I often get questions from clients who are travelling for work for a few days or going on holidays and are worried about putting on body fat and ruining their fat loss progress while they are away.

The approach I take for myself and recommend to my clients is to use the time away as a maintenance period and not to worry about your fat loss until you are back home. Use the time to balance your healthy eating habits with enjoying yourself. You may find you do lose some fat anyway but that will depend on how you use your common sense. Below are some tips that you can use while away from home.

EXERCISE AS NORMAL

Exercise as normal, if you’re away for a week and normally work out 3 times per week then make sure you fit in 3 workouts. If you have a hotel gym then make use of it and if not improvise and get creative with exercises like dips, pushups, squats, sit-ups, plank or even something as simple as jogging in the park.

WALK

Spend some of your spare time walking to burn off extra calories and try and include some activities in your day where you are physically active

DIET BALANCE

Balance your daily caloric intake with common sense. If your going to eat a little more, then make sure you exercise a little more to balance it out.

WATER

Keep your water intake high to keep you hydrated as well as keep you fuller

EATING OUT AT FAST FOOD TYPE PLACES

This is something many people steer clear from in the hope of making a healthier choice. In fact, you can get great meals from places like Subway, Nandos and Mad Mex here in Australia where it tells you the nutrition and calories of your food. There are plenty of low calorie and high protein options from these places as well as many others. Of course, in countries like USA, it is even easier with most restaurants giving you nutritional information for their menu.

EATING OUT AT RESTAURANTS

Pick restaurants that have healthier options and research the area online for ideas before you go. If I eat out twice a day, I like to pick one ‘healthy meal’ as and then one meal where I pick whatever I want.

ALCOHOL

Take it easy with alcohol consumption and do not overdo it. If you are going to drink alcohol try and pick the lower calorie options. 

NOT EATING OUT

Do not eat all of your meals out! Besides saving you money I like to recommend eating out lunch and dinner while eating breakfast and 2 snacks from things I will buy at the supermarket. For lunch I will usually have something from somewhere that has nutrition information. This way 4 of my 5 meals I know exactly what I am consuming.

GO TO THE SUPERMARKET

Be prepared by going to the supermarket and buying some healthy foods for some of your meals and snacks. If you have a fridge or microwave where you are staying you can buy pretty much anything you would usually buy at home. If you don’t have the above I would recommend including easy on the go type items that are simple.

EASY ON THE GO ITEMS

• Fruits
• Seeds
• Nuts
• Calorie free drinks
• Protein powder
• Quest bars
• Muesli bars
• Protein bars or protein chips
• Rice cakes
• Peanut butter or nut butters
• Jerky
• Low fat popcorn
• Low fat muffins
• Freeze dried fruits
• Fibre supplement

These tips should keep you on track while allowing for flexibility. Enjoy yourself and do not over worry and you should find it is very easy to maintain with common sense. Make smart choices and if you do decide to over indulge on one day, try and cut back the following day to balance it out.