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Salad for lunch everyday and fruit/yogurt for breakfast, then dinner is free to decide. Also morning workouts and yoga at night (even for 10 mins) works for me
One suggestion: you don’t need a gym to get a great workout. YouTube has a ton of body weight videos that are 30 mins that will leave you panting!
Chief
A few suggestions:
Hit up the grocery store for snacks and a few healthy meals on Day 1.
Book hotels with better gyms. When I book I pay close attention to gym photos. Sometimes that means calling up to ask questions or switching hotels the next week or asking coworkers about their past or current experiences. Maybe even start an internal initiative to provide info important to consultants about these hotels (great gym, bad to go breakfast options, won't store items).
Join a gym with multiple locations. Orange theory fitness had been near many of my clients. Or you could try a larger chain gym like Retro or NYSC or whatever. Depending on cost, you may even be able to find an option to do drop in classes as a non-member. Sometimes you just got to explain the situation and ask the manager. You could couple this with in-room or hotel gym workouts.
Edit: and do your HW before flying out. Know which grocery stores are nearby. Have a list in mind of things to buy, maybe even order online once you land to save time. Same thing with the gym. Call ahead to find out options. If you leave this all until you land, you're not going to want to spend time doing any of it when you're busy with work and exhausted already.
Most restaurants have salads. That’s how I stay thin. I actually lose weight while traveling because I work so much more and have time to eat less and have less access to snacks.
If I’m in a location with limited food options, I can usually find a Starbucks, chipotle, or Qdoba and you can get salads from all of these places!
That’s what I do as well - use services like Shipt or Instacart to deliver healthy food and hard boiled egg on day 1.
Instacart also let me do group orders so I would send a link out to the team on Monday and have it delivered to client site on the same day. When everyone is eating healthier, it helps me to not snack socially.
As for workout, I went and got myself certified on TRX training. I carry TRX straps and a mini-deflatable foam roller with me and just workout in my room when gym is not an option.
I used to do ClassPass but consulting schedule is so unpredictable and in some locations there will be no class past 8pm, and often times that’s when I leave the client site :-(
When you’re only sleeping 5 hours, you need SLEEP not exercise. If you are sleeping that little every night (which I believe is unfortunately common in our profession), I would go for a 10 minute body weight workout in the morning or 10 minute yoga at night. I once arranged with my team that one night a week I was going to leave the client site at 5:30 to go to Orange Theory nearby and then log back on from the hotel.
When I travel I bring or pick up shelf stable milk and some shakes. I also drink lots and lots of water and tea (I’m often thirsty not hungry!). I never ever rely on hotel snacks and definitely pack my own bars and pick up sliced carrots and celery, etc. at my travel destination.
Rising Star
When we traveled to client sites, I would stop by a whole foods/trader joes to buy some food for dinner/lunch/snacks. It's much easier to keep track if you know what you're eating. I got bored of restaurants and really was not feeling overall great with the constant eating out. I would also try to run every morning or go to an actual gym after work if I had enough energy. Though since quarantine started, there are a ton of at home workouts to follow! I consider myself a gym rat (pre-COVID) and chole tings workouts are actually very effective for a super quick workout I find! Currently doing the 2 week shred (on repeat lol)
All of these are fantastic suggestions. I tend to just do a quick trader joe’s/whole foods run on Monday nights and get some healthy snacks (bananas, protein bars, carrots and hummus, tea, dark chocolate), to-go breakfast items (Greek yogurt or single serving oatmeal typically), and some pre-packaged salads for lunch. I often travel alone so I tend to get groceries for dinner too, but if I’m with a team then dinners out.
You don’t need fancy gym equipment to get a good workout in. There are TONS of great workouts (and programs with progressive overload) made for travel or at-home setups. I follow Carlie Petriatis’s home program right now which only requires dumbbells (which all gyms have, no matter how terrible the rest of the gym is), and resistance bands which I typically bring when travelling as well. I also like the social aspect of having a Facebook group to check in with.
I tried signing up for a gym with multiple locations and honestly....there weren’t enough locations. I’ve been in small towns mostly, and if a gym is more than 15 minutes away, I know I’ll have a hard time making myself go. So hotel gyms it is. And yes—some of those hotel gyms suck. But they work.
I also typically lift heavy weights on weekends when I’m home and have a better gym close by.
Honestly, it’s all what you make of it. At the end of the day you’ll never be able to stick to the perfect routine, because life happens. The best workout program is the one you’ll actually do. Just start somewhere, be flexible, and give new things an honest try. Don’t let perfection get in the way of good :)
I’ve started following workout videos by Chloe Ting on YouTube. They’re short (each is 10 min long) with countdowns and feel very achievable. I’m only 3 weeks in and notice nice improvements!
What I most struggle with:
healthy diet: a lot of hotels/locations don’t carry healthy products/snacks i could take to the client (had a while were I was peeling hard boiled eggs in the teamroom 😂
Weight/exercise: gym equipment in hotels tends to be horrible/scarse so I felt it hard sticking to a good routine e.g., increasing resistance over time + I love social workouts (found it hard to motivate me by myself after 5h of sleep)
Mental space: although i really like my psychologist I feel she doesn’t fully get me because she doesn’t get my lifestyle. I am all in for meditation etc but sometimes there is pressure and things need to get done last minute.
Has anyone solved one of these challenges? Would be amazing to hear your story to start off differently.
🙏
I joined a gym when I was travelling (similar to ZS1, where they have multiple locations) and it really helped because I wasn’t restricted to a hotel gym! Makes a world of difference. Meals-wise I just have by go-to meals that I would eat most days (salad or grain bowls) that took the thinking out of it.
I ship protein powder directly to a hotel I will stay for a period of time, along with a mini blender, PB and oatmeal. Voila - ice and water = instant meal. I’ve also taken it to the client site. Grocery upon arrival - TJ has grilled chicken, most have veg and fruit fresh.
But, this is my lifestyle at home, too. I also look fir a gym close by (a 24/7) is preferable. I need two workouts in the road to hit 5 a week.
For me, it’s a lifestyle and a commitment. It’s part of taking care of myself. It’s not a diet or a punishment to lose weight.
I think there are two routes here, and I think which route is best depends on the convenience of your city / intensity of your engagement.
If you are on a relatively balanced engagement (you have time to get to the gym and get an ok nights sleep):
Plan your workouts for the week in advance, and stick to portion-controlled breakfasts. I can’t do the buffets - the dishes are loaded with unnecessary calories and don’t even taste good. I grab a yogurt and fruit usually. I have also gotten good at saying no to eating with my team every night. That way I drink less and have more control over what I eat.
If you are on a hellish engagement and have little to no personal time:
For these I do intermittent fasting and don’t work out much while I travel. I basically just skip breakfast (your body gets used to it) and only eat between 1ish and 9ish. I’m not super strict about it, but I usually lose weight on these types of engagements. Then on the weekends I eat and exercise normally.
Oh yeah, mental health lol...that part is more of a struggle for me. I go to therapy every Friday and am on Lexapro. I specifically asked for a therapist experienced with corporate junkies (easy to find in nyc).
Frankly, I find that my physical health directly correlates with my mental health, so if I can stay on top of one the other follows.