I've got to spend three weekends out of town.

jrochest
jrochest Posts: 119 Member
edited 4:17AM in Health and Weight Loss
I'm going to a local retreat (an Abbey, actually) to work on marking for my university classes, this weekend and the weekends of the 17th and 24th. They provide food, which is, of course, commercial kitchen fare cooked for the monks and the students in their residential program. I have no way to know what they'll be cooking, but I know it will be caloric -- freshman 15 stuff. There are no choices: they hand you a plate :smile:

What are some of your best ideas for dealing with (or working around) situations where you aren't in control of what you're being served? I am going to pack food for breakfasts and lunches, but does anyone have any good ideas for estimating calorie counts or readily packable and portable foods?

Replies

  • GOT_Obsessed
    GOT_Obsessed Posts: 817 Member
    I wish I had words of wisdom for you but I don't. I have found this type of thing the biggest challenge of my whole weight loss journey. Sometimes you just have to eat foods you did not prepare yourself. But I give you a high 5 for your commitment to pack your own breakfast and lunch. Good job!
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    For the dinners, I'd find an entry for a similar meal from a chain restaurant and use that. It should get you in the ballpark anyway.

    For breakfasts and lunches, I'd pack things like protein bars, jerky, non-refrigerated fruit or vegetables (apples would be great, and things like carrots should be fine out of the refrigerator for a day), canned tuna or those shelf-stable tuna meal kits, etc.

    Also, have you considered taking your calorie intake down slightly on the weekdays to account for possibly going over on the weekends? If you can cut 50-100 calories off each weekday, that would give you some room to go over on the weekends.
  • jrochest
    jrochest Posts: 119 Member
    Thanks, you guys!

    I'm undereating rather radically already -- I'm in my 50s, and so I lose very slowly unless I'm really aggressive -- but I will make a deficit to give myself a little wiggle room. And yes, I'll be able to eat yogurt and salads and such for two meals a day: I may pack a cooler in the car. Thank you for the tuna meal kit idea -- and there are salad kits as well, so those might help. And Pillar's turkey sausages...and rice cakes.

    If it was only one weekend I'd not be so concerned. But three...that's too much to just free eat what they give me.
  • brznhabits
    brznhabits Posts: 126 Member
    This is similar to business travel, try this thread http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/39148976#Comment_39148976
  • jrochest
    jrochest Posts: 119 Member
    Thank you so much, Brzn -- that thread is immensely helpful!
  • Cbean08
    Cbean08 Posts: 1,092 Member
    It's about making smart choices. And, you might have to stop eating before you feel physically full. Or, just skip the dinner they are serving and bring your own option like you are doing for breakfast and lunch. I find that an apple, a protein bar and a piece of beef jerky is balanced and very satisfying. Since you can bring a cooler, make some sandwiches or wraps, bring celery sticks, hummus, or even leftovers in tupperware. If people ask why you brought stuff you can tell them you didn't want it to spoil.
  • jrochest
    jrochest Posts: 119 Member
    Well, I had a talk with the cook — ravioli with garlic toast for lunch, so I’ll give that a miss — (but it’s great ravioli, she wailed) — and an open-faced beef sandwich for dinner, which I can work around. She will put out extra veggies. I had no time to pack food yesterday morning, so I’m kinda stuck unless I drive into town — but this is a long-term process and I’ll just have to see where it lands me.
  • spzjlb
    spzjlb Posts: 599 Member
    jrochest wrote: »
    Well, I had a talk with the cook — ravioli with garlic toast for lunch, so I’ll give that a miss — (but it’s great ravioli, she wailed) — and an open-faced beef sandwich for dinner, which I can work around. She will put out extra veggies. I had no time to pack food yesterday morning, so I’m kinda stuck unless I drive into town — but this is a long-term process and I’ll just have to see where it lands me.

    Wow - so cool that you were proactive and talked to the cook!
  • GOT_Obsessed
    GOT_Obsessed Posts: 817 Member
    spzjlb wrote: »
    jrochest wrote: »
    Well, I had a talk with the cook — ravioli with garlic toast for lunch, so I’ll give that a miss — (but it’s great ravioli, she wailed) — and an open-faced beef sandwich for dinner, which I can work around. She will put out extra veggies. I had no time to pack food yesterday morning, so I’m kinda stuck unless I drive into town — but this is a long-term process and I’ll just have to see where it lands me.

    Wow - so cool that you were proactive and talked to the cook!

    I agree! Well done.
  • betty_veronica4
    betty_veronica4 Posts: 196 Member
    I am in the same boat all the time. I work in a school where part of my compensation is a free apartment and free meals in the dining hall. Specific nutrition info is not available, and it's really awkward to bring a food scale in. Sure, I have a kitchen and COULD cook, but the $$ benefit is worth it - especially with a family. I tend to use restaurant food counts and often add extra calories into my food diary in order to account for likely underestimation. I am still losing, but it is definitely harder than when food was fully in my control. Pre-planning as many breakfasts and lunches as possible is a good help! Good luck, and enjoy the retreats!
  • jrochest
    jrochest Posts: 119 Member
    Alas, though, I actually came back to town up a pound -- weighed myself the morning I left, was 185.4, weighed myself the morning after I got back, was 186.6. Two and a half days of food service meals, no desserts, leaving half of it on the plate, and I'm still up.

    Betty_veronica, I hear you. Cafeteria food is the worst of the worst, and there are times when it's inescapable. Good luck to you -- I couldn't do it regularly!

    The most annoying thing about this is knowing that yes, indeed, I'm right when I think I have to undereat so fecking much in order to lose.
  • SteamPug
    SteamPug Posts: 262 Member
    You know that very small amount of extra weight could be water retention though right?
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Make smart choices, keep an eye on portions. Keep the veggie portion as the largest portion on your plate e.g.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    jrochest wrote: »
    Alas, though, I actually came back to town up a pound -- weighed myself the morning I left, was 185.4, weighed myself the morning after I got back, was 186.6. Two and a half days of food service meals, no desserts, leaving half of it on the plate, and I'm still up.

    Betty_veronica, I hear you. Cafeteria food is the worst of the worst, and there are times when it's inescapable. Good luck to you -- I couldn't do it regularly!

    The most annoying thing about this is knowing that yes, indeed, I'm right when I think I have to undereat so fecking much in order to lose.

    So, you know that your weight isn't static, right? You constantly go up and down across a range, and a lot of factors influence where you are across that range, like:

    1. Hydration
    2. Sodium
    3. Sleep
    4. The weight of food processing through your system
    5. Exercise (new/increased exercise can cause water retention, which can show up as a gain or stall on the scale)
    6. Time of day of your weigh-in
    7. Travel

    You will have an easier time losing weight if you can be patient, keep an eye on the general trend line (not each individual weigh-in) and play more of a long game.

    This thread talks more about why people see bumps or stalls on the scale from week to week: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634529/why-did-the-number-on-the-scale-go-up-this-week-heres-why/p1
  • jrochest
    jrochest Posts: 119 Member
    Yep, I know things tick up and down; I weigh myself daily or every other day, even though my 'official' weigh-in day is Tuesday. And always at the same time; first thing in the AM, naked, fasting, all the rest of it. I suspect that my liver just took one look at that lovely carb-filled starchy food and said "Hurray! Carbs! Let's store some glycogen!".

    I have lost weight SO many times - as so many of us have -- that yes, I know all this. But the general rate and trend needs to be down.

    As to 'keep veggies as the largest amount on your plate' -- not possible. The kitchen staff plate the meals and just hand you a plate from a warmer. In most cases there are no veggies -- if there are, they're creamed or casseroled or tossed with butter. :) The place is a godsend, no pun intended, for grinding through large amounts of marking or big projects -- no cell service, no distractions -- but it's a minefield when it comes to food.

    So I'll take breakfast and lunch food with me next time, and only eat one hot meal a day.
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