Healthy Eating for Business Travelers – Part II

It’s challenging for the business traveler to eat healthy on the road or in the air.

In Part I (in January and more on healthy breakfasts review our blog on 1/26/12: Eating healthy can be a big challenge for businesspeople that do a lot of travelling.)  In today’s blog we’ll be talking about Strategies to keep in mind, and a few healthy snack choices to look for – choices packed with nutrition and a lighter fare. In Next month, in Part III we’ll cover lunches and dinners.  By the time we’re done, healthy eating for business travelers will be a bit easier and less confusing, plus you’ll have some strategies in place to help you when you need them most.

As you may recall we discussed how readily available junk food is for the business traveler on interstates and in airports.  The foods we discussed are laden with high fat content (35-90%), high in calories and simple carbohydrates that spike blood sugar, and very low in nutrition. – not a great combination when you’re a regular business traveler rushing from here to there, and sitting all day on a plane or in a car.

If you read Part I you know our first “rule of thumb” of healthy eating for the business traveler is to eat breakfast, but make sure it’s a healthy choice, and we said to concentrate on getting protein, eliminate sugary items, sweets, Danish and donuts.

One way to insure you’ll keep making healthy choices is to remember a little bit of focus and planning goes a long way. You need to develop strategies that will assist keeping you out of trouble from temptation, or just plain being at the mercy of whatever is available.  Here are some ideas to start you out.

 

DON’T:

…skip breakfast!  Can’t say that enough.  If you do you may get so hungry that you will eat the poor food choices, and perhaps too much of them.

…drink alcohol.  Alcohol will impair your willpower and your judgment, among other things.  Alcohol stops your body from burning fat too.  So if you’re watching your waist line the empty calories alcohol provides won’t help!

…go roaming about the airport food options “just to see” what they have available.

…go along with your co-workers to the eatery where you know it’s all fried, greasy and unhealthy.  Let them know you are watching what you eat for health reasons, or just say you’re not in the mood.

Stick up for yourself and don’t just follow the crowd feeling like a victim of their choices.

DO:

…pack a health bar, apple or something in your carry-on to tide you over in case you’re stuck somewhere where there truly are no healthy choices.

…make sure you are hydrated before you leave for the airport.  Often hunger pangs mean the body needs water.  Airport air can be dry and dehydrating, so drink up way before you get there.

…Speak up and ask for what you need at airport restaurants.  Often they will accommodate you.

…Go online if you aren’t familiar with the those airports you will leave from, do a plane change or arrive to.  Check out what restaurants and amenities they have available to you so that you can plan.

Now – what are the healthy airport snacks?  Here we’ll suggest a few.  It is a tough challenge for business travelers, to be sure, but more airports are providing a range of choices as you visit one eatery or another.  Let’s look at some good choices:

–Almonds (not coated with chocolate, Folks) – raw almonds, but even roasted is better than    nothing.

–Sunflower seeds have a high nutrition content.  Hopefully their bags are not old and stale.  Ask how long the bags have been in the shop.  Sunflower seeds can go bad, and there is      nothing worse when it’s rancid.

Many sandwich shops and delis in airports have:

*yogurt,

*cottage cheese,

*tuna salad in containers ready-made. 

*hard boiled eggs

*ready-made salads

While healthy eating for business travelers is a challenge, it can be done.  With practice and planning you’ll become a healthy choice champ!