[Jack Of All Trades]

Hi Guys,

Just like some input about getting my health in order while working out of town. I travel constantly for work, staying in a town/city for 2-3 days to 3 weeks at once. Work long days, and don't have a kitchenette. I also don't carry much stuff because we switch trucks and equipment a lot. I'm a apprentice in the trades so I get switched around with different journeyman and their trucks. So far my plan is just to eat subway everyday, I usually eat cold cuts or turkey with all the veggies and mustard and drink water.

I haven't been watching my health closely, I've been getting pretty fat eating the per diem money and spending it on dinners at restaurants everyday, this really has to change.

I'm looking for advice to eat healthier and ways to lose weight. I guess I could always go cold turkey and start eating raw vegetables.

[The Reactionary Tree]

Are you exercising while you travel? Your diet of turkey sandwiches, veggies, and water doesnt sound that unhealthy to be honest.

[Isaac Jordan]

I worked in Big Ag for two years, and would frequently spend 1-2 weeks at a time out in the country selling chemicals to farmers. If you're in a bigger city you'll have access to gyms/rec centers and restaurants with higher quality fare than standard fast food joints, but in the country things can get tricky. Here's my advice:

-Don't drink your calories. Unsweetened tea and diet sodas are acceptable, but it's hard to go wrong with water.

-Stay away as much as possible from fast or processed food. In some small towns where you won't have a choice, try to find a Subway. They do salads, and you can request one be made with all spinach (much healthier than that iceberg crap). Top it with a bunch of veggies, some ham/turkey and oil/vinegar. Healthiest fast food meal out there.

-Most major grocery stores now have an "organic section," which tend to have a healthier-than-normal selection of frozen meals. If your hotel has a microwave, these will do in a pinch.

-While you're at the grocery store, check the deli area. Rotisserie chickens, pre-made salads, beef jerky, and salami and cheese are all good options that don't require a kitchen or preparation.

-Also at the grocery store: single servings of Greek yogurt. High-protein and quite tasty when combined with some fresh fruit and/or nuts. Just watch out for added sugar.

-Nicer chains, like Whole Foods, have hot and cold buffets where they charge by the pound; you can fill up a plate to go and grab napkins/utensils on the way out. You can also find things like BBQ and chicken wings, that again won't require a kitchen to enjoy.

-Check out the intermittent fasting thread. Eliminating breakfast has a number of benefits in addition to saving you time each morning.

-I know the thread is about eating healthy, but consider a gym membership with a chain like Anytime Fitness, which for a monthly fee gives you access to thousands of gyms across the world that are open, well, any time. I've been a member for several years and it was invaluable back when I was traveling all the time. They have a well-deserved reputation for being all over the place, not just in major cities. Most hotel gyms are shit; you're lucky if they have anything more than a treadmill.

[Gorgiass]

Willpower. I've been travelling in a trade for a decade and haven't gained a pound. Use Yelp to find decent breakfast joints that open early enough, and lunch spots close to the job so you're not stuck eating fast food. Every town has a pizza shop and every pizza shop has a reasonably priced salad selection for lunch. If not, shop healthy at the grocery store and BYO as Isaac says.

Avoid fried foods for their empty calories and artery-clogging, cancer-causing oxidized oils. (Want to get scared, run a titration test on some waste vegetable oil and see how rancid that stuff they were just frying your chicken in yesterday actually is). If pizza for lunch then a steak tip salad or such for dinner, if a salad for lunch then still something like meat, potato and vegetable over a mac n cheese n bacon skillet for dinner.

One cheat a day max - if I have pancakes and eggs for breakfast I'l have a salad and healthy dinner, if I have oatmeal with fruit for breakfast I might have a pastry with lunch.

Drink water and coffee all day, and maybe a few beers/wine at night. If it's sweltering and electrolytes are down I will water down one part gatorade with 3-4 parts water, otherwise no sugary drinks.

EXERCISE. Go out of your way to pick a hotel with a decent gym, I am that guy who makes the staff go check if their "fitness center" has a universal machine before I book. If not and in an area for a week or two join one locally. If not, go back to the hotel room and work a muscle group every night with bodyweight like sit ups, pushups, chin ups on a tree branch, squats, wall press, calf raises, etc. I lift heavy material and drive bolts all day and even on four hours sleep I push through the fog in the evenings and work out most nights. The thought of breaking relaxation it is the worst part of working out after physical labor all day. If you can avoid the temptation to lay down and watch TV and just throw on some workout gear and head to the gym you will find yourself enjoying it as soon as the first set is over with.

[StrikeBack]

On top of the above...

Get MyFitnessPal on your phone and log everything you eat. Keep to a certain calorie budget, you can start with the suggested BMR in the app. Having your total daily calorie under control is 50% of the battle. The rest will be down to your macros and food quality.

[Jack Of All Trades]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'm gona stick to the subway plan so far and download MyFitnessPal to track everything. As for grocery stores and stuff there really isn't much stuff in the small towns and cities I go to. In regards to breakfast, I feel I need to eat breakfast when I'm working on pipelines, sometimes it's a slow day and we spend half the day in the truck, but other times it's go go go! I normally don't ever drink soft drinks, I stick to water and coffee with creamer. Should I cut the creamer out? it makes the coffee easier to drink especially shitty hotel coffees that you get for free.

Thanks for the advice

[Isaac Jordan]

(02-22-2015 09:39 AM)Jack Of All Trades Wrote:  

I normally don't ever drink soft drinks, I stick to water and coffee with creamer. Should I cut the creamer out? it makes the coffee easier to drink especially shitty hotel coffees that you get for free.

I wouldn't sweat the creamer. Something small like that won't make or break you-it's the daily doughnut/Coke/bag of chips with lunch/etc. that does the real damage.