Travelling For Work

I'm eager to hear suggestions on this one, too. Traveling for work is always something that derails me. Keeping mostly vegetarian (to clarify, no land meat, seafood is ok) when traveling helps me a lot, but I have to always consciously avoid the pitfalls of fried foods when doing that, because french fries are vegetarian.

OP, if it helps, Toronto is a city that has a lot of healthy choices. But I know when traveling for work with other coworkers you aren't always in control of where you end up eating.

Many hotels have communal microwaves in a common area - especially if they have a continental breakfast or gift shop. This opens up a range of options - leftovers from dinner (awesome when you can turn a huge restaurant meal into 2-3 smaller portions), soup, frozen/refrigerated dinners, shelf-stable rice and beans or pasta. Call the front desk to see if they have any available before you go!

Continental breakfast in your hotel lobby can also give you the opportunity to grab something like fruit, yogurt, English muffins, instant oatmeal packets, cereal, peanut butter/jam/cream cheese, hard-boiled eggs. I often have toast or an E muffin with a sliced hard boiled egg or oatmeal with a little swirl of peanut butter, coffee, and grab an apple or something for a snack later. Usually under 200 calories, and has definitely saved me at conferences with heavy breakfast buffets and tables of snacks between each session.

By the end of the week, I'm usually sick of eating at restaurants - especially if you're in an area where the only options are casual chain or fast food restaurants - so it gets easier to stick with lower calorie options. The novelty wears off.

Just learn to order things without cheese, with dressing on the side, without butter, (or on the side.)

Restaurants want to please you. It's easy to order a burger without bread and a side salad or side vegetables instead of fries. Stick with plain grilled meats and fish and sides of vegetables and/or salads with dressing on the side, then use 1/3 of the dressing.

For breakfasts skip the free buffet in the lobby unless it has eggs and meats and fruit and cheese. The donuts and pastries are the things that don't fill you up and are high calorie/low nutrition.

I travel for work frequently and have the added joy of being gluten free. I had great luck in Toronto between grocery stores and restaurants. I'm happy to provide specifics.
Below are some ideas for any work trip.
Breakfast: Yogurt is available at most hotels or coffee shops; or bring oatmeal packets and fill with hot water from the hotel
Snack: A piece of fresh fruit which you can find in a nearby grocery store and stock up for the week, no refrigeration required.
Lunch: Opt for a salad with a protein. It's not super exciting but easy to find on most restaurant menus or at a conference buffet.
Snack: Oloves, natural green pitted olives (available on Amazon) or a Fig & Walnut disk from Trader Joe's
Dinner: My go to for portion control is to order off the appetizer menu for my meal.

Bring snacks and breakfasts (unless the hotel has a good one). Eat half of restaurant meals and bring leftovers the next day (if you can anyway) or split meals with folks OR order an appetizer. I find those options to be a lot more sating than ordering chicken and salad over and over again unless you are really into that kind of that! I personally eat stuff I don't normally make at home, when I go out.

if you don't normally eat out much, plan for a small water weight gain.

Keeping on track when travelling for work takes a little discipline but doesn't have to be complicated. You just need to be a little flexible and pay attention to your options, especially if your schedule is fluid. I normally have a few basic scenarios when travelling:

• Quick meals while in transit, lunch breaks, etc: Usually look for quick service or fast food options and pick items I know fit within a reasonable calorie target. Panera, McDonalds, and other chains have well published and consistent menus.
• Hotel breakfast: Eggs, fruit, oatmeal, yogurt are all good options that are frequently available.
• Entertaining customers or meals with colleagues: Often on a multi-day trip there's at least one meal a day that we try to find something local. Eating frugally earlier in the day leaves room for a bigger meal. I look for lean meats and vegetables, almost every restaurant has something that fits that profile. If there's alcohol, one drink max.

Usually, if I followed a simple strategy like this I get to have some pretty decent meals and get home with only a modest water weight gain (attributable to extra salt and air travel).

Figure out where the nearest grocery store is and take a taxi or ask for a hotel shuttle. Or, look for a Walgreens/CVS type store. You can actually do a decent grocery shop at the bigger drug stores. Get things for breakfast so you can eat in your room. And a couple of items that you can use for snacks.

pack of english muffins
Jif to Go
Tuna to Go
beef jerky
baby carrots
apples

So, english muffin with peanut butter and a banana for breakfast. Bring baby carrots and a granola bar for your snacks.