Tips for staying on track while traveling???

ciarq

I do pretty well when I'm at home but no matter how well I stick to exercise I have a tough time not gaining weight while on the road, especially at workshops and conferences where food is provided. Food choices are limited, nutritional information hard to come by and long days invite more snacking than I'm used to. Any ideas out there? Success stories? I need more than willpower - I think I need substitutions or something...

Trudger

I travel quite a bit for conferences, workshops, trainings, etc. I have resorted to packing my own "snacks" - usually protein bars, granola bars, etc. Something I know will fill me up so I won't be grazing all day on the unhealthy stuff. Airports will allow hard boiled eggs through the x-rays (just in case you wanted to know that!).

Also, I will often ask for the vegetarian meal at a luncheon or if they have any other choices. Sometimes they have these already prepared in the back and are just waiting for people to ask for them.

WATER, water, water! Keep it handy wherever you go.

Sugar free gum helps.

I do give in a little here and there, but these things all help.

I feel your struggle.

David

judykay05

Can I ask a question? Do you ever have a small fridge in your room?

When I was traveling doing the training and conference thing, I would always go out the first night, taking a taxi to the local supermarket and buy fresh fruit and whole wheat bread. I would be sure to eat fresh fruit and I would take my toast to the breakfast room and use their toaster. That way, when I got to the conference, I would feel full. I also always packed an apple or two for the coffee breaks.

Also, no matter how tired I was, I always swam in the pool, went for walks in the morning and used their fitness center in the hotel.

At lunch or dinner, I never found a restaurant that didn't serve baked or roasted chicken breast and a salad. It really helped me a lot. I traveled about 75% of the time and this helped.

MrsM1ggins

I carry workout gear including a skipping (jump) rope in my case and exercise in my room if the hotel doesn't have a gym. I can fit a 200+ calorie burn into less than 30 minutes. I usually have the 30 day shred DVD in my laptop so I can do that if I want to. I also try to get out for an hour for a walk in the evening.

Food-wise you just need to choose the healthier looking options. Opting for the veggie option is certainly an idea. Like Trudger I often take healthy snack foods with me. I'll also try to grab some fruit from the breakfast buffet and take it with me for snacking later in the day.

As far as possible I will find foods in the MFP database which are similar to what I've eaten and I log those. I try to over-estimate the calorie content as I'd rather be a bit under goal than over.

Don't forget though that being over your MFP calorie goal isn't a disaster if you've set your profile up to lose weight. Depending on your settings you could have 1000 calories a day to 'eat' into before you move from weight loss to weight gain intake levels.

So it'll take you a bit longer to get to your goal? So what! As long as you can make the right choices you're setting yourself up to succeed, and that's what you need to do for yourself every day!

ciarq

Thanks for these helpful ideas everyone - and for the support!