spideysense

Staying in nice hotels and flying premium exposes a traveller to a lot of food one normally wouldn't eat. Further, sitting for long periods of time, as well as lacking energy for the gym due to jet lag, results in fewer calories burned. How do you seasoned travellers manage to control your weight? It's hard to say no to the steaks and desserts when you're sitting bored on a plane and in the hotel room.

I'm 6'2 and 170 pounds normally, but whenever I travel, I end up putting on a nice chunk of fat! It takes me weeks of hardcore gymming and eating veggies to get back to normal.

I guess my question is, how do you maintain discipline when travelling?

MoreMilesPlease

Check out the Travel Health and Fitness forum.

gfunkdave

One of the best bits of advice I've heard is to remind yourself that "this is not a special occasion." You don't need wine and three courses for dinner.

Other than that, I try to keep processed food to a minimum and not to eat if I'm not hungry.

WhiteOut

I lost 30 lbs last year by doing these things -- pretty simple actually:

At Home:
1 -- cut everything in half. I work from home, so my routine was 2 eggs, 2 toasts, coffee. i cut that to 1 egg, 1 toast, coffee. for lunch, i used one piece of bread to make my sandwich, cut it in half, and ate that with 1/2 an apple, and maybe 1/2 a yogurt. If I'm still hungry i finish the yogurt and drink a full glass of water/crystal light.

2 -- whatever the label says is a serving, that's what i eat. (if it says about 13 chips, i count out 13 chips rather than just sinking my face into the bag like i used to.

3 -- drastically reduced intake of carbonated drinks, even diet. drink a lot more water.

4 -- for the afternoon sugar crave, a small cup of coffee/water, and a half cup of trail mix or just some nuts/dried fruit.

On the road:
--stay away from rolls/bagels/waffles at the breakfast bar. I stick to an egg and maybe a small bowl of fruit or some oatmeal (it sticks to you).

--at dinner -- when i order, i request a to-go box with my dinner. when the plate arrives, before i take a bite, i cut everything on the plate in half.

--late night munchies -- if it's a 3-4 day road swing, i stop at a grocery on day one and buy a small box of cereal something like shredded wheat or wheat checx that i can eat on the run thru the day's appts. I'll do this instead of a McD stop plus I dont McSmell at my 1 pm appt.

i tend to be a late night guy so many times i'll hit the treadmill as late as 10-11 pm...if i do, once i chill/shower, i might grab a milk before bed.

hope these help.

JY1024

+1 :-:

Hi fellow FTers! Did you know that FlyerTalk actually has a forum dedicated to Travel Health and Fitness? Well, we do! It was created in February 2011 and has gotten off to a great start.

Like spideysense, many members are on the road every once in a while. And let's be honest, because we're good FTers, we have access to the calories/food/beverages in airline lounges, business/first class travel, hotel clubs, etc. If you're like me and have very little will-power, staying healthy can be tough!

So when you get a chance, check out the Travel Health and Fitness forum: share your tips, learn tips from others, and commiserate with your fellow FTers.

(We'll leave this thread here in TravelBuzz for just a little longer, but we'll then ship it off to the more appropriate forum for further discussion. Thanks!)

/JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

Ancien Maestro

This thread outlines my dillemma exactly..

I've started not including breakfast buffets where I can.. because I'm usually not hungry in the morning, and if I start eating more than I need to, I start feeling like the Good Year Blimp..

A nice big lunch and salad for supper is suffice, but who's kidding whom.. I like to go for the nice steak at supper..

Santander

Fortunately I'm mainly in relatively hot places for work (Live in HKG, lots of trips to NRT, TPE, PEK) but I've lived most of my life in cold climate (Russia, Scotland, Canada) so especially in the summertime the profuse sweating outside takes care of any excess weight I would normally gain! I am guilty of overeating at hotels, airports and planes as well. It's taken me a long time to get the discipline to limit myself at the hotel breakfast and not try to finish the entire C meal on a flight (I seriously think it's such a waste to serve that much food... just reduce the meal size and bring a few more snack-type food).

I try to follow the same rules I do as I do at home though once I actually get there. I only eat until I no longer feel hungry instead of trying to fill my stomach completely at once. Walking instead of driving for relatively short distances is a big thing too.

obscure2k

Please continue to follow this discussion in the Travel Health and Fitness Forum.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

kipper

Things that can ehlp you increase your activity to keep burning calories:

• Rather than sitting at the gate, waiting for a flight, walk around the terminal.
• Avoid the moving walkways, and walk. I usually pick someone on the moving walkway and push myself to keep up with them.

Other things that can help:

• Drink tons of water.
• When dining out, cut every meal in half, and place it in a to-go box. If you don't have a fridge at your hotel, simply "forget" the box at the restaurant.
• If the restaurant has healthy appetizers, order one of those, rather than an entree.
• Send the bread basket back immediately.
• Always keep some fresh fruit on hand.

When I'm not at home, I'll usually try to eat a big, but healthy breakfast. I'll double up on oatmeal, Cheerios, or eggs, will have a cup of yogurt, and some fruit. I'll also usually grab a piece or two of fruit from breakfast to take with me, or a cup of yogurt (or both).

Breakfast will usually suffice until about 2 or 3, and at that point, I'll have the fruit and/or yogurt. That serves as my lunch, and also means that at a normal dinner time, I won't be very hungry, so I'll take more time to consider my menu options, rather than just quickly selecting something because I'm hungry.

aztimm

This is probably one of the best pieces of advice.^

If you don't do it at home, don't do it while traveling. Sure some things may make travel a little easier...if you have an upset stomach, get a ginger ale...but get it with ice.

I'll second the bits about keeping your protein higher. When I see a breakfast buffet, the first thing I go for is eggs. When looking for dinner, I get something that has chicken and veggies--or a dinner salad (with chicken or even salmon) makes a great option.

I used to know a guy who insisted on using stairs when he was on the road. When checking in, he'd find out where they were, and other than the initial luggage drop, he'd always use stairs (up to a reasonable level, maybe 5 floors).

If you exercise at home, try to keep up the routine while traveling. I select hotels specifically for their gym, their affiliations with nearby gyms, or their proximity to running trails. I'm a member of a large gym with locations near many of the places I frequent.

When on long flights I try to get up once an hour, whether I need to or not. Walk around the cabin a little bit, visit the lav, get some water, etc.

SkiAdcock

Some great tips!

Cheers.

Ancien Maestro

Yes, great tips!

I'm finding myself to eat relatively healthy, but by the time all that hard work watching the diet and calories is all said and done.. comes dessert and the biggest and fattest ice cream dessert I can dream of is ordered.. and down it goes mmm..

I gotta stop that.

It'sHip2B^2

I agree with the "this is not a special occassion" sentiments. You have to think about it just like you are at home. You still eat, sleep, and shower on the road. You should also work out when you are on the road. I try to keep the same schedule. I normally head to the basement after dinner to work out. So I do the same thing at the hotel. Sometimes you have to do a slightly different workout based on what is available at the hotel's workout facility. But that can be a good thing.

I stay mainly at Hamptons and Embassy Suites. I've found they usually have some type of fruit out most of the day. Those are the things that I will snack on. I try to eat more healthful options at breakfast. I plan my lunches and dinners ahead of time. If I look at the menu ahead of time, pick something healthy, never look at the menu in the restaurant, and always order first I make better decisions.

annerj

I'm off the road for a while...it looks like it could be a long while if everything works out.

I'm hoping that eating will be a bit easier at home and I notice a different in weight.

Keep your fingers crossed

kipper

I take it being off the road for a while is good?