, snacks are a nice fallback both as a substitute for some of the airline food and to help avoid the temptation of eating a full meal just because food is being offered.

    In addition, some healthy snacking on the plane can help to avoid jet-lag induced bad choices at the airport or when arriving at the hotel. If nothing else, those snacks will come in very handy for your hotel room, especially if traveling to a place with a significant time difference.

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