Alligator in Gaylord Palms Hotel (Photo credit: blacknight)
Last week I was in Florida for a work related event. I had been worried about eating while “on the road” and unfortunately my fears were more than justified.
I weighed in this morning and I’ve gained over 1kg, which is NOT good. Whether that is due to alcohol or food, or simply the combination, is not clear. I’m not happy about it.
So what went wrong?
And what can I do to fix it next time?
It started pretty badly with the Hilton Dublin Airport. There are no salads or light options on their menu. Nothing. There are a couple of “healthy” options, but I’d have been perfectly happy with a salad. So I opted for a side salad with a steak. Total disaster. The salad was pretty “sad” looking and the dressing was horrible. It tasted of cheap vegetable oil! For a hotel like that you’d expect them to either have a proper dressing or to serve you the oil and balsamic vinegar and let you do it yourself. As I stay there a lot this is a real problem. Do I need to find somewhere else to eat before heading to the hotel or should I make myself a packed dinner?
Days when you spend up to 20 hours in airports are always going to be a bit of a mess. I avoided milky coffee and stuck to plain. Foodwise I just ate the inflight meals.
When I finally got to the Gaylord Palms hotel in Florida problems began.
Breakfast, as I’d suspected, wasn’t an issue. They had a very good breakfast buffet and you could eat plenty of healthy stuff in the morning and get a good start to the day
Unfortunately a lot of the restaurants in the hotel didn’t really “get” the concept of “healthy” at all. Pretty much none of them had anything flagged as “light” or “healthy”, which is odd, as it’s not as if Americans don’t have obesity issues ..
The first evening’s dinner was typical of the problems I encountered. I ordered a steak salad thinking I’d get salad with a bit of meat. Instead I got salads drowned in dressing, cheese and topped with some kind of battered onion thing! (I was able to move some of this to one side and avoid it)
For the rest of the week I tried to get “lighter” options whenever I could, but to be honest I found it really hard. It’s as if nobody in Florida ever eats light food..
The alcohol consumed during the week is a different matter entirely and is linked in part to the type of event I was attending. With a lot of other events I’d probably have been overdosing on coffee, but I need to keep an eye on the alcohol consumption in the future.
It is tough to eat healthy while traveling.
Two tricks I’ve learned form my wife are to always order dressing on the side, and try to build a meal from 2 healthy appetizers rather than order an entree.
But don’t get discouraged…best of luck!
James
Your wife gives good advice! That’s so obvious I didn’t think of it and now feel dumb 🙁
Thanks for the supportive comment
Michele
She had nothing useful to say about the alcohol however.
At least, nothing I wanted to hear…. 😉
James – and this surprises you? 🙂
Its not your fault, no one orders a salad expecting to be served a heart attack.
When eating in the US, always order no cheese and dressing on the side.
Kelly – ROFL – that’s one way of putting it and I’ll bear your advice in mind for my next trip to the US 🙂
Thanks for your comment
Michele
Don’t beat yourself up. 1kg after a week away is nothing & you can also hold on to access fluid after a flight, especially long haul. Try drink plenty of water to help flush yourself out. I have a healthy pancake recipe if you’re interested: http://www.mwah.ie/2011/03/weight-watchers-propoints-pancake-recipe/
Lee
I’ve drunk a stupid amount of coffee and herbal tea today (unintentionally) so that might help 🙂
How long would it take to “flush” my system?
Michele
Coffee is no use 🙁 and my WW leader says once you change the colour of water as in a herbal tea or cordial it really doesn’t count as part of your 2 litres a day. I would drink at least 2 litres of water for next 2/3 days… I drink hot water when I’m too cold to face the cold stuff during the Winter
Michele,
It only takes one trip to realize the potential pitfalls of eating on the road. Now you know what to expect as well as what to anticipate for your next trip so you can plan to avoid it the next time. Also, any weight you put on during a trip usually falls back off within a week once your body returns to its normal environment.
Keep at it!
Michael
Great seeing you last week 🙂
Yeah – you’re right. If I treat last week as a “lesson” hopefully I’ll be better prepare next time round.
Thanks for your comment
Michele
Hi Michele
This too is my problem – red eye flights out and crappy coffee with no time for proper breakfasts then stuck in meetings all day with order in sandwiches or chips and then late late dinners in hotels that really should be avoided. The only think I have started doing is bringing a bag with apples, bananas, Clementine and some mixed nuts and a yogurt with me and some low fat bars so that I have something to munch on – its a nightmare and it really throws you off and you have to plan for it! As for airline meals you are a brave man is all I will say!