[Happy Canada Day! Today I'm in Canada's Capital for the occasion. I'll post pictures Monday]
The Business of Eating Healthy for Business Travel
Eating nutritiously while traveling may seem like an impossible challenge, especially for you business travelers out there. If you’re travelling for pleasure, indulging in less-than-balanced cuisine may be just the treat you were looking forward to, so enjoy, but try to be mindful to enjoy in moderation. However, for the business traveler who is regularly on the road, it’s much, much more important to have a plan of attack.
Lack of Routine Lack of routine is a huge culprit here. For the business traveller, it’s often numerous meetings, hurriedly navigating an unfamiliar city, grabbing whatever food is convenient or dining clients with rich foods and drinks.
How to Avoid Nutrition Traps on your Travels Eat Healthy When Eating Out You don’t have to order steak just because you’re at a steak house! Your heart will thank you for it. Learn to choose healthier menu choices while still enjoying great tasting food. Some tips:
- Look for the entrées that are described as: grilled, baked, steamed, or broiled.
- Avoid dishes that are fried, sautéed, crispy, rich, and au gratin. These are code words for high in fat.
Beware of Fast Food In fact, try to avoid it all cost. Time constraints make this “cuisine” all too appealing, but try to find alternatives as often as possible. If you absolutely must eat fast food, here are some tips:
- Opt for smaller portion sizes.
- Choose healthier side items such as salads instead of fries.
- Drink water instead of pop.
- Skip heavy condiments such as mayonnaise, bacon and dressing that add extra calories.
Watch What you Drink A glass of wine with dinner is a reasonable expectation for most, but it's the calories in the pre and post-dinner drinks that can put you over the top. Being in a foreign city, travelers often have no where left to go at the end of a day, which means dinner and drinks can stretch on for hours. Some tips:
- Avoid those pre-dinner cocktails or post-dinner binges
- Space Your Drinks: alternate a drink of water, juice or soda between your alcoholic beverages to limit your consumption.
Eat Breakfast Most people give a variety of reasons for not eating breakfast. A common reason is that they are not hungry in the morning, which is usually a result of eating a full meal late in the evening or late snacking. Whatever your reason for not having time for breakfast, change it! Starting with a good breakfast boosts your energy and readiness for the day ahead. Skipping breakfast causes low blood sugar, low energy, and decreased work productivity. Some tips:
- Try having some fruit, healthy bars, or small pots of yogurt on-hand for a quick breakfast on the go.
- Avoid relying on those unhealthy pastries awaiting you at your conference or meeting.
- If you are trying squeeze in some extra work pre-meeting, multitask and do work at breakfast.
Be sure to check out previous Healthy on the Road posts to learn more about the advantages of being of being active while traveling, as well as the health benefits of eating well on the road. Healthy on the Road posts are published on the first Thursday of every month and written by our resident health consultant, Leah Munday, owner of OTfit.ca.
--- Get more travel tips and updates like this by subscribing to RSS or email. ---
[photo by UggBoy]