Dieting and Traveling for Work

pineygirl

I have to travel for work next week and have to eat breakfast at the hotel, lunch at the plant cafeteria, and dinner out. I tend to not eat out much because I have to keep my intake sodium pretty low. Under 800mg is best but I allow myself to go up to 1500mg and occasioally a little higher (with consequences, like higher blood pressue and bloating).

But eating out all week will be difficult. I always have issues from the insane amounts of sodium in restraurant food. Not to mention that I'm trying to lose weight and eating dinner out every night will stall any (non-existant) progress that I've made.

Any ideas?

jules1202

Breakfast should be pretty simple. Hotels usually have some pretty healthy breakfast options like low-fat milk, wheat toast, yogurt, fruit, etc.

Can you stop at a grocery store and stock up your hotel room with healthy foods for evening meal or snacks?
When eating out get steamed veggies and specifically tell them no added salt.
Some resturants are healthier than others and you can find the calorie and sodium content for different foods on the menu or on their website.
Get a salad as a side item instead of fries or rice, etc. Alot of resturaunts will let you make substituions.
Drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Hope some of these ideas help!

bpotts44

Skip breakfast and use it as a chance for intermittent fasting.

ruggedBear

I travel a fair amount for work and if you plan a bit, you can still brown bag breakfast and lunch. On my way to the office each day I stop and grab yogurt, almonds, some sort of green salad with a bunch of grilled chicken, and a couple of Kind bars which carries me through the day. Dinners can be pretty easy - just get a grilled meat or fish, steamed veggies and a plain baked potato.

If any of those suggestions are not appropriate because of specific dietary restrictions - I apologize! This just works for me.

melsinct

I travel quite a bit for work and sodium tends to be the hardest thing to deal with. Breakfast is easy, hotels have everything from oatmeal and fresh fruit to a full on eggs/bacon/hash browns meal. Many times I will go for 2 poached eggs and toast at a full service hotel. Hampton Inn type places I always grab hard boiled eggs and toast, maybe the oatmeal, or sometimes cold cereal.

A plant cafeteria is dicey. Many cafeterias have salad bars and good healthy options, like plenty of veg sides, stir fries, etc. Others have nothing but crap food, so this meal is the big question mark.

For dinner, chain restaurants post their nutrition info online so that would be easy. Non-chains will usually always have stuff you can have but this is also a wild card. Are you dining with a steakhouse type crew? Thai restaurant? Burgers?

Traveling and keeping your regular diet is tough but certainly doable. Also, what has saved me in airports and other times where I need a quick meal is Starbucks. They have something called a Protein Box that has a hard boiled egg, pouch of natural peanut butter, apple slices, some grapes, etc. for 300-odd calories. It is a great lunch in a pinch or "HELP I'm trapped at the airport" meal.

jadedone

I know how you feel about the work travel/eating out.

I find hotel breakfasts are the worst, not much fiber or protein to be had.

1. eat way more veggies, make half of your plate veggies for lunch and dinner (no matter where you go)
2. ask for sauces on the side
3. ask for plain steamed veggies as your side for dinner/lunch
4. drink lots and lots of water (I find this tends to suffer when I travel)
5. share or skip dessert

Also, I find when I travel, getting in exercise is really hard. Try to fit in 15 minutes of bodyweight exercise each day just to burn a few calories.

Miss_Aurora

If work's paying for all your meals then see if the hotel can provide you with a sandwich or something similar to take with you.

If they can't do that try ordering room service for breakfast and specify "bread not toast" with poached eggs, cereal & yoghurt & fruit.

I've done this ... eaten the cereal and made myself a poached egg sandwich to pack (along with the yoghurt & fruit)! Haa ... I usually have to preplan and take my own ziplock baggies. Sometimes I've asked for a banana and made a nana sandwich.

If work's not paying then take your own cereal ... pick up some supplies from a local supermarket. It's easy enough to pack fruit, yoghurt & sandwiches each day.

I agree with the others who've posted that grilled fish & veggies should make a healthy option for dinner.

Miss_Aurora

Also, I find when I travel, getting in exercise is really hard. Try to fit in 15 minutes of bodyweight exercise each day just to burn a few calories.

Fitness DVD's are really good to pack. I have this mini DVD player (like you have for the car) .. but I plug that into the TV if they don't have a DVD player. I've been known to take my Wii Console & some non board games. Also good for travelling are the resistance bands.

Don't forget to pack some runners cause you can always go for a walk .. or use the hotel's gym if they have one.

pineygirl

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm staying at a Hampton Inn so the breakfast leaves a lot to be desired in terms of low sugar (no artifical sweetners) and high protein, high fiber options...I'm thinking eggs, an maybe oatmeal and a piece of fruit...but the last time I went the oatmeal was already prepared and very buttery and salty. I'm thinking to bring some of my own oatmeal or cereal and protein powder to keep up my protein.

For lunch the cafeteria isn't so bad...just have to avoid the temptation of the fried chicken and opt for the salad bar instead.

The hotel has a gym and I'm bring a hear monitor so I'll get in my daily 45 min workouts, maybe differently from what I usually do, but that's fine. I can just do body weight stuff if they don't have weights....also I can bring resistance bands.

Dinners are going to be harder. I'll be in the South so there will be pleanty of steakhouses, which I don't mind. I have very few options at chain restaurants, since the sodium content of the foods there is insane. Hopefully we stay away from chain restaurants. I've been having trouble getting in all my calories so I don't mind having a big dinner actually, just have to mind the salt.

It's going to be very difficult to track calories exactly...but I'll try my best.