Business travel, help!

silentKayak

Hey, I'm just getting started and need some advice.

I've got a goal of losing 1.5 lbs/week on 1450 calories. At this point, I'm not adding "extra" exercise beyond what I already do, so I'm completely focused on diet and understanding which foods to choose. I HATE being hungry, so being able to carefully pick foods that will keep me in my budget but also not leave me starving has been amazing.

Next week I have extensive business travel. Two cross-country flights, meals out with business partners, evenings of "drinks at the bar" which are really late-night meetings, busy days where the only lunch available might be a vending machine ... HELP! One of my biggest problems is - because I hate being hungry - I tend to eat what's available when travelling because you sort of never know when the next meal is. Also, I'm terrified of restaurant meals because I have no idea how many calories are in them, or they cover a healthy food with like 200 calories in butter and gross sauce.

Any great tips for managing business travel?

editorgrrl

Your ticker is broken, so I don't know how much you need to lose. 1.5 lb. per week is an appropriate goal for someone with 75 lbs. to lose.

I'm less hungry when I use MFP's protein & fiber goals as minimums and ignore fat & carbs. It will take trial & error to find what works for you.

Read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Edited to add that the MFP database has lots of restaurants. And many others post their nutritional info. For the rest, find the closest match in the database. Be forewarned, there's lots of junk data in there. Choosing an extremely low-calorie entry will never get you closer to your goal.

126siany

When I traveled frequently for work (and I wasn't logging then but was maintaining a great weight):

I always got up early and went to the hotel gym.

Made sure I had a good breakfast, as it was generally the only meal of the day that I could completely control.

Made the best choices I could in restaurants which were almost always chosen by the clients. I always ordered a side salad and ate all of it before the meal. When the meal came I ate the veggies first. By then, I was full enough that no matter what the entree was, it wasn't going to do much damage.

I rarely drank, and if I did it was 1 drink. (Honestly, as a woman, this was as much for safety purposes as diet, but it helps with the calories too!)

I carried protein bars and water all the time. (Not sure what you can bring on airplanes these days though.)

morkiemama

When I traveled frequently for work (and I wasn't logging then but was maintaining a great weight):

I always got up early and went to the hotel gym.

Made sure I had a good breakfast, as it was generally the only meal of the day that I could completely control.

Made the best choices I could in restaurants which were almost always chosen by the clients. I always ordered a side salad and ate all of it before the meal. When the meal came I ate the veggies first. By then, I was full enough that no matter what the entree was, it wasn't going to do much damage.

I rarely drank, and if I did it was 1 drink. (Honestly, as a woman, this was as much for safety purposes as diet, but it helps with the calories too!)

I carried protein bars and water all the time. (Not sure what you can bring on airplanes these days though.)

This is all great advice.

I would like to add that even if it isn't on the menu proper, most restaurants can cook up some grilled chicken & steamed veggies if you would like to go that route.