Food Choices while on the road

I'm going to be traveling for work over the next 4 months. Today I had breakfast at a Denny's -- even the best choices were still tough. 

Ordering without butter and substitutes -- still the food came dripping in fat :(

I'm not looking forward to this coming period.  I think I will have to try places that are not so "fast food" oriented - or perhaps try to get a hotel with a kitchen. Although that is so sad to be in the hotel room all the time.

Maya Nelson

You've got my sympathy as I often find myself travelling for work.  It's important to do your research and be a demanding customer...  Denny's 'best choice' could end up being a couple of boiled eggs and a slice of toast rather than anything more elaborate.   Sandwich shops (or even Subway) are better than fast food places for a lunch because it's not 'fries with everything'.  And for the evenings, avoid chains like the plague because they can only heat stuff up.  The better & more independent the restaurant, the more flexible the chef... even if you have to personally ask them to make you an omelette and green salad which isn't on the menu.   (I'm assuming you'll be reimbursed... no need to penny-pinch?).  Treat yourself to some nice fruit for your hotel room in the evening.... and ask the management to empty your mini-bar.. 

Flip-side is that a lot of hotels have good gyms and swimming pools.  So even if the food choices aren't ideal you can offset it a little with more exercise.

When I travel on business, I have to reset my thinking to treating restaurants as something other than a "special treat" (since I tend to only go out when I am at home for a splurge).  Obviously, when business traveling, you can't splurge on every meal and stay at all healthy.

I usually plan to eat breakfast in my hotel room or in the hotel coffee shop.  They often have pretty healthy choices like oatmeal, poached eggs, fruit plates.  They are overpriced, but I figure I am not paying for it anyway.

Lunch I usually try for a salad bar or a bowl of soup and a half sandwich.

Dinner I usually splurge a little, but often stick to appetizer portion as my main, along with a salad or a bowl of soup.

But, the real trick is to walk everywhere I can, and take the stairs whenever I can, and to avail myself of whatever exercise rooms the hotel has. 

I can usually maintain, but seldom am successful at losing when I travel a lot.

Get creative and seek out grocery store options for your lunches and perhaps breakfasts. This way you know exactly what youre getting and can see if there is any bad ingredients like HFCS in stuff. Get fresh fruit, premade salads, sandwiches, veggies and hummus, premade sushi, lean meats, cans of tuna, ect. This will help you out with some of your meals at least. Good luck.

If you ever at IHOP (seems like a popular choice for business travel), a good thing to order is the harvest N grain pancakes. Just make sure to say no syrup and butter on a side. Otherwise it comes drowning in syrup and butter. Half a portion makes for a nice breakfast, and second half for a nice next day breakfast. lol.

I also suggest smaller restaurants over big chains.

UD

Education is your best ally. 

I have found in searching the fast food or chain retaurants websites that most have an acceptable, lower call, healthier offering, you just have to know what it is.  Most have salads with grilled chicken, then you need to take your own dressing or use their lower calorie versions.  Subway is always a good choice and you can get baked chips or apple slices with your low fat sandwich.  Soups are often a good choice and the comment about smaller, appetizer sized portions is excellent.

My suggestion is to plan ahead, see what is available nearby, and then educate yourself and plan what you are going to order before you get to the restautant.

I really agree with what ncurlee says... Find some chains that offer healthier options.  Or find some options at a variety of chains that are healthy.  And try to stick with those.

When eating in an unknown restaurant (and possibly one that doesn't publish their nutrition information), I tried to stick to things like steak, chicken, salmon, all without sauces or gravies.  A salad (with a healthy dressing on the side), or rice and veggies can be a good add-on.  The protein portions are often excessive, so they can be saved as a doggy-bag for another day, if you chose.

As far as breakfasts go, personally I'd bring along (or purchase) a box of Kashi cereal and some milk (assuming you have a fridge available).  Or I'd go with protein/meal replacement shakes.  I've done both these in the past, and they worked well for me.  I would usually pre-pack both of them in individual servings, so in the morning it was quick and easy.  You could also pick up some fruit to go along with them.  As well, many sandwich chains (like Subway, pita places, etc) offer a breakfast sandwich with egg, cheese, and veggies.  Personally, I found that when I started eating those, I stopped losing weight, even though I was still at the same number of calories.  Not sure if my body just didn't like the extra carbs from a big hunk of bread so early in the morning or what.

Clint

I like what mindunrest said.  Grocery stores are almost as ubiquitous as fast food chains, and can be easier on your wallet as well as your belly too.  You could purchase several boxes of cold cereal and instant hot cereals, single-servings of milk or shelf-stable milk, and fresh fruit for your breakfasts.  For lunch you can have freshly-made sandwiches, roasted chicken, or fresh-baked bread and soups.  Some also have premade salads and veggie platters.  And for any emergency meal, instead of having last-minute McDonald's drive-through, you can have microwavable soup or those premade pastas on the grocery store shelves.

Also for breakfast you can make your own oatmeal in a hotel room coffee pot...

UD

A great way to eat breakfast on the road is Oatmeal packets. The coffee machines have a spigot at the top that puts out hot water. I carry oatmeal packets so I can grab a styrofoam coffee cup, toss in my oatmeal (and for those of you that like it nuked they usually don't mind you tossing it in their micro)and then I just eat it from the cup.

Most convenience stores are selling fruit too. Pricey but it will help your nutritional intake.

If not just grab a little V8 or OJ (just don't over do the high cal juice).

Plus I would add, just because you aren't eating at a chain doesn't mean you can't eat "out". Grab some grub like they mentioned above then go to a park or any where else people are out and about that you can bring your own food. You can take your food and eat at a food court in a mall. Who's going to tell you no there?  Plus you'll get a little exercise getting to it!

My job requires me to travel out 2 days a week. I also found it difficult to order healthy. Especially, when your rushing around, and do not have much time for a sit down meal. 

Something that helped me was to pack as much of my food as I could from home. I take protein powder pre-measured in baggies (I mix it in a hotel glass with water), instant steel cut oats w/o sugar (take a plastic spoon and use hot water from the room coffee pot), single servings of almonds, a couple of apples and a meal replacement bar. 

At the airport, I found skinny smoothies work well to keep up energy w/o all the calories, if I do not have time to stop for a clean protein and veggie plate.

Good luck and safe travels

Thank you everyone for all the great advice.  Yes - I'll be on an expense account, so I think I can make it to some places that shouldn't mind special orders.  I may be traveling to Philly, which is difficult for me, because many of my favorite restaurants are there.

I like the advice about getting a hotel with kitchen - I'll try that or even perhaps a B&B.

Maya Nelson

i have that problem when im working in the field. i try to eat out of the grocery store, not the restaurants or the convenience stores. yes, a room with a kitchenette would be the best. most hotels i stay in have at least have plain oatmeal, milk, and bananas out for breakfast. subways are eveywhere in a pinch.

I'm back on the road again, too.....

So many tempting things I haven't had in a while.  So I keep counting and compensate for egregious underestimates by walking as much and as far as I can before and after work. Today I'll post a small deficit despite having a 5 course Basque restaurant lunch (which became dinner too, as leftovers).  As a general rule I work from a cheat sheet in my wallet for restaurant meal calories, but when I venture off into fattoush salad or sicilian calamari in red sauce I have to estimate the best I can by the type of dish and volume served.

I keep a few packs of instant oatmeal stashed in my suitcase to mix with fat-free yogurt. The other day I even made some oatmeal using hot coffee, for a kind of mocha effect.  These snack/meals are 150-200 calories, low in fat and high in fiber, and easy to make in a coffee cup.  I used to do the same with cuponoodles, but got tired of the high sodium.