I do a fair amount of travelling, whether for work or pleasure. Over the years, I’ve learnt travelling can easily lay aside the best set intentions when it comes to your nutrition. With long hours, airports, networking dinners and social drinks it could be pretty easy to gain a few kilo’s without meaning to. However, with a little bit of will power, planning and determination, staying healthy and eating well while travelling is achievable – even if you’re eating out all the time.

I am often asked to share the tips and tricks I use to avoid gaining weight while travelling, without feeling deprived.

These can work for one off dinner meetings as well as for business events, conferences or work trips or travelling for pleasure.

Pick one meal of the day to ‘splurge’ on

I’m not sure about you, but in my experience, I’ve found that when travelling, on holidays or on business it’s pretty easy to justify eating a full cooked breakfast in the morning, a big buffet lunch followed by a large dinner with drinks. Even more so when someone else foots the bill!

While overindulging once in a while won’t cause problems for most people, allowing it to become a routine or daily occurrence is where the problem starts to arise.

I find that picking one meal to splurge out on a day can help avoid that. For example if you know you’ll be out socialising all evening over dinner with a few drinks then chances are that’ll be a bigger meal than you’d eat at home normally and end up being your splurge meal.

Try to have a lighter breakfast and lunch earlier in the day, don’t make too many trips to the buffet and maybe avoid the fried breakfast.

Don’t skip meals though!

Try something new

I love trying new foods when travelling and if possible try to eat in local style.

While working at a Conference in Belgium one year, my breakfast consisted of cheese, ham, nuts, a dark brown bread roll and fresh vegetables with a cup of tea.

A much healthier option than the typical fried eggs, sausage and bacon! Bonus points for adding vegetables to your breakfast.

Drink plenty of water

In a conference room or long business meeting it’s pretty easy to get dehydrated and forget to have a drink.

Keep a jug of water nearby to refill your glass and sip regularly. It can be easy to mistake thirst for hunger so it might just help stop you reaching for the biscuit tin.

Watch your Portion sizes

Especially if you are eating lots of courses during a meal, portion control can be tricky.

I know you want to (I’m terribly guilty of this), but you don’t HAVE to finish every single mouthful on your plate and end up with a bellyache.

I’ve been there done that and it’s not fun!

Being mindful and intentional with your meals, it could help to use the hunger fullness scale in this situation to keep you on track.

Don’t forget about alcohol!

Alcoholic drinks are often accompanied by tasty little snacks like nuts, chips, popcorn or pretzels which can easily be munched on without actually taking notice of how much is consumed.

Whether you are travelling on a plane or networking over drinks, alcohol can quickly leave you dehydrated. Make sure to drink plenty of water between drinks to keep you hydrated and avoid extra energy intake.

Keep active

Walking is a great way to stay active when you are travelling.

Rather than taking a taxi to a conference or meeting, if you are within close vicinity, try walking instead.

A distance of 1-2km will take 20-30 minutes to walk at a comfortable pace and if you are in a new city too you might also get to see some of the sights on the way!

Gemma

Eating well while travelling