One consistent theme for people who travel, is that it is easy to put on weight. There are a variety of reasons for this – but here are some tips to help you travel and avoid the typical weight gain from the trip.
Eating Out:
Very few hotel rooms are set up for you to cook your own food while you are away. This means that most meals are either from room service, or eating out. Eating out is a huge source of calories. When researchers looked at the nutritional content of 30,923 menu items, including those from children’s menus, from 245 brands of restaurants., they found that 96% of them failed to meet recommendations for the combination of calories, sodium, fat and saturated fat set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. What restaurants do most people go to- chains, because they are reliable.
Most of the food chains met the calorie limit of 650 calories (a lot for a single meal) but their portion size might be listed as a single slice of pizza or a single piece of chicken. Most restaurant chains do not post the calories- some do. Learning that the “salad” has twice as many calories as the 800 calorie hamburger is an eye-opener for most people.
- TGIF Santa Fe Salad has over 1700 calories
If your breakfast is 600 calories, your lunch 1200 calories, and your dinner 1800 calories, chances are you will gain a pound every three days you are away from home.
(a) Plan to eat “in” the room as much as possible. If my hotel room has a kitchen then I bring some basic utensils and grocery shop while I am on location. Eating in saves calories, and it is a lot nicer to eat relaxed in the room than out and about.
(b) Bring a blender and protein shake mix. This is an easy way to make something simple, and follow up with a plan to lose weight. We found the Tri-best blender easy to pack, clean, and care for. Having two shakes during the day, and a couple of small snacks will help with weight loss.
- Bringing the Tribest blender proved easy on the trip
We use Vi-Shape shake mix, and they have a variety of flavor packs that you can use with them. If you want to order some you can click here. While away it was easy to have a coffee shake, get some fruits from the store and blend them, and keep a bit of almond milk in the refrigerator in the room.
(c) Have readily available snacks that are reliable and low in calories.
The simple plan for weight loss on a trip is shake, simple snack, shake, simple snack, and dinner. Visalus also makes foil wrapped cookies that you can bring with you, either to meetings, or carry in your purse or brief case. Having that reliable snack allows you to know what you are eating and when. If you wish to order those you can get them by clicking here. One of the simple snacks: greek yogurt – low in calories, higher in protein and available at most grocery stores.
- Greek Yogurt, a healthy snack to keep in your hotel refrigerator
(d) Have them empty your refrigerator
They sometimes stock the mini-refrigerator with alcohol, snacks, and other drinks. They will empty it – and in that place the yogurt, fruit, other mixes that you need to be successful. Having the candy and peanuts can be too much of a temptation, not to mention they cost a lot. So fill it with healthy snacks that you will like.
(e) Plan your restaurants
If you are in charge, check the local listings on Yelp or Urbanspoon and see which ones are healthy with lots of great food. Avoid chains, and if you have to go to a chain look up the nutritional information about the menu so that you know what you are going to order before you get there.
Travel fit, not fat.
You have a great goal in mind. For one, organic doesn’t mean it will help you lose whiget. There is organic sugar, which I do use, but refined sugar, organic sugar and refined flour all act the same, accumulating as fat on the body. What I have found to work for me (I hurt my knees and have not exercised in about 12 weeks but have altered my diet and have maintained my whiget) is taking out/reducing the refined flours (such as bread, pasta, pizza), replacing them with whole grains (brown rice, bulgar, garbanzo beans, black beans, red beans, flax, etc.). One piece of bread a day is still fine, just be aware of where the majority of your calories are coming from pasta or meat or vegetables? The other is to replace refined sugar (high fructose corn syrup-read the label, sugar, cookies, muffins, breakfast bars, sweetened yogurt, etc.) with honey, limited brown sugar, fruit that has natural sugar, dried dates, etc. Start by gradually taking refined sugar/flour out with the goal of removing entirely from everyday diet; this may help you reach your goal. Basically, you need sugar in your diet, but just not the refined stuff (the history is that companies make more money on the processed stuff which has altered our mentality that this is normal in our diet). The resulting whiget loss will come over time, not overnight. You will be healthier and feel better since a lot of the refined sugar causes headaches, depression, and just not feeling great. Also, changing your diet and liking it is hugely dependent on how you prepare your foods. Healthy food actually tastes better than the prepared stuff because it is not processed and it is fresh. The result is a satisfying fullness, less snacking, and giving your body the nutrients it is currently lacking. You will get sick less and reduce risk for cancers and other potential fatal disease conditions.Knowledge is key there are many false concepts and fads out there. Read for understanding and the whiget loss will come naturally!