How to Travel For Work and Keep Your Diet on Track


Susie Burrell

If you regularly jet set around the country for work you will know how difficult it can be to keep your diet on track. Plane food, airports, hotels and conferences just some of the locations which can make finding fresh, nutritious and carb controlled foods very difficult. So if you regularly spend a few days each week on planes and away from home, here are the simple ways to ensure your diet does not become the victim.

1) Start the day right

This may mean getting up at the crack of dawn to make sure you pack yourself a nutritious protein rich breakfast or being strong and saying no to the high fat pastry or banana bread offered on the first flight out in the morning but whatever you need to do to start the day right nutritionally do it. Failing to start the day with a filling breakfast option will leave you feeling unsatisfied and hungry for much of the day and is often the reason we are caught out overdoing the milk coffee, pastries and muffins during the day. Good breakie options when travelling include a homemade breakie wrap, tub of Greek yoghurt, breakfast smoothie or eggs enjoyed in the airport lounge or once you arrive at your event or hotel.

2) Take food on the plane

Most people eat the processed snacks on offer during domestic flights because they are hungry and there is nothing else. Imagine how many extra carbs, sugars and calories you are consuming over the course of the year this way. The solution here is simple - get into the habit of always packing a protein rich snack in your briefcase or handbag - cheese and crackers, nut bars and roasted broadbeans all travel well, are filling and will help you to say no to the poor quality snacks found in transit.

3) Order your daily salad

One of the major areas of your nutrition that comes undone when travelling is a lack of fresh foods - salads and vegetables that are hard to find when you are flying or visiting hotels. A simple trick to make sure that you get your leafy greens every day is to get into the habit of ordering a takeaway salad from your hotel each time you are away. Not only does this ensure that you have a nutritious lunch option, but it will also help to stop you finding yourself starving at an airport food court late in the day being tempted by pies, fast food and crappy snack food.

4) Only eat at meal times

Visit an airport at any time of the day or night and people will be eating whether it is a meal time or not. When travelling this often means that you will eat extra meals through the day. Keep strict with your regime and try and only eat at meal times. This will ensure you are actually hungry for proper meals and will help make the decision of whether to eat or not much easier.

5) Remember the supermarket

It is hard to find calorie controlled, healthy foods away from the home - food courts, airports, hotels and restaurants are filled with high calorie food choices which will result in weight gain when they are consumed too regularly. If you are a regular traveler, remember that every town and city has a supermarket. These can be the easiest and cheapest way to stock up on healthy food supplies no matter where you are. Tuna, crackers, soups and salads can be found anywhere and easily eaten so there are no excuses as to why you went through drive through again when you could have easily bought a salad and a tin of tuna for $7-8 and enjoyed a low calorie, protein rich, healthy lunch instead.

Susie Burrell

Category:Nutrition, Travel

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