Tips for eating Healthy on the Road (Hotel Series)

As a wellness coach and consultant , I travel a lot to meet with clients and to help with wellness fairs. Which means during our busy season I am constantly on the road, spending more nights in hotels than my home in Boston.

When I first started this job, I gained a lot of weight and basically "felt" unhealthy. This happened because I did not plan out my meals and will just grab something to go from a fast food. Eat out a lot at restaurants in the name of trying out local cuisines or eat in the car or eat at odds hours at night

But my body quickly started protesting this unhealthy lifestyle. My stomach was constantly bloated and I just did not feel good. I also will consumed a lot coffee including outside of "work hours" for no reason.

Even though my company reimbursed my meals expenditures (another excuse to eat out a lot), I knew I had to make some changes especially for my gut health. Here are the 3 things I did to start eating healthy while being on the road for work.

1. Get a cooler and bring home cooked meals. Call ahead and make sure your hotel room has a fridge. If they don't plan to bring a larger cooler with ice packs or you can always just buy ice bags from the gas stations.
This is not only a healthy tip but a money saving tip. I found out that if I packed my food from home, I was more likely to put in fruits, water and my healthy home cooked meals in my lunch bags. When you are tired from work, sometimes you are less likely to spend the mental energy required to think of healthy meal options. Convenience supersedes quality  + effort . 

2. If you must buy food because life happened and you didn't pack a lunch cooler, go to the local grocery store close to your hotel and stock up your hotel fridge with healthy snack options like fruits and etc. Hit the salad bar or food bar at the grocery store. Chances are you are more likely to find healthy food options at the grocery store than going to a restaurant. Also it is once again Cost effective. You can use the money for one night at a restaurant to get enough food at the grocery store for a couple of days.

3. Plan ahead and use yelp to seek out restaurants with healthy meal options that way you already have a meal plan and are less likely to make a last minute unhealthy choice.
I am all about living in the space of moderation. It is exciting to try out local cuisine but a little bit of planning can make you have your way of trying something new and still eating out 

Side Note: 

I cannot in good faith talk about food and not talk about exercising. It is especially important for people who travel a lot to exercise. Whether it is driving or flying, your body finds itself in this uncomfortable stiff position over time and it is so important to make time at the hotel to use the fitness center to exercise, stretch (yoga) or use the pool to get a full body workout ( my favorite).
In my next hotel series post, we will look at how I workout while on the road.