Conference rocks::weight_control

    Perhaps keeping a list of what you're eating during the day will
    help you keep it under control.  At least you'll know what you've
    eaten, and drunk!, and can modify the next day if one day is not
    too good.
    
    --Louise

    This is probably too late for your trip to England, but ...
    
    Don't touch, look at, or sniff greasy 'fish & Chips'.
    Avoid the warm beer.

    The English (& I should know) have lousy food. That, if nothing
    else, might help 
    
    
    	:-)

    Holly,
    
    I, too, travel frequently on business.  Here's some things that
    I've discovered.  Hopefully, maybe they will help you too.
    
    First, a little history so you can see I learned these things
    the hard way.
    
    After losing 35 pounds on weight watchers, I started travelling
    and spent 3 weeks on the road.  I gained six pounds and was
    appalled.  I was also frustrated and fell into the trap, "Oh
    well, there's just no way to control your weight when you are
    travelling."  Not true.  I've travelled extensively since then
    and not gained any more weight.
    
    First, expect to put some weight on during travel.  You're eating
    habits are different.  Most often that weight is related to water
    retention.  Best way to get your weight back down quickly, resume
    your normal eating habits that keep you from gaining at home and
    drink LOTS of water.  I find that my weight come right back down
    to what it was when I left home.
    
    Because I travel with other people most often, I don't like to
    constantly evaluate every selection for on program vs not on program.
    I'm sorry, if I have to do that, I constantly feel deprived and
    am too tempted to forego any controls.
    
    What I do watch are my real weaknesses:
    
      - desserts, Chocolate Mousse gets passed over in favor of a sorbet
      
      - sauces, I've declared them all to be fattening
    
    I make sure to enjoy those diet delights that I don't get as often
    at home.
    
      - Lots of fish, I like it but don't particularly like to cook
        it
    
      - Same for veal, it's save me many times in Italian restaurants
    
    The one solution that I like best is special order your airline
    meals.  We all know how dreadful airline food is.  Well, guess
    what, special meals usually come out far superior.
    
      - Low cholesterol is particularly good for a breakfast flight.
        It gets rid of the greasy sausage that I don't like anyway.
    
      - Seafood meals are another good one.  Last week I had a lunch
        of a tomato stuffed with crab meat (no mayo) with prawns on
        the side while everyone else was eating cold tortellini or
        chicken because the heating elements malfunctioned.
    
    I'll be completely truthful and admit that I never lose weight on
    my trips even though I have 10 more pounds to go.  I'm sure that's
    possible to do but I've settled for not gaining any more weight
    and enjoying the travel.  I travel about 50% of the time so my
    weight loss has been a very slow process but I am able to get
    back on program between trips and lose weight during those
    periods.
    
    Sorry for being so long-winded.  Hope there's a nugget of gold
    there somewhere.
    
    					Donna
                      
    

    Rather than trying to second-guess the airline menus, I always order
    low-calorie meals.  Dinner is usually a broiled chicken breast,
    a tossed salad, rice, and steamed veggies.  Fresh fruit for desert.  
    
    It's GREAT!!  
    

    I've learned quite a bit about this subject over the past 6 weeks.
    
    First of all, I've been ordering vegetarian airline meals.  I opted for
    that instead of the low-cal simply because I tend to like green things
    better than meat anyway.  I've been getting meals like:
    spinach-and-rice cake, carrots, salad, a tablespoon of peanut butter to
    spread on a slice of WONDERFUL wheat bread, a 1/2 ounce box of raisins,
    and a plate of fresh fruit for dessert.  Probably more calories
    than the low-cal meal, but this is the first time in my life I've
    thoroughly enjoyed airline food!  When they come by serving drinks,
    I order Perrier with a twist -- I consider that a treat!
    
    I've learned to ALWAYS keep one of the packets of WW salad dressings in
    my purse.  I'm never without it.  If there's absolutely nothing else on 
    the menu I can get without being decadent, I can always order a
    chef's salad and use my handy-dandy dressing packet.  I've learned
    to ALWAYS eat a salad before the entre anyway, to help fill me up.
    And the WW dressing is only 6 or 9 calories.  It's not the greatest
    stuff in the world, but definitely edible and nice to have around
    in a pinch...
    
    The nicer restaurants are the easiest.  I always order fish.  Chicken
    would be OK too, but I happen to love fish.  If it's available poached,
    that's my first choice; otherwise I order it broiled.  I may or may not
    ask them to leave off the sauce, but if I do get sauce I eat only
    what's directly on top of the fish.  Sauce that's pooled in the plate
    stays there.  And I try to eat half of what they bring me and leave the
    rest, though I haven't always been successful at that.  I eat no more
    than a spoonful or two of whatever rice or potatoes are served, but eat
    ALL the veggies.  Instead of cocktails, I get Perrier with a twist.
    It's not hard to get used to. With dinner, I avoid wine by ordering
    another Perrier.  Dessert is easy since I love nothing more than a big
    bowl of fresh berries! 
    
    If I go to a Chinese place I get something like stir-fried chicken
    and broccoli.  And I order it spicy, just so's I can feel like I've
    REALLY had a meal.  I eat half of what they bring me, and just a
    spoonful or two of rice.
    
    I eat often with customers, and am simply NOT comfortable ordering
    everything special at such a meal.  Socially, it doesn't bother
    me, but in a business situation it definitely does.  So what I try
    to do is just observe the same spirit of portion control that the
    WW program is based on.  I can't always count exchanges and follow
    the program to the letter, but I CAN always stick to the philosophy.
    And that's what it's all about anyway, right?
    
    							Pat
    

    
    New job <==> New Problems ... uh, challenges...uh, opportunities.
    Yeah, that's it! Opportunities. 
    
    Here's the scoop - this job will involve some travel. Don't know
    how much yet, but more than my last job. (Not tough, considering
    the last job involved NO travelling!) Truth is, I am really looking
    forward to the travel part. I love to see new places. This way I
    can see much more than I could afford to. Problem (I know, I know,
    *opportunity*) - eating right while on the road. 
    
    Next week is my first trip. San Francisco for a week. I've read
    all of these replies and some in other notes about how to exercise
    a little control while travelling. And I've been trying to psych
    myself up for all of the great stuff I'll be doing and seeing. I'm
    trying to move the focus away from the food/drink aspect of it.
    
    Do any of you have any more suggestions/tricks/things that have
    worked for you? I'd sure appreciate any and all suggestions! I do
    not want to come back and discover that I have gained back 5 of
    the 8 pounds I have recently lost... On the other hand, I don't
    want to totally deprive myself while I am away, either. What a pickle,
    uh, jam, um...tight spot i feel like I am in...
    
    Can ya help?
    
    -Amy.
    

    
    I was on the road, teaching  for Ed. Services, for a total of 
    40 weeks during two years, 1984-1985. I put on over 20 pounds during
    that time.
    
    Travel is a killer for me. It brings about boredom, depression, feelings
    of deprivation, and need for entertainment, all of which can be
    assuaged with food. My solution was simple: changes jobs and
    stop traveling.
    
    Now that I've had time to think about it, I'd do it differently
    today. Hotel menus have changed drastically in the past few years,
    and offer a lot more low-calorie, low-fat and cholesterol choices.
    
    If you're going to San Francisco, try this instead of doing dinner
    at a hotel: go down to the waterfront and buy a couple of Dungeness
    crabs, plain, and a some fresh bread, no butter. It makes a great
    dinner and the folks there eat it as they wander the waterfront
    (I _love_ Earthquake McGoon's, but that's another story). The crab
    and bread is high protein, low calorie (we're taling 400-600 total)
    and is fun to eat and tastes good.
    

    -- Glinch
    
    	(I still travel a bit now and then, but I've learned to control it
    	 by reading spy novels rather than eating)
    

    I travel all the time, and have lost nearly 30 pounds since the
    middle of October.  I was *very* nervous about being on the road
    at first, scared I wouldn't be able to stay on the WW program. 
    But now I've proven to myself I can do it, and it's no big deal
    any more.
    
    One trick is to minimize your calorie intake on planes.  I've opted
    for vegetarian meals on airlines -- which, by the way, are an order
    of magnitude *better* than the standard fare!  I'll never go back
    to regular airline meals!
    
    Then, when you get there, eat light for breakfast and lunch.  Save
    those calories for dinner. 
    
    At dinnertime, *always* start with a big salad, over which you pour a
    packet (or two) of the Weight-Watchers salad dressing that you pull out
    of your purse.  That'll help fill you up a little.  I usually try to
    get a salad with some sort of exotic gourmet greens or whatever, so
    it's different from what I have at home every night.  Stay away from
    the bread, or limit yourself to one roll without butter (if the bread
    is *really* good it doesn't need butter!)  Then order a low-calorie
    seafood (or chicken) dish without regard to price, and a veggie.
    That's how I overcome the feeling of deprivation: I treat myself to
    dishes that I'd never (at least rarely) fix at home because they are
    difficult or very expensive. 
    
    Example:  3 ounces of lobster meat has 81 calories.  An entire lobster
    is probably 6 - 8 ounces of meat.  It's just about as good with
    cocktail sauce as butter, and the result is a luxurious light meal --
    after you finish it you feel like you've really been good to yourself! 
    
    When a dish comes with cream sauce or something equally decadent,
    I scrape most of it off with my fork, but there's still enough left
    to give me the flavor.  UMMMMMMM good!
    
    I *never* skip dessert when I'm eating on the road.  Most good
    restaurants will have fresh fruit available all year round, though
    many don't show it on the menu.  Pack some Equal in your purse to
    sprinkle on fresh strawberries, and you've got yourself a really
    good dessert!
    
    Good luck!  Once you start, you'll find out it's not as hard as
    you thought it was going to be.  You can do it!!!!!!
    
    							Pat

    I remember when I was a kid, and my father went on business trips, I
    thought that eating 3 meals a day in restaurants sounded like heaven.

    The reality, of course, wears thin pretty fast.  As Glinch mentioned, it
    has gotten easier, with more people being health conscious.  My biggest
    problem when I travel is not keeping my eating under control (it helps
    to like fruit!), but rather getting enough exercise.  Um, make that any
    exercise!  I always resolve to use the hotel's fitness center, and never
    do.  If you're in a place with sights to see, of course, brisk walks can
    help fill that need.

    Good luck!
    Beverly

>>    My biggest problem when I travel is not keeping my eating under control (it
>>    helps to like fruit!), but rather getting enough exercise. 

I agree.  I usually entertain customers for dinner and meet with Digital 
people for breakfast to plan our customer call when I'm out of town.  
The health centers in hotels almost always close at 10:00pm and usually 
don't open again till 6:30am.  Result is that it's extremely rare that I 
get a chance to exercise at all when on the road.  If I ever found a hotel 
that left its exercise equipment unlocked all night, they'd get my business 
forever!

BTW, I've tried the airlines low-cal meals and also the vegetarian.  IMHO, 
there's no comparison.  There might be a few more calories in the veggie 
meals, but they're good, *really* good, and can be worked into the WW 
program very easily.  The low-cal fare struck me as just that:  bland, not 
very filling, and generally tasteless.  Just my opinion...

							Pat

    I have to avoid the vegetarian meals because of my wheat allergy. 
    Low-cal food does vary a lot; United's is intensely mediocre (and they
    seem to think that low-cal must mean no-salt also; they give you this
    horrible saltless seasoning instead).  US Air, on the other hand, usually
    does quite nicely, with broiled chicken or fish, steamed veggies, and
    some fresh fruit.

    Beverly

    
    My sister has lost 40 pounds on WW. Recently she attended a business
    luncheon. When she got the invitation, she had a choice between chicken
    and beef--but she managed to wangle a fish meal out of them. When she
    was served fish, every one at her table was jelous, it looked so
    tasty.
    
    When it came time for dessert, she passed up whatever high-calorie
    treat they were offering. The server offered her a choice of
    other desserts -- my sister stood steadfast. Soon afterwards, another
    person came out from the kitchen --- they wouldn't take no for an
    answer -- was there *anything* they could get her? Peggy said
    "gee, how about an apple". They said they'd see what they could do,
    and returned to offer her a slice of melon with some other plain
    fresh fruit accompanying it. Once again, everyone at her table
    was salavating at what she was eating.
    
    The moral of this story is...ask! Even if it's not on the menu,
    they may be able and willing to accomodate your needs.