Suggestions - keeping on track when travelling?

SmokeyTheHair

Hi all.
I am not over weight, but have noticed at 39, that the number on the scale has been gradually ticking up over the past couple of years...time to nip that in the bud.
Although I do OK when on my own turf, I travel for work A TON which means I have as many as 3 business meeting meals/day for a week at a time. Breakfast meetings I find 100% manageable, but both lunch and dinner can be challenging (especially with amazing menus at my disposal - I LOVE to eat - and oh yeah, the wine is always flowing...)

I am pretty sedentary, but have recently started exercising 2-4 times a week (30-45 minutes of cardio, planks and lifting light weights). My target caloric intake is 1200-1600 calories/day depending on my activity level. Any mental and menu tips for a road warrior (who is an admitted foodie, loves good wine and gets exposed to every type of delicious cuisine imaginable)?

crazybookworm

I just wrote a post about this yesterday! Feel free to have a look: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/crazybookworm/view/how-i-handle-holidays-long-weekends-and-more-573414

I hope it gives you some suggestions!

conniemaxwell5

I also travel for work and also love food and wine. I make sure I work out for about an hour every day when I travel (cardio), which gives me an additional 400 calories or so to work with. I usually eat a high protein low carb breakfast (egg whites with a small amount of cheese and lots of veggies, no toast), salad with grilled chicken at lunch, drink lots of water throughout the day and then am mindful of my choices at dinner. If you can keep breakfast and lunch combined to 600-700 calories, you should still have 1000+ for dinner, depending on what you're doing throughout the day. If you're mostly sitting, you could probably eat as many as 1800-2000 calories per day if you're burning 400 with exercise. If you're walking around most of the day you could add a couple hundred more. You can also add a 30 minute walk at lunch or before dinner to earn a few more calories.

frood

Why do you have the calorie goal so low? You can probably use the "lose .5 lbs per week" setting and be happier and find it easier to sustain later.

Based on your description you sound at least lightly active. Here's a calculator that might help: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

RebeccaHite

Hi all.
I am not over weight, but have noticed at 39, that the number on the scale has been gradually ticking up over the past couple of years...time to nip that in the bud.
Although I do OK when on my own turf, I travel for work A TON which means I have as many as 3 business meeting meals/day for a week at a time. Breakfast meetings I find 100% manageable, but both lunch and dinner can be challenging (especially with amazing menus at my disposal - I LOVE to eat - and oh yeah, the wine is always flowing...)

I am pretty sedentary, but have recently started exercising 2-4 times a week (30-45 minutes of cardio, planks and lifting light weights). My target caloric intake is 1200-1600 calories/day depending on my activity level. Any mental and menu tips for a road warrior (who is an admitted foodie, loves good wine and gets exposed to every type of delicious cuisine imaginable)?

Eat slower and listen to your body

mulecanter

Consider sabotaging those nice dinners out with healthy snacks. Pack some fruit or other portable, high fiber, lo cal snacks that you can use to douse your hunger before you go out with the group. Throttle back on the booze, it kills that conscience and leads to death by chocolate. Either become an early morning gym person or insist on an exercise break before dinner. Some folks like to go straight to dinner. If you can't avoid that, the post-dinner walk is usually a good way to end the day.

SmokeyTheHair

Thanks all of you for the great suggestions!
The gym clothes getting put to good use for 60 minutes every morning while on the road and some better choices sounds like a good way to mitigate the impact of the tastiness (and Mule I hear you on easing up on the wine). I also had not thought of the amount of brisk paced walking I do when travelling (I am almost always in cities and on foot to and from destinations - will be sure to track that impact).