Healthy eating on the road
 

I'm interested in compiling tactics frequent flyers employ to eat healthy food while on the road.

This could include healthy options at national fast casual places, or other "food hacks" you've come across.

The Chipotle salad is definitely in my regular arsenal. I typically get double protein if I'm eating post-workout.

Another option is Pei Wei. You can make their rice dishes better by substituting brown rice, getting steamed chicken and adding extra veggies. This is probably not the place for you if you're managing sodium intake though.

What do you eat when trying to keep healthy/fit?

Food hacks:

• Eat less
• Take fiber supplements
• Avoid fried foods
• Avoid desserts
• Avoid alcohol

That should do it for many; airline and fast casual meals tend to be reasonably portioned.

As to alcohol, many people are unaware that it is outrageously high in calories.

Recently, when traveling in many rural locales where there are not many things other than fast food restaurants for quick bites, I have found myself traveling to Wendy's for their salads. I have been in restaurants all over the country and have found the veggies uniformly fresh in each location.

I think my favorite so far is the Asian with chicken, but,whatever the flavor, after you eat a salad you have earned a frosty

I tend to avoid restaurants when traveling for work. Much better to hit up an up-scale grocery store. Whole Foods, Wegmans, something like that.

Multiple options, including soup and salad bar. Deli and bakery (make your own sandwich with lean meat and whole grain rolls). Sushi rolls of various types. and so on...

Combine this with preferring hotels that have a fridge in the room. Can do more grazing instead of full, heavy meals. Can also have high protein stuff after a workout.

I will be eating well at this function:
http://en.salon-agriculture.com/
Healthy French food and lots of red wine of course.
Then a trip to Amsterdam...

Jamba Juice has steel cut oatmeal. Also sugar free smoothies.

Cheers. Sharon

I eat much more salad on the road than I do at home. Free yogurt from the hotel for breakfast (whatever the low cal version they have is) and then I usually stock up on a few bananas either from the hotel or from a grocery store to have as snacks during the day to avoid the temptation of using per diem / expense to just buy junk when I'm hungry between meals (really easy to do when you aren't paying for things).

Also avoiding restaurants that give free bread or other things to snack on while waiting for your meal. When I first started traveling M-Th that was my big downfall - I had to start limiting myself to at most 1 sit-down meal a week in order to avoid the temptation.

Having a fridge in the room is big too. I was on a project in the middle of nowhere with Chipotle and Subway being the only real options in town. Thankfully we were right across the street from us was a WalMart and grocery store so I used to stock up on lean cuisines and have those quite often (not as healthy as fresh food but better than some of the other junk I'd been eating).

Regular exercise is also key for healthy eating on the road. Even if it is just one mile on the treadmill it can make a big difference over the long run.

Agree. And even if one is staying at a property that doesn't have a health club/fitness room, walking up & down the hallways or up/down stairs (making sure you can get back into the hallways) comes in handy. One time I took a bump at LHR & was put up in a limited service brand that had no health club. It had long corridors & wings, so I walked the hallways for "x" amount of time.

Also agree w/ the fridge if there is one & a store is nearby where one can stock up on a few things. I did that one time when I was stuck for 2 days at LAX when ORD shut down due to weather. Before I returned the rental car I went to a grocery store & got great things from the deli & made that part of my meals.

Cheers. Sharon

Back in the days when I had Marriott status and could go to the lounge, I would assemble a breakfast of egg whites (from the hard boiled eggs) and oatmeal with a little brown sugar.

Any hints on eating good in Germany. It seems every meals has some form of French fries. The protein is within my diet but the side dishes don't seem to do it for me. While I could avoid them altogether the alternative is to dismiss them and just eat the protein. In the past I tried to order vegetables as a substitute but what I get is less than appetizing.

But really,really nice.:D

I kind of find the healthy eating challenges really different depending if I'm travelling for business or leisure and where I'm travelling to.

I find that I generally don't eat as much when travelling (except when cruising :D). We're doing so much walking that I'm drinking as much water and gatorade as I can.

I also find it hard to keep up with the fruits, veg, and leafy greens when travelling. Ideally, if our accommodations includes breakfast, we try to get some fruits and salad in during that meal. While I hate paying for an overpriced salad, I'll try to ensure a side of veg or bite the bullet for a side salad a part of a main dish during lunch and dinner.

I think of vacations where we ate like royalty yet lost weight during the trip. Part of it was surely the amount of walking we did, but cuisine had to be a big factor, too.

Japan leads the list. Hard to go wrong with real Japanese food.

Spain was surprisingly high up there, too, despite the amount of fried food we had. I guess the seafood and the portion sizes balanced things out (we mixed multiple Spanish cuisines every trip, so I can't say it was due to one region's food or another).

Thailand has been a mixed bag for me. Some trips, I've done very well (particularly when sticking with traditional cuisines), whereas on others, I've gained a bit of weight.

In the US, travel is rough for me nutrition-wise. I tend to want to visit craft breweries and have a lot of beer, and food tends to involve a lot of carbs and fats.

On the road typically means work. Largely, you need a job that gives you some actual time to eat well. Otherwise, my biggest tip is to do whatever you can to eat at a normal time. When you eat at 830 at night when you're hungry as hell with an unlimited amount of money to spend you add a lot of calories.

I would recommend ordering "blatt salat" as a side instead of vegetables. Blatt Salat is a leafy green salad that is tossed in an olive oil/vinegar dressing. Sometimes it comes with pickled vegetables, but usually very good. You can also order this as a main meal with a protein. Unfortunately, in my experience living here, ordering vegetables hasn't been pleasant or it comes in an herby cream sauce (which is not appetizing in my opinion). If you can go to a store/market and buy the fresh fruits and vegetables, as it's much tastier! :) In my experience it can be hard to eat out and find what you're are looking for in the winter. The dining experience in the summer time in Germany is much better with tastier options!