Diet for travelers

mmellets
mmellets Posts: 21 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I work for a company that keeps me busy and away from home for around 7 months a year, during the time I'm away try to find healthy food choices but it's very limited in most fast food restaurants and my budged don't let me go to higher end restaurants 7 days a week (2 times per week only). So far I'm doing a decent job, I'm 6'2 guy and my weight is 205 lbs , 10 pounds over my target weight, I go to the gym twice a week, sometimes I choose to skip lunch or dinner to keep my weight but by doing that too often, causes me headaches and weakness most of the time and some days my BMR is below of what my body needs (1700 cal)

So I wonder if any other people in the same situation have solve the riddle of eating healthy out of fast food menus, or how to eat healthy when all you have in your hotel room is a microwave and mini fridge...???

What are your thoughts?

Thanks

Replies

  • SandyBVTN
    SandyBVTN Posts: 367 Member
    Have you tried a trip to the supermarket instead of fast food? Maybe a pack of salad greens, some whole grain bread and lower fat protein from the deli? I guess it depends on how long you are staying in one place for as well. Are you flying or driving? If driving, perhaps a plug in cooler in your car to cart around salad dressing, cheese yogurt etc.
  • mmellets
    mmellets Posts: 21 Member
    Yeah, I have salads in my mini fridge but I'm looking for variety of food beside salads and fruits, something consistent that make me feel satisfied, can't eat that for lunch and dinner every day (I should but...), I drive all the time and a little cooler with fruit and fresh veggies is not a bad idea...
  • slowbubblecar
    slowbubblecar Posts: 91 Member
    I travel just about every M-F for work. I just try to avoid the resturants all together.

    Breakfast:
    I tend to eat a basic breakfast at the hotel focusing more on the protien items.

    Lunch:
    I try to pack some fruit/veggies a protien bar or two and possibly some beef jerkey or yogurt

    Dinner:
    I will buy bags of frozen veggie steamers or salads and will try to get some sort of meat item to go with it. I eat a lot of turkey/chicken sausages and frozen (gordons fish). They are easy to throw in the microwave.

    Snacks
    I like carrots, fruit, nuts, flavored ckickpeas, protein bars, kale chips, and veggies with PB2.

    If I do decide to eat out, I usually try to go to a sandwich place like subway, jimmy johns (I like the unwich) and pit places.
  • SandyBVTN
    SandyBVTN Posts: 367 Member
    If you are driving and have access to a microwave, a few breakfast burritos packed with beans, cheese and rice might be good and satisfying too.
  • tificreole
    tificreole Posts: 18 Member
    Have you tried fasting once a week? It should keep your weight in check. Based on the 5:2 diet by Michael Moseley. I am now on it and it seems to work. I am doing 2 days fasting a week on 500calories per day then the rest of the week anything you want. There is not calorie counting for the rest of the week and I seem to be eating less on my feed days now. This I think would be a good one for travellers. When I reach my goal weight I will then go to once a week to keep the weight off.
  • mmellets
    mmellets Posts: 21 Member
    Slowbubblecar , that sounds like meals for winners definitively, I will follow most of your food options, not too keen on the beef jerky but turkey/chicken sausages sounds like a very satisfying type of food.

    Thanks SandyBVTN, I totally forgot about burritos, sometimes I wish to find boiled eggs in my local supermarket but when I'm down in GA seems like everything around is deep fried, tried to boiled an egg in the microwave but did not end well, the whole thing exploded all over the room.

    Tificreole, I have tried skipping lunch or dinner some days but seems like when I'm low in calories my system reacts in different ways, from headaches to weakness, my job is physically demanding and it's hard not to fuel up my body after a hard day of work, but thanks for the tip anyways...
  • reachingforarainbow
    reachingforarainbow Posts: 224 Member
    Too cook an egg in the microwave, crack egg open into a microwave safe container - microwave on high for 30 seconds

    If more than one egg, I suggest microwave on high for 30 seconds, check on it, 10-15 more seconds... check on it. Repeat till cooked.

    You can also do scrambled eggs in the micro this way (just mix up your eggs with milk or whatever you normally put in) then 30 seconds, stir, 15 seconds, stir etc. till cooked. and throw cheese in near the end so that it doesn't overheat

    (NOTE: Always cover while microwaving, with either a lid or plastic wrap (if liid don't seal container, just place on top))
  • msmichelelynn
    msmichelelynn Posts: 15
    I enjoyed bringing a compact blender with on the road. I'd stop at the grocery store and get some fruits, veggies, some of the healthier TV dinners (Lean Cuisine, mostly) and some veggie steamers. Also, I brought protein shakes with me. That way if I had two of those as meal replacements, I could actually go out and enjoy a decent dinner. But when I did go out, I just went for salads and anything baked/grilled.

    It's a challenge, but it's doable.
  • mmellets
    mmellets Posts: 21 Member
    I'm actually in SW Michigan in a small town with a couple restaurants, a McDonald's and Subway just around the corner, So I found out that one of my best options are Grilled chicken ranch wrap, egg McMuffin and the Bacon Ranch salad, everything else is kinda questionable, also the menu in Subway is kinda decent, starting with the Veggie delight sandwich...definitively I should've brough my magic bullet with me.
  • laughinggypsy
    laughinggypsy Posts: 30 Member
    as far as the boiled eggs, you can also boil up a dozen at home and bring 'em in your cooler/ minifridge. They keep well refridgerated. you can also prep other healthy foods at home.

    at the same time, noil up a bunch of lentils to keep with you. adding them to salads, breakfast scrambles, pretty much anything makes food a LOT more satistying and bumps up the nutrition
    ,
    baby carrots and hummus, string cheese, a handful of almonds, orange slices, bananas, sandwich fixins-all great road food.

    tuna fish and sardines are great protein sources but tuna is easier to prep in the hotel room vs on the go.

    also for the hotel- a little blender like a magic bullet lets you whip up healthy smoothies. chia seed, greek yogurt, collagen powder-all add protein and stick-to-your-ribs-ishness. I'm about to throw one together before hitting the road.

    check out google and pinterest for stuff like camping dinners. a lot of people have uploaded a lot of great, healthy ideas.

    Good luck!
  • laughinggypsy
    laughinggypsy Posts: 30 Member
    lol just read you've got a magic bullet. sorry for the repeat!
  • laughinggypsy
    laughinggypsy Posts: 30 Member
    Also check out freezer cooking- make a bunch of whatever healthy recipe you're cooking and freeze in single serving portions. This is a lifesaver in my crazy household! throw howver many days worth in your cooler before you leave home. they'll thaw out and give you great, easy to reheat meals later in the week.
  • dawnmcneil10
    dawnmcneil10 Posts: 638 Member
    It's actually quite easy to travel and stay on track once you find what works for you. Here are a few items that might help you with snacks and a few dinner options a quick visit to the grocery store can fix up. It's spectacular you have a mini fridge and a microwave, that's half the battle.
    Scout out the breakfast far of the hotel you stay in if it has continental breakfast, I always grab some fruit and peanut butter for later in the day and often times they have yogurt available too.

    Snacks:
    Cheese sticks and deli meat, wrap up and enjoy. A trick here, buy the deli meat that comes in a container then reuse the container for convenient storage.
    Make or buy a small veggie tray
    Fruit - fresh or jarred
    Greek yogurt
    Cottage cheese
    Granola - protein or cereal bars

    Meals:
    Minute rice makes individual microwave bowls of rice and they're pretty tasty.
    Precooked chicken strips
    Frozen veggies
    Jarred sauces
    Frozen meal bags, steamfresh and so on, just add the chicken strips or frozen shrimp and serve over rice.
    Potatoes and sweet potatoes can be microwaved quite easily
    Pulled pork is often precooked in the meats section of the grocery store and is fantastic over a sweet potato
    Ham steak is precooked most times as well and only needs to be warmed


    I could go on and on with ideas, basically go buy your groceries, think as you're shopping and don't go when you're hungry. Invest in a decent microwaveable plate, bowl, soup mug and some travel silverware and you'll find a whole new world of options. Staying in a hotel also most likely gives you a fitness center so enjoy some time there as well, make the most of your free time, don't work all the time.
  • mamaomefo
    mamaomefo Posts: 418 Member
    Don't know if you are handy in the kitchen or not, but the web site www.heandsheeatclean.com has a recipe for some delicious homemade protein bars. They are healthy and you can snack on them or if cut in larger chunks you can have them for a meal...and there are no additives in them like store bought ones. Also boil you some eggs. They are healthy. My son also buys tuna in packs ready to eat. Some have a little salad dressing mixed in, others do not. Hope these ideas help. Good luck.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I travel quite a bit for work...it's one of the reasons I support learning about formal diets as a way to learn new strategies. When I travel I try to follow the principles of the south beach diet as closely as I can. I find that I can eat more consistently (vegetables, lean meats, dairy, legumes, seeds and nuts, whole grains, fruits), and I tend to eat more whole foods. It works for me when I'm trying to find something to eat at the airport, or wherever I am.
  • 12_oz_Curls
    12_oz_Curls Posts: 140 Member
    two tips that I can think of right off. (Neither involving fast food)

    1. Mentioned above, just precook everything for the week or so you will be traveling and keep in cooler or such.

    2. I don't think you've yet said if you drive or fly, but if driving it's not alot more room to just toss a small george foreman or electric skillet into the trunk. Cleans up easy and you can cook anything on it.
  • mmellets
    mmellets Posts: 21 Member
    Don't know if you are handy in the kitchen or not, but the web site www.heandsheeatclean.com has a recipe for some delicious homemade protein bars. They are healthy and you can snack on them or if cut in larger chunks you can have them for a meal...and there are no additives in them like store bought ones. Also boil you some eggs. They are healthy. My son also buys tuna in packs ready to eat. Some have a little salad dressing mixed in, others do not. Hope these ideas help. Good luck.

    Thanks for sharing the website above, I'm not handy at all in the kitchen, I tend to overcook, extra salt, blow up, cut myself, or mutate delicious recipes into terrible things...lol, but I promise to try the time I'm home and not in the neck of the woods.:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • mmellets
    mmellets Posts: 21 Member
    two tips that I can think of right off. (Neither involving fast food)

    1. Mentioned above, just precook everything for the week or so you will be traveling and keep in cooler or such.

    2. I don't think you've yet said if you drive or fly, but if driving it's not alot more room to just toss a small george foreman or electric skillet into the trunk. Cleans up easy and you can cook anything on it.

    I drive all the time, I stay in GA for 11 or 12 weeks, then I move up to MI for another 16 weeks, always landing in different places and hotels...the rest of the time I'm home and master of my domains, That George Foreman idea is not bad at all....

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