Trouble eating enough carbs on the road?

olyabe

So, I'm back to MFP after being gone 4 years, during which I very slowly gained back 20 lb, and then rapidly gained back another 20 lb in just 4 months of extreme work stress. Enuf!

I don't have too much trouble staing within my recommended 1300 calories when I am home (MFP says 1240, doctor recommended 1300). Even with homecooked meals I tend to get more calories from protein than recommended.

When I am on the road, I exercise for 400 and eat them back - no way to eat in restaurants 3 times a day and stay within the limit of 1300 without constantly starving. However, I do have a lot of trouble eating my carb allocation. I get my fat in with oil for salad dressings, a little bit of cheese, and plenty of fish. I get a little bit of carbs in for breakfast with whole grain toast and fruit. I get some carbs in with sushi rice at lunch or dinner. But then, my traveling carbs come to a stop.. pasta/noodles, even other more exotic grains - all of that comes with an overload of questionable fat in any restaurant. It is really hard to find healthy carbs on the road... getting lean protein and decent oils is not that complicated though.

In the end, unless I turn it into sushi 2x per day kind of diet (no vegetables in sushi restaurants though...), I end up with the ratio of 40% protein/25% fat and 35% carbs in my diet... (instead of recommended 15/30/55).. And worse yet, on the rare days when I get more calories from carbs then protein, I feel much much hungrier... I feel like if I did not have a decent chunk of meat or fish with my meal, I'm hungry again real fast.

Anyone else having a similar problem? How are you getting around it?

jordanlell

I kind of wish I had this problem... crackers? Fruit? I think that kind of stuff could probably fill your carb gap if that's what you want. On the other hand, I've heard many recommendations to change the ratios to something like 40% carbs, and 30% each fat and protein, which sounds much closer to what you're eating.

What I recommend is maybe stocking up on stuff that doesn't need refrigeration that you can take with you on the road so you don't have to eat at restaurants so much. I think that would help give you a bit more control over what kinds of calories you're taking in.

NYCNika

Are you traveling by car or plane? If you are going by car, I recommend buying a zojirushi and bringing it with you. You can set it to make steel cut oats perfectly, also quinoa, brown rice, etc. I make oatmeal with skim milk and toss some apple slices in and it bakes it. Some people make soups, beans, eggs in it. You can toss in meat too but it may get overcooked by the time the grain is done.

olyabe

I'm traveling by plane, usually about 12-13 time zones away from home, to the countries that have different voltage and outlet plugs, and where it is typically illegal to bring in any unprocessed food from abroad On the positive side, I do visit the motherland of Zoirushi very regularly - they even got Zoirushi electric tea pots in hotel rooms here!!

(Did you know that it is illegal to bring most unprocessed foods into the US from abroad too?).

To make things even worse, I work for an international casual dining chain restaurant and must visit on average 3 restaurants per day, ours and cometitors as a part ov my job!! And yes, food and alcohol are free and constantly available.

I do like the idea of stocking up on crackers, thank you! That could help a little with the snacking and carbs, and since they are processed, I should be able to get some in with the luggage. I do buy fruit in supermarkets when I get a chance, and eat up all the fruit they leave in the room with room service

Any other stuff to eat you can think of?

NYCNika

Wow, lucky you! You should have no problems eating out healthy and in small portions in Japan. I've been to Japan only twice, but I think if I lived there I'd be thin.