Business Travel

greeneggsam

I am en route home after my very first business trip. The trip was great - I learned a lot, met people face-to-face that I had only talked to on the phone - BUT I feel so unhealthy! Here's what my meal plan looked like:

Breakfast - fuel up on fruit and yogurt in the hotel - GOOD
Breakfast again - donuts and huge bagels with cream cheese - RESISTED
Lunch - Panera Bread (soup, sandwich, salad, cookie) or pizza - BAD
Snack - cookies, brownies, etc. - BAD (although I resisted 2 of 4 days)
Dinner - fish, veggies, and/or some Thai noodles - GOOD (and delicious!)
After Dinner - beer... which I don't even like, but I was travelling with men... when in Rome - BAD
Exercise - some casual walking in the evening, but mostly sedentary

I give myself a C- for this trip. Any tips for doing better next time? Breakfast is continental, lunch is catered, and dinner is my choice. This could become a regular thing, so I need to develop a strategy. Thanks in advance!

greeneggsam

I am en route home after my very first business trip. The trip was great - I learned a lot, met people face-to-face that I had only talked to on the phone - BUT I feel so unhealthy! Here's what my meal plan looked like:

Breakfast - fuel up on fruit and yogurt in the hotel - GOOD
Breakfast again - donuts and huge bagels with cream cheese - RESISTED
Lunch - Panera Bread (soup, sandwich, salad, cookie) or pizza - BAD
Snack - cookies, brownies, etc. - BAD (although I resisted 2 of 4 days)
Dinner - fish, veggies, and/or some Thai noodles - GOOD (and delicious!)
After Dinner - beer... which I don't even like, but I was travelling with men... when in Rome - BAD
Exercise - some casual walking in the evening, but mostly sedentary

I give myself a C- for this trip. Any tips for doing better next time? Breakfast is continental, lunch is catered, and dinner is my choice. This could become a regular thing, so I need to develop a strategy. Thanks in advance!

carak2000

That's really tough, and i find that I have the same problem when I go away for work. First, I would say, just keep trying to stick with eating what is right for you. But the best thing you could probably do is try to get a good work out in there each day. Does the hotel have a fitness center? Is there a nearby gym where you can a discounted daypass through the hotel? Luckily I get to pick the hotel when I go away a lot, so I always make sure there's a fitness center.

Good luck!

hnlymark

If it's going to be a regular thing, you will need to make a commitment to maintaining your healthy lifestyle and stick to it. THIS IS NOT EASY ON THE ROAD. There are a million excuses to NOT exercise. You need to make sure you do anyway. I liked the Hilton Garden Inns; they usually had a decent little gym and are reasonably priced. The drinking? Yeah, most people I know make a holiday out of business trips; and they also don't travel often. This is probably your biggest obstacle (it was mine anyway). I tried to limit my late night excursions to one a week, and that was to maintain good relations with colleagues. Fast food is easy and a killer. Stick to sit down dinners away from the hotel where you can get fish, chicken, salads and other good for you stuff. I was gone every other week from 2006 to the summer of 2008 and the potential to kill yourself is twice that for someone not travelling.

dujennifer

I travel a lot for work and it took me almost 6 months of struggling to get into a good plan. I try to order light options on any menus. Avoid desserts and appetizers, they kill on the calories. Drink tons of water, it keeps you feeling full when the snacks come out at meetings and keep your system running clean. I try to get up in the AM and workout in the gym at the hotel. If you wait till the PM, it usually gets skipped because of dinner or drinks with the team or clients. If the hotel doesn't have a gym or it stinks, which happens a lot, I bought some resistance bands that are really easy to travel with or you can go to fittv.com and workout to an online program. If you have to have alcohol try to go lower cal like light beers or wine, the margaritas, martinis, etc are brutal on the calorie count. This is what has helped so far, but I am by far no expert. Live and learn. Good luck! I know you can do it!!!

greeneggsam

Thanks for all the tips!

It's clear to me now that I had all the tools in place - healty food options, gym at the hotel, workout clothes, a pilates DVD to throw in my laptop - but I didn't use them. I am going to commit to taking advantage my alone time to do healthy things from here on out

Also, I like the idea of a once-a-week night out. It helps for sanity's sake when you are travelling alone, and when you are trying to keep up with business partners.

Thanks again!