SaraJH

Having observed a number of recent threads complaining about the food offerings both in the BA Lounges and on board I am beginning to wonder about the collective eating habits of the members of this forum!

I spend a number of nights in UK hotels each month through work and although all offer Full English breakfast it's very rare that I choose this for breakfast. I don't eat this at home ergo why do I 'need' to eat it whilst away. Of course I don't but the company paying the bill often leads to strange decisions.

Do all you regular frequent flyers really eat from the full menu items in the lounges and on board on all your trips! And if you do, then please tell me your secrets to maintaining your waistlines, and I assume that you are all going on to hotels whereby the opportunities for expanding waistlines continue.

I just couldn't imagine trying to maintain a healthy weight whilst sampling all that is on offer on every flight that I would take (as a frequent flyer).

How do you all do it?

Physci

I fail miserably to maintain my waistline and am definitely a "Fat Lad on a Plane" (apologies to a certain cyclist clothing Co on Dragons Den).

Skipcool3

Usually pre-order a seafood special meal which is inevitably a salmon or prawn salad.
Breakfast in a hotel is usually water, tea, muesli with extra nuts, brown toast and marmite.... Or more salmon if staying somewhere reasonable...!
Half hour exercise everyday.... More on a Saturday....
My biggest fail is enjoying the reasonable wine in the LHR lounges.... Enjoyed more than a bottle of Mersault recently....

LTN Phobia

This topic has been moved from the BA forum to here as the topic does not deal specifically with BA or BAEC-related issues.

LTN Phobia
Moderator: BA forum

JMN57

Fast metabolism

gfunkdave

Portion control and avoiding alcohol. The booze part is hard most of the time when traveling - it's then that I most want a drink.

horse glasses

I've been losing weight since May basically. I eat pretty strictly except for once a week I eat one meal of whatever I want and on special occasions.

Last week I was traveling for about 10 days and pretty much ate whatever I wanted. I found that I ate way less of "whatever I wanted" than I would have in the past. I didn't gain any weight and now I'm home and back on the diet. For me, it falls under the "special occasion" clause, so I don't really worry about it.

I should add that I don't really drink, am a vegetarian, have decent metabolism and am only 30 in the interest of full disclosure though.

paul4040

Have you seen the portions in Club Europe? No danger of expanding waistlines in there.

sugarjoe

Discipline at hotel breakfasts - only fruit, yoghurt, cereals and trying to ignore the mouthwatering smell of fresh bacon.
I snack in the lounge but try to limit myself. I only eat in the lounge if it actually a meal time and try not to eat just because there is free food.
On board I try to avoid dinner on night flights to maximise sleeping time. If I didn't get a chance to eat before, I eat dinner but skip dessert. On day flights, I don't restrict myself.

I am not specifically trying to be disciplined with the booze, but I anyway don't sleep so well if I drank too much.

24Yukon24

On short flights within europe or US I never eat the snacks they are offering, so no prezels, cookies or waffels.
Longhaul I skip the meal if I am in Y and eat in lounge before the flights when I know that they have decent offerings like AMS and IST and the senator lounges aswell.
On Longhaul in C I always order vegetarian milkfree meals which are normallly very good.
Fruitmeal is also an option.
When flying Y I never order meals anymore as most airlines are now asking for extra payment and 15-30 euro is too much extra for the offerings.

I try to eat low carb and I am vegetarian.
I did not gain any weight since I started traveling that much 4 years ago.
I do a lot of sports and run marathon.

In hotels I never eat buns,rolls,pancakes,waffels or bread...
I order always eggs any stayle and add a lot of vegetables and a few fruits to them.
Sometimes a few nuts and a soya latte.

tng11

I have a high metabolism.

That said, I only tend to eat more than normal when I'm flying F and actually enjoying the food. Other times, I just try to avoid high-fat foods and too many carbs. I am terrible at exercising while travelling though, something I haven't quite had the discipline for.

rstruthe

Lots of exercise when travelling, walk as many places as possible, swim in the pool, don't just float, seems to keep the waistline under control.

dchristiva

I agree on the first point. Not so much on the second, but I definitely understand.

I try to go into every trip with a workout plan and a dietary plan. Given that I know the restaurant offerings in most of the airports I use, I can develop a pretty sensible strategy on where to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner, if that's going to be necessary en route. For the meals I eat with colleagues or clients, I either try to look at the restaurant menu online beforehand and make a healthy choice, or I try to stick to the "lighter fare" section or the salad section of the menu. I don't really bother even looking at the beef or pork selections. Sometimes there is a "special" that qualifies as "healthy", so I'll go with that.

I find that my success stems from sticking to a plan, both in terms of meals and workouts. I start to slip easily when I don't have a strategy.

Philatravelgirl

I order special meals on international flights - dairy free or low calorie. I also bring my own food where applicable as I have food allergy so eat only that food no chance of over eating. I will have a glass of wine. I walk everywhere and do steps whilst traveling. I rarely eat in the lounges

YuropFlyer

Basically, if there is trully great food offered (say, int'l first/business) I'll gladly "dig in" - fully knowing it's not healthy and will be more than what I should eat right now. However, it's not like overeating sometimes will destroy your body. In fact, if you manage to keep your overall intake on an average level, you won't gain weight just because you eat here and there too much.

So, by having every 5th meal with double what should be your intake, but choosing more healthy/smaller size portions on the other 4 meals, you'll perfectly be fine. Preferably the other 4 meals are on your own dime, ie you even save some money on that