Eating Healthy While Working Away From Home
Eating Healthy While Working Away From Home
Eating healthy while away from home can be a challenge to say the least! It’s much easier when you’re in control of your environment.
When I was doing my MSc and away from home three nights a week I had to come up with a plan to get through my Premier Inn stay without blowing my healthy eating out of the water. I could easily see how a trip to the take-away round the corner could become a regular thing.
Working away from home can be a pain when it comes to eating options. Motorway services, airport lounges and bed and breakfasts sometimes appear designed to deliberately trip us up. To a certain extent we’re stuck, relying on someone else’s food choices.
Or at least that‘s what we tell ourselves.
I’ve got to say I think sometimes (me included) we treat being away from home like a mini holiday. Away from the daily routine, scoffing the full English breakfast because the company is paying, or eating our body weight in naan bread because we were entertaining a business client.
But it doesn’t have to be like that.
Plan evening meals if possible
What I’ve tried to do is to change my approach to being away from home and think of it more like eating out - by making as good a choice as possible in the circumstances.
So, back to when I was doing my MSc and away from home three nights a week, I found out there was a pub next door where most people had their evening meals. But there was also a supermarket next door too. So, on the first evening I would buy food I knew would see me through and, because the supermarket was so close, I knew I could get food every day.
I would buy food for breakfast as well as non-perishable stuff like fruit and nuts or apples that were good for snacks. For my evening meal I would buy a bag of mixed salad leaves and portions of salad, cold meat and pouches of ready cooked lentils and mix and match stuff. There was also a salad bar at the supermarket which was handy. I would take a plate, cutlery and herbal teas with me in my case!
The down side was that I had to sit and eat it in my room, but on the plus side it was far more nutritious and, importantly, it helped me feel in control. Plus I had no excuse not to do my studying in the evenings too!
If so, book a weightloss breakthrough call here.
This call is completely free, and virtual! It’s not a pressure situation. Here’s the agenda for the weightloss breakthrough call:
First we’re going to get to know each other a bit more and you can share what’s been going on
Then we’re going to talk about what you’re wanting to achieve
Then you’ll share the biggest struggle you have with losing weight
Then I’ll share the 3 phases to real-life midlife weight loss without giving up wine or chocolate.
Be sure to grab your spot now—I only have so many spots available each month, and once my calendar is full, it’s full!
Take part but don’t have a big meal blow out
Of course sometimes you don’t have that choice and the evening meal involves entertaining clients at a local restaurant. Usually it’s an Indian, a Chinese, it’s that kind of a meal. When that happens I order several of the sides, high in lentils and veggies so plenty of nutrition. I aim for healthy proteins and I steer clear of heavier carb dishes and I avoid the naan bread (even though I love it!). But if everyone has ordered poppadoms I will eat some, just so I don’t have empty plate syndrome and draw attention to myself. A little trick that works for me is holding off eating a poppadom for as long as possible, just so I don’t eat too many.
And something my clients found helpful is, if you can have a coffee rather than a dessert, put the cup where your dessert dish would be, right in front of you. The brain sees your place setting as being ‘full’ and you don’t feel so deprived as if you’ve got nothing in front of you!
Getting there and back
It’s also worth thinking about the journey itself. Whether you’re travelling for work by bus, train or car, it's always worth stocking up on a few essentials so that you don’t make poor food decisions when you’re desperately hungry. I always carry some water and easy to store snacks like apples, boiled eggs or my ridiculously tasty toasted almonds.
And if I’m on a long drive I’ve been known to make wraps and Tupperwares of snacks and take them with me so that I just need to park up and grab a cup of tea. That gets rid of any sweet temptations but it also means I’m not wasting time queuing up with hoards of other hungry commuters.
Eating while working away from home will always require extra thought, because you’re no longer in control of your environment. But with a bit of intentional thinking, you can navigate your way through the best options from a limited choice...just do your best #progressnotperfection
If so, book a weightloss breakthrough call here.
This call is completely free, and virtual! It’s not a pressure situation. Here’s the agenda for the weightloss breakthrough call:
First we’re going to get to know each other a bit more and you can share what’s been going on
Then we’re going to talk about what you’re wanting to achieve
Then you’ll share the biggest struggle you have with losing weight
Then I’ll share the 3 phases to real-life midlife weight loss without giving up wine or chocolate.
Be sure to grab your spot now—I only have so many spots available each month, and once my calendar is full, it’s full!
Content Disclaimer
The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this blog. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this blog. Midlife Menu Ltd disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this blog.
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