Traveling on a Diet – Tips and Tricks
Visiting my parents recently has taught me a few things about how to keep the weight off while on the road. If you’re thinking I’m going to suggest lots of salads, skipping meals, or ordering off the kids menu, you’re seriously mistaken. That is not me. I like food, and when everyone is eating steak, you can bet dollars to donuts (mmm…. donuts) that I’ll be sinking my teeth into a barely cooked piece of cow flesh. While I am far from an expert on these things, I managed to pick up barely a pound and a half after a week “off the diet” eating steak, pizza, and garlic bread with wine and/or beer every night. Here are the rules I lived by.
1) Planning, planning, planning…
Know what you have ahead of you each day. Is it going to be left-over night at the parents or a big dinner at a steakhouse? Make sure you don’t “waste” your calories on a big breakfast when you could have eaten more moderately in preparation for a planned dinner with friends. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t enjoy yourself or what you’re eating. My motto – Eat for flavor or eat for health. If you are gonna eat something specifically because it tastes good, don’t worry about the amount of butter or bacon in it. Just eat it and don’t stress it. One or two or three meals won’t negate your months of hard work. But if you’re going to eat for health, go all the way. You may prefer the fried version of whatever fast food is your poison but you know it all pretty much tastes like cardboard. Go grilled. If you’re making breakfast, have an omelet with three eggs but only one yoke. The flavor difference is minor but the calories are much less.
2) Subway is your friend (corollary – Fillers are Your Friend)
When I go to Subway (one of my favorite restaurants) don’t be afraid to ask for extra veggies. I’ve been to places that feel like iceberg lettuce is worth its weight in gold. When there are fillers that are low calories offered with a meal, get the max. When I’m at home, I try to snack on carrots as I’m cooking rather than nuts or cheese. It fills me up, it lets me eat, and most of all, it distracts me from other snacky foods. If I’m feeling especially hungry, I’ll make sure I have a salad with a meal, even if it is lunch. Fillers can be a great way of managing your appetite between meals. BTW, kimchee is totally light on calories which is something I’ve been doing lately. Now, keep a toothbrush handy as you won’t be making any friends…
3) Make good decisions
Don’t be a pain but take advantage of every opportunity to cut calories. Take Chic-fil-A (a fast food restaurant that serves primarily chicken) for example. They have a grilled and a fried chicken sandwich. According to their website – the difference? 150 calories (260 vs. 410). Diet Coke/Pepsi might taste like ass but it is calorie free (plus it has caffeine). If you’re into tea, limit the sugar since that is where all your calories are coming from. Same with coffee which has only 2 calories per 8 ounces. What about that sandwich? Do you need mayo, oil, and cheese on it? What really contributes the most to your eating pleasure? For me it is the oil. For Tanel it is the cheese. For you it might be the mayo. Whatever it is, have it but eliminate the rest. You’d be surprised how much some of those little things (butter, cream, sugar, mayo, etc) contribute to the overall calories of the stuff you eat. It’s little things that sometimes make all the difference.
4) Offer to cook
By now, you know what you need to eat to maintain/loose weight. What better way to ensure you stay on your diet than offering to cook? If cooking isn’t an option, always have a restaurant recommendation on hand. Seafood (see below) and restaurants with wider menus should offer you more choices. More choices equate to more options for lower calorie fare. But again, that doesn’t mean you need to look for the “healthy choice” label on the menu. Just order the 8oz over the 12oz or grilled vegies instead of fries. Sure, that twice-baked potato with all the fixins looks fantastic but it probably has more calories than the rest of your entire meal including the desert.
5) Seafood is your best friend
Pound for pound seafood is low in calories, averaging fewer than 30 an ounce (versus chicken at 40 and beef at 60). Plus, no one thinks you’re on a diet when you’re ordering shrimp cocktail or boiled crabs. Fish is generally as good or better (less calories) than chicken as well. If you’re at a restaurant and you need to keep the pounds off, order seafood. Of course, if you’re planning on dipping it in drawn butter, forget it, but ketchup or cocktail sauce makes for a very light meal. If you are going to sushi, you are set but don’t forget that sushi rice is 75 calories per ounce! That’s more than steak! Sashimi is your friend.
6) Thirsty?
A full stomach is a happy stomach and I don’t really think your stomach cares what it is full of. I normally drink a lot anyhow but now I drink water, coffee, tea, or diet soda. Calorie-wise, they are basically nothing (depending on how much sugar/cream you add) but it keeps my stomach (and my mind) off being hungry. Of course, now I have to pee as often as a pregnant woman but it’s the price you pay I suppose. Also, when drinking alcohol, pay attention to your mixers. Drink diet mixers when possible or light beers. All you Corona lovers, all light beer tastes about the same with a lime in it so grab some Miller 64 and knock that back. You’ll be able to drink two to one of other light beers (just about) and 3 to 1 of regular beers. If you’re going to drink high calorie beer, you should be drinking Guinness anyhow.
For me, eating isn’t a problem. These ideas aren’t meant to keep you from eating a healthy amount of calories a day. The idea is to ensure you don’t overeat when you don’t have complete control over your environment. A few smart decisions a day and you’ll find your weight gain over a vacation kept to a minimum while you are still able to enjoy the same foods your friends and family are. In the end, though, a week of over eating (or not eating as correctly as you have been) will only translate into 1-5lbs. If you don’t mind putting it on just to take it off again when you get back, go hog-wild. Sounds like a great vacation to me.
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