Travelling - Need Advice

DaveInFL

I'm going to be travelling for the next 4 weeks, which means staying in hotels and (normally) restaurant foods.
Looking for advice as to what I can do to try and keep eating at my calorie goal or approx 1,600 net calories/day.

A friend suggested to take a large bag of baby carrots and take a zip lock bag to work every day and snack on those, which is a good idea. If my hotel room has a fridge and microwave then I can do the microwave meals, since at least with those I know exactly what I will be eating.

Any other suggestions?

I'm going to try and wake up at 5:30 and go and work out before I have breakfast and head into the office. I know if I leave the workouts until after work I will come up with some excuse to skip it, or will feel obliged to go and have dinner with the rest of the team.

chezjuan

You can also try to look up nutrition information at restaurants on the Web (or on MFP) before you go out for meals and decide what to get so you can stay in your goals.

nxd10

I travel for business a lot, often for weeks at a time.

My rules of thumb are to order vegetarian if available, then fish, then chicken, then pork or beef, in that order of preference. However, the sauces are more important than the meal per se in terms of calories.

DON'T eat all the bread and things they use as filler.

DO order soup when available and salad with dressing on the side.

DO drink water, tea, or coffee.

In my hotel room, I have fruit, and things with high protein (yogurt, hard cheese, nuts).

It is VERY EASY to make rollups with lean deli meat (roast beef etc.) in a hotel room. Microwave meals are very high in fat and salt. But you can also do salad bar and bags.

Log everything. Watch your macros. It's easy to get way too many carbs and not enough protein when you're traveling.

I also make a point of eating whatever the local specialty is and work it into your calorie budget. You've got to eat begnets in New Orleans and dim sum in San Francisco.

DaveInFL

Thanks for the advice. Some of the microwave meals are good in protein, just have to be very careful about which ones to buy.

SharonNehring

I've been using an app called Healthy Out. You set up your dietary preferences and it will locate restaurants nearby that have items meeting your requirements. You can then browse their selection to see cals, protein, carbs etc. Most large chain restaurants are included but smaller mom & pop places won't be. As I'm pretty new on my journey, I need the extra bit of guidance to help me make better selections.

Dreamingallday

I work in a hotel and this is a common issue for guests, especially the heath conscience ones. Some hotels have spare fridges, like a mini bar fridge. We don't have fridges in all of our rooms, but we have some spares for no charge. My advice is always ask! You never know your options until you ask.

Hotels are also ideally well versed in the dining and grocery shopping options in their area. If a guest lets me know their dietery restrictions, I have a list waiting for them at check in with some options. Just call and ask if they know of the healthier dining options.

As for the business meetings and going out to dine, vegetarian options or smaller portion meals. One of our regulars here always orders an appetizer for himself rather than a large meal. It means he doesn't gorge and is still able to maintain his figure.

DaveInFL

I've been using an app called Healthy Out. You set up your dietary preferences and it will locate restaurants nearby that have items meeting your requirements. You can then browse their selection to see cals, protein, carbs etc. Most large chain restaurants are included but smaller mom & pop places won't be. As I'm pretty new on my journey, I need the extra bit of guidance to help me make better selections.

Thanks, will check that out. Be interesting to see how well it works out here in the boonies