Work Trips

[Chasingtails]

For one week out of every month (for the most part), I travel with my boss and two co-workers. One of my co-workers and my boss pretty much survive off of cheeseburgers and french fries. My other co-worker is a vegetarian. I have no issue with their diets--that's their choice. My problem is their seeming inability to waiver and try something new. Literally my best hope in many meals this week has been a "healthy" salad at some TGIFridays, and my only coping mechanism has been to keep my blood sugar regulated by eating fruit every few hours.

So, I know I can't be the only person here who has to travel for work. What are yall's tips for staying on track when staying in hotels and eating out for 5 days at a time?

 

[JDybya]

Packing whey powder and some healthy-ish protein bars for snacks, between the crappy salads.

I'm pretty lucky though, the folks I travel with tend to want to try new and interesting restaurants. I feel your pain though!

 

[Chasingtails]

You're definitely lucky! All of these diet problems on top of the wonderful hotel gyms...

Fortunately, the vegetarian is actually a pescatarian so we are able to sneak away and eat a proper meal at times, but its definitely few and far between.

 

[JDybya]

Hotel gyms def require a new level of imagination and dedication.

 

[NurseGray]

Well you have to take your goals into consideration. If your able meal prep the day before you set off or if you can afford it one of the frozen meal prep services. Also you can just find a local grocery store the day you get to your location and microvave everything. you have to leave taste at the door when cooking in a hotel room.

 

[flyAA]

I'm an airline pilot so this is right up my alley. I typically travel 3-4 days a week. Your best bet to stay on track is going to be to bring food with you. I cook/portion 5 meals for every day I'm gone. Takes me 3-4 hours to prepare everything the day before a trip.

Most hotels have mini fridges in the rooms. If not ask the front desk and they'll bring you one or let you put your stuff in the employee fridge.

You will also end up eating a lot of cold meals. It's not fun but you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[Chasingtails]

I'm an airline pilot so this is right up my alley. I typically travel 3-4 days a week. Your best bet to stay on track is going to be to bring food with you. I cook/portion 5 meals for every day I'm gone. Takes me 3-4 hours to prepare everything the day before a trip.

Most hotels have mini fridges in the rooms. If not ask the front desk and they'll bring you one or let you put your stuff in the employee fridge.

You will also end up eating a lot of cold meals. It's not fun but you gotta do what you gotta do.

That's an interesting method and I like it, but traveling with a bunch of prepped meals seems like a recipe (no pun intended) (that was a god awful joke) for getting food everywhere. How do you package and transport?

 

[flyAA]

That's an interesting method and I like it, but traveling with a bunch of prepped meals seems like a recipe (no pun intended) (that was a god awful joke) for getting food everywhere. How do you package and transport?

Well I've gone through a bunch of different methods over the years. First thing you'll need is a travel cooler. Look for airline crew style ones. They are the most durable. They slip right onto your rollaboard. I've had them all but the aerocoast crew cooler II is the best by far. Good size waterproof inside with plenty of pockets for iPad, snacks, chargers, etc. I tried to load a picture but it wouldn't take.

Now food wise I used to separate out the carbs, protein, fruit veggies into their own containers. Then I'd portion a meal into a serving dish and go from there. Problem is if you're on the run it takes a while and it's hard to tell how much you're taking in.

I've recently switched to pre-portioning my meals into Ziplocs. It's way easier bc I'll mix my protein/carb/veggie all in one bag and then when I'm ready to eat it I can drop in the serving dish and heat it up or just raw dog it cold out of the bag lol. I can easily fit 15 ziplocs with a serving dish and 2 ice packs inside the cooler.

It's a lot of trial and error but eating a lot and eating healthy can 100% be done on the road. I do it every week. Good luck.

 

[Chasingtails]

I really can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to type that out, and I'll definitely give it a shot. I made the switch to plastic baggies a short while ago to save space in the fridge, so that part will be easy.