Five ways to keep travel from ruining your diet
Eat And Run
Let's face it: You can exercise like crazy on the road, but workouts won't work if you eat junk. "It's easy to get fat when you travel," says Christopher Berger, a workout fanatic, frequent flier, and exercise science instructor at the University of Kentucky. "If you're hungry in an airport, that Cinnabon is going to look real good."
The biggest challenge is that you can't plan meals as easily as you can in your own kitchen. "You don't have as much control," says Leslie Fink, a nutritionist with WeightWatchers.com, the Web site for Weight Watchers International. To help you regain dietary command, Fink and other nutritionists offer these tips:
Don't be a food tourist. When in New Orleans, you don't have to eat every po' boy you see. "Just because you're away, not every meal has to be an experience," advises Randi Konikoff Beranbaum, a dietitian at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University in Boston. Sample a few local foods, and otherwise stick to a sensible diet.
Brown-bag it. When traveling, it's tough to know when you'll get your next healthful meal, especially with cutbacks in airline food service. So bring along fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt, a nutritious sandwich, and bottled water, and it will be easier to resist the stale peanuts and soda. Beranbaum is a fan of nutrition bars: "They last for months" and are easy to toss in a briefcase. For the trip back, hotels will often pack a meal upon request.
Resign from the "clean plate club." Portion control is a huge problem. Don't feel you must eat all that's served, or order half portions.
Watch what you drink. Business cocktail parties can derail any diet. "I always tell my clients that alcohol and dessert are in the same category," says Beranbaum. One tip is to alternate an alcoholic drink with a nonalcoholic one like sparkling or bottled water. And watch the cocktail nuts at the bar.
Expect the unexpected. Strict diets will always get derailed. Nutritionists suggest a general plan instead--perusing menus from a few restaurants, stocking a hotel refrigerator with fresh fruit, and finding a sandwich shop for dinner after workouts. Above all, don't skip meals, or you'll pay for it later. "Eat so you never get hungry, drink so you never get thirsty," advises Berger. -Jodi Schneider
This story appears in the March 24, 2003 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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