Dieting on the Road!

Hi Laura this - Sounds a lot like my life - I travel a lot - often abroad - and so you are constantly eating out. My top tips:

1) Hotel Breakfasts. These are buffets and normally a killer. Think to yourself 'how much would I eat at home' and stick to it - there are normally plenty of healthy options like eggs, porridge or cold cereals. Stay away from the pastries and the sausages!

2) Lunch. I tend to go for a sandwich or Sushi from somewhere where they label the calories. Plenty of options here. Pret, Boots, Tescos...

3) Dinner. This is the tough one because meals generally aren't calorie counted and its easy to order three courses. My rule of thumb is: Two courses max, No bread rolls, Stick to basic dishes without sausces - Chicken / Salmon salads are your friend. alcohol counts as a course.

Good luck!

Its certainly very tough keeping disciplined when eating out. I get into the mindset I can 'treat' myself as I'm eating out which isn't ideal if you have to do it daily!
But when I am doing well I eat the side salad before starting on the main.
I try to eye ball what's a decent portion before I start, then when I feel I have had enough or have eaten plenty I move the plate away. I find in the UK waiters take your plate away the second your knife and forks gets put down, even mid swallowing which is a little rude but quite useful for not keep picking at leftovers I didn't really need :laugh:
. When possible I will choose a jacket potato and beans when out but they tend to be huge so I tend to eat half. Soups as well can be good but some can be quite creamy so worth asking.

London parks are beautiful- last week I ran through loads of them on a 50km race and anytime you can get marching or running outside I would do it-rain or shine.:drinker:

Best of luck:flowerforyou:

Looks like you have a plan Laura. Good luck!

Could you take your own cereal and keep some milk in the minibar? That way you could have breakfast in your room, rather than being tempted by the hotel buffet bacon. If not, scrambled egg on toast is usually available and quite light, or cereals and fruit.

For lunch, if your work has a kitchen with a fridge that has space, keep some salad makings there and make your own lunch. I've also found keeping soup in the fridge is really good if you have a microwave. That way you will know exactly how many calories you are eating. If you have to eat out for lunch, soups and salads are a really good bet rather than sandwiches as they generally have fewer calories.

The evenings can be a bit trickier but the other posters have some really good tips e.g. substituting foods, ordering starter + side salad.

Noodles are amazing by the way - they're really quite low cal but filling.

Also, the usual tips of walk a bit more, take a long lunch every now and again and go running, take the stairs not the lift, might work. If your work or hotel has a gym you could make use of that in the evenings.

I was in this situation last year. I discovered from my kosher friend who brings food with her everywhere the following tricks:

- if your work provides a choice of hotels pick one that is more of the apartment style, with kitchen or at least fridge, microwave etc - then you can bring some healthy food to put in the fridge (cut up vegetables, greek yogurt, fruit, your favourite oatmeal etc)

- if not, call the hotel you are staying at in advance and have them put a proper fridge in your room (not the mini bar) many hotels will do this for free, some have a small charge. some will also provide a microwave.

- when on the road/airport make sure you have some healthy snacks on you (celery, 1-2 granola bars, carrots) - this stops you from buying stuff that is bad/expensive/you don't really like anyway just because you are hungry - it gives you choices

- check the internet ahead of time to see what restaurants and grocery stores are close by to the hotel you are staying at. Then on the first day go to that grocery store to get some healthy supplies to put in your hotel room. You can also get some simple takeaway food from some grocery stores, such as a roast chicken, salad etc.

I started doing all the above for my own diet last year, but now I routinely do this, even on family trips. I find it makes life easier for the whole family to have good healthy choices always available. Everyone is in a better mood, digestion is better for everyone, and it saves money. You then only eat at the hotel or other restaurants if you want to. Also it is handy to know where the closest grocery store is.

Hi,

I am exactly the same, away Mon - Fri every week. A few things I've been doing is that a couple of days a week I'll buy food from the supermarket and eat it in my hotel room. I know it can be a little anti social but a few nights a week isn't too bad. You can get great salads, fruit and yogurts in even small city centre supermarkets. I've also looked up menus of some of the main chain restaurants, the pizza express superfood salad is delicious and even with chicken is only just over 300 cals. Also the garlic bread is about 300 if you want an extra treat. Nandos also do a good avocado salad and Bella Italia have a king prawn pasta dish which is great!

I also downloaded some exercise DVDs on to my ipad and do those in my hotel room a couple of nights a week. Most of them only take about 30-40 mins so could help on the nights that you go out to eat.

It's not easy but I've decided that I want to be healthy and slim more than I want to eat out every night! Good luck!

I'm an away Mon-Thurs kind of gal. I've mercifully managed to stay home the last couple weeks, but one thing I'm planning---my digital food scale is small (about the size of a paperback book), so I'm going to take it with me!

Even before MFP, I tended to either stop off at a local grocery store like the above post or get the healthiest room service option available several days per week, so I will weigh/measure the portions in the privacy of my own room. Not ready to whip out the scale in front of my clients, but at least it's a step in the right direction!