staying on track while travelling
 

In a couple weeks I head out for my 20yr class reunion. While I had hoped to lose some weight before this reunion, that's not happening. But the least I can do is not derail while on vacation.

I will be travelling alone, which means I will be souly responsible for what/when I eat. Although, I will be visiting with lots of old friends and there are several parties and events to go to.

I will be living out of hotel rooms. And while I plan to take advantage of the local facilities as well as lots of sight seeing which will hopefully keep me active, I won't have easy access to planned meals. I am trying to stay at hotels that have in room fridge/microwave so I can try to have some meals there and plan ahead that way.

I know I will have to remain focused and not give into temptations. But I'm still struggling with finding my new way of eating that is going to work for me.

This is also one of the first vacations like this where i"m really taking it alone. No hubby, no friends staying with me. I'm going to be visiting with people who I haven't seen in 20yrs. While facebook has brought us together, seeing them in person is going to be weird.

My advice would be to look at restaurants in the area that you could possible go to and look at their nutritional information. If you can plan your meals that way, it could help. Also, keep snacks in your room so if you do go out to the events, you can fill up on healthy snacks before leaving. I keep nuts, protein bars, etc. in my luggage when I travel.

Have fun at your reunion!

I, too, am going on vacation around mid-July. I cannot afford to pork on a bunch of weight because I am a very slow loser, so if I end up gaining 5lbs I"ll be going postal on someone!

I also will not have the in room fridge or micro, I bid on priceline and got a killer deal at the Sheraton though so I"m not too bummed, lol

I am planning to stay OP about 90%, I get way, way more exercise while on vacay than at home. I am a bit stymied as to what to bring, aside from packing for the kids. Esp breakfast stuff. I will be bringing Zone bars, and almonds for myself. Possibly string cheese and/or apples as well. But highly perishables like cottage cheese are out of the quesrtion.. and since I have never stayed in this city before I have no idea if my hotel is beside a convenience store or what? I know its connected to PATH and there's a starbucks inside (yay) but as for easy healthy snacks?

We'll probably do fast food almost every meal, but I'll be getting a salad , or going to subway and skipping the mayo etc. It shouldn't be too bad bc I want to overeat less when I'm hot (and T dot is notorious for being hot and humid, ugh ) Wolfing down fries and a big mac is not appetizing for me when you could fry an egg on my forehead.. lol

I hope others have some travel tips too, eating healthy while traveling.. I am flying as well so can't pack a crapload of stuff. Just a few breakfast or snackey ideas would be good.

Yeah, I'm doing the whole Planes, trains and automobiles thing. Flying into NYC, but taking the train into an area more local to where I'll be staying so I don't have to try and deal with NYC traffic.

Geeze - just the idea of having to grab a cab to get from my first night's hotel over to Grand Central has me a bit freaked, as I'm not a city girl and know nothing about public transit. But I am putting my big girl panties on and doing this!

Well I've been to NYC a couple times and one thing I like about it is all the walking.

If i'm traveling, I'll make sure my hotel room has a fridge so I can have breakfast in my room. I also just generally watch portions and try to get in as much natural exercise as I can.

Nelie - walking from Laguardia to Grand Central with suitcase and laptop bag ... not happening .... :)

I haven't been into NYC since I was 10yrs old (other than to drive thru it a few times in my early 20's).

chnkymonkey - I hope you get a chance to explore NYC a bit, but it sounds like you are passing through there on your way to the reunion.

You can get quite a bit of exercise exploring. I often walk from Midtown manhattan (around 42nd Street) to Greenwich Village and it's not that far, maybe 2.2 miles. The north/south blocks are 20 to a mile, but the east/west avenues is a longer walk and are about 4 avenues for a mile.

Once you orient yourself to North-South-East-West, it's hard to get horribly lost. But there are billions of cabs to bail you out if you do.

The grid system of NYC is somewhat confusing, especially with the diagonals, so you might want to get directions at the hotel.

Whenever I visit NYC, I get such a charge of energy. The city is amazing. I hope you get a chance to enjoy it. Even simply walking through Times Square would be an entertaining.

My first day there is flexible, as I haven't scheduled my train ticket out of town yet but want to take advantage of off peak train ticket prices and, of course I'll be running around town with luggage in tow, not to easy to do. I'll have my weekend, plus laptop/camera/purse bag.

Granted, I could extend my stay in NYC one more day and take a day off car rental too. I'll have to give that some consideration.

I fly in midnight on a Wed/thurs and staying local to the airport that first night and had planned to make my way to my end destination on Thursday. But I could always stay 2 nights near laguardia and spend Thursday in the city. Its just one less day of visiting my old friends.

Chnkymonkey, avoid cabs, if you can. They're expensive. I only take them if 1) I'm sharing it with a bunch of friends & some of us are, to put it politely, slightly impaired & have killer heels on; 2) it's raining & my arms are full of packages & I cannot possibly get where I'm going any other way.

From LaGuardia to Grand Central Terminal, you could take a shuttle bus much more cheaply than a cab. Look up these on the Web:

- New York Airport Service Express Bus:
The fare is $10, which you pay in cash to the bus driver. The busses operate once every twenty to thirty minutes between 6:45am and midnight. For exact schedules call (718) 875-8200. The trip is 40 minutes to an hour and there are several stops in Manhattan:

- Express Shuttle USA (formerly Gray Line): One-way fare is $13. The busses run from 7am to 11:30 pm to locations in Manhattan from 23rd to 96th Streets. When you arrive at the airport, go to the ground transportation desk. A shuttle bus will come to pick you up within twenty minutes of your arrival. For exact schedules call (212) 315-3006 or (800) 451-0455.

- SuperShuttle: (800) BLUE VAN (258-3826). Haven't taken them but friends speak well of them.

Because I can be really, really cheap when I set my mind to it, if I am traveling via LaGuardia without much luggage but a sweater over my arm & a carryon, I will actually take the subway up to 125th street & then grab (I think it's the M60) bus which goes across 125th & ends up in LaGuardia. (I've done this most recently when flying to Oklahoma City for a long weekend.) Total cost is just subway fare, since the transfer to the bus is taken care of. But that's cut-throat cheap. Columbia students do it that way.

And I realized my post has little to do with keeping you on plan during your visit.

Okay, the first thing I'd do is skip the fast food. Don't eat at any of those places. Instead, go to the large delis with upstairs seating in Midtown & the Theater District, where the office workers & actors & stage hands & etc. actually pick up their lunches. (You know, the real people.) You'll see steam tables in the background with hot food & lots of cold food, too. These are basically gigantic salad bars. You can get a plastic container & tray & make up a salad, weigh it, and then carry it out to eat in your hotel room or in their sitdown places. (Which generally lack for atmosphere.) This is my favorite way to get a healthy lunch quickly in this area. My favorite salad bar of all time is in the Whole Foods grocery stores. But there isn't one of those in midtown. (There will be in Union Square, if you emerge there from the Nos. 4, 5, or 6subway in the Village.)

If you run or walk at all, & you are staying near Central Park, I'd recommend a morning run or walk in the park, particularly along the reservoir. (Many years ago, you might have found yourself running beside Jackie Kennedy & her Secret Service agents.) You will see people out on their daily runs on the more residential streets, and also a lot of people going for bike rides. (Watch out for the delivery guys on the bikes, though.) There are designated bike lanes in a lot of areas.

The other thing to peruse, just for curiosity's sake, is all the second-floor fitness centers with glass windows, so people are exercising just above your head. In the Union Square area, you can, if so inclined, count the number of yoga studios as you pass them by. (10 points for Jivamukti, 20 points for a Lululemon store.)

Also, if you want motivation to stay on plan, look around you in the store windows. Saef has been known to be pissed off on Madison Avenue upon discovering that, after losing over 100 pounds, the salesclerk still pulls size L & XLs for me to try on. (Whatever happened to vanity sizing? Not in those shops, sadly!!!)

Thanks Saef. Actually, I was looking into a shuttle from the hotel to the station. Its like $12+ for the shuttle and $18 for the train (off peak) into CT where I pick up my car. On the way back I thought about just taking a shuttle direct from CT into Laguardia for $68 in order to save the hassle of getting from the station to the airport. Its more than double, but might be worth it. Then again, I have a later flight out so that I wasn't rushed to get back into NYC for a flight. I've almost missed flights before from the traffic getting to the airport and being on a shuttle.

I know this has strayed away from the diet issue, but I appreciate the advice on all things.

Once I'm out of the city, I'll be in smaller towns with your run of the mill options. I'm hoping to find a nice local grocery with a salad bar or something. Or at least with deli salads that I can pick up for dinners a couple nights. And I think the hotel I'm staying at will have a breakfast bar so I can get fruit, yogurt or toast with peanutbutter and still stay semi on plan. (that's given I have a plan by then). And of course if fast food is my option, there's always subway veggie sub, or salad at one of the other joints.

And I hope to try to reserve some calories for the consumption of adult beverages at the reunion. I'm going to need a drink or two to take the edge off. The nice thing about dieting though - I cut out alcohol (not that I'm a drinker anyway) so 1 drink will get me tipsy and 2 will be my limit. I'm a light beer drinker or rum and diet coke.

But - if you all keep up these ideas for NYC, I may very well stay in NYC for a day or two before heading into CT for the reunion. You are making me want to stay there and get lost in the city.

Chnkymonkey, I work in Stamford, right next to the border of Greenwich, so let me think on this a little.

In that area, Super Stop n' Shops and A&P Fresh grocery stores have decent salad bars. The Trader Joe's that I know in that area is in Darien.

I'm not as familiar with the rest of CT, since I pretty much just work there all day & leave, but I do know New Haven a little.

Best wishes on a happy & healthy trip.

Alright quick and dirty for fast food/major chain restaurants

Panera bread- Lots of good choices, not a lot of added crap

Subway- Obvious

Chilis- The margharita grilled chicken is super taste and 530 calories

Applebees- has the 550 menu and is yummy

Quizno's- check out the sammies and torpedos you can get 2 for about 400-500 calories if you are careful

Arbys- skip the salads they are horrid the Roast chicken ranch sandwich has 320 calories in it and is very very tasty

I could go on but those are generally availible in most places :)

since you are alone, that makes it a little easier since you can decide where to eat. Try to stick to simple things, grilled chicken and fish, skip the fries, salads.

I think the parties and get togethers are more peer pressure than temptations. You'll see everyone else around you eating junk food, maybe drinking and they'll see you with just carrot and celery sticks and water and might question if you are on a diet.