Wish me luck, I've been counting calories religiously again for 4 days, so far so good.

BUT...now I have a business trip, I'll be gone starting tomorrow afternoon and returning Sat. around dinnertime. The biggest thing that has me nervous is that lunch (and a couple dinners) are including in the training I'll be at.

My plan: Eat a decent breakfast. Fill up on veggies/lower cal stuff at the free meals. Focus on salads and broth-based soups when I can choose my own entree. NO DESSERTS!!! That's the most important one, as sweet are a major trigger food for me. I also plan on working out at the hotel gym every night.

That being said, any other advice for me on how to deal with my first long trip while on a diet?

TIA,
Sara

Sara,

Well, there is only a couple of things I can personally think of that might help you get through you trip. I am not sure how much help I will actually be... but I will at least try to help.

1. Make sure you try and measure the items on your plate (preserved from the places you will be eating at or what have you) in your mind. It is going to be hard to be accurate because you won't be able to use cups.
2. Or, you can always eat half of each item on the plate and either take the other half back to your room for another time or throw it away. Most places we eat out at today actually serves twice the size of a serving or more. So this might be a good thing to do as well.
3. Don't forget your liquid calories! Those add up while you will least expect it!
4. If you feel you did good... don't deprive yourself of the desert! You might end up on a big binge later if you do that. Maybe have the desert and only eat a couple of bites and then let them take the rest of it away. DON'T take that back to your room because you will eat that first! Leave it at the table.

Well... I hope some of these ideas help you out while your on your trip! Enjoy your trip!

Sara, I travel a lot for my job and I know how difficult it is to eat healthy and get exercise. I decided that I was not going to be able to control all my eating, but that I could eat only the healthy stuff. I will be traveling three weeks out of four in October, so I'm trying to come up with some strategies. Here are some I've thought of.

Get a little purse size spiral notebook and write down everything you put in your mouth and every bit of exercise you do. Use it as a trip journal, and it will help you stay focused on what you want to accomplish.

If your hotel has a breakfast buffet, stay away from the bread stuff (waffles, pancakes, etc), avoid the bacon and sausage, and eat an egg or put mix some cereal with some yogurt. Take a banana with you to the training so you'll have a snack. If your room has a mini-fridge, you are in great luck because you can keep stuff in your room.

For the meals that they provide, if the chicken has a sauce ask for it without the sauce. Try to find out if you can get a vegetarian meal instead -- lots of places will do this if you ask in advance. (Although sometimes they just bring in a bunch of ham sandwiches -- then you're stuck. But just eat a half and skip the chips.) You might stock up on some snacks, like raisins or fruit when you get in and you can keep them in your purse.

If the hotel has a fitness room, you could do the treadmill early in the morning or immediately after your class, before you eat dinner. If the hotel has several floors, you could also walk the stairs. Depending on the neighborhood, you might be able to walk. Perhaps there will be others there who will join you for a walk?

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Dinah,

Great advice! You have got some really good ideas! I would have never of thought of half of those! As you seen in my post lol. Your post will be very helpful to many I am sure!

Dinah and Tracy,
Thanks for the advice. Good point on the liquid calories...I only drink diet pop and water, but I forgot ALCOHOL!! I'll have to keep it to one or two drinks the whole week. Dinah, I sure hope they have vegitarian options - I'm lacto-ovo myself! Not being able to eat a fatty entree might be the easy part!

I really do need to watch the desserts though, even when I wasn't dieting sweets would trigger a binge session. At least when I'm with others I have control, so half a dessert a couple nights might not kill me.

Thanks again, I'll let you know if I really screw up...at least the hotel gym should keep me in check!

--Sara