Surviving Travel Without Blowing Your Macros

I, like many other people, travel for work. My feelings about traveling for work have changed over the years. It used to be, Sweet! I get to stay in a hotel and reimburse all of my meals! Now it's more, Fuck! Should I pack a cooler bag? I like eating for free so I haven't gone as far as prepping and flying with all of my own food... yet.

Here are some tips and tricks I've learned from four years (and counting) of work travel. These also apply to any kind of travel, but most people want to indulge on vacation.

1. Make your hotel work for you. People who work at hotels are fantastic and able to make your stay perfectly fit your needs, especially if you call ahead and ask nicely. I like to call up the hotel a few days in advance, introduce myself, and ask if it is possible to have a room with an empty refrigerator and a microwave. Many hotels will put a microwave in your room for the duration of your stay if you simply ask. Some hotels only have minibars and charge you to empty it. Those hotels are on my shit list. Make sure to ask for silverware or come prepared with plastic cutlery. The plastic stuff is especially helpful if you will be eating on the go.

2. Locate healthy prepared meals. Many cities offer prepared foods geared towards the fitness community. Googling meal prep or paleo delivery (even if you don't eat paleo) and the city is usually a good way to find websites. In New York, I like to order from Kettlebell Kitchen. The only downside is that they deliver to gyms so I have to hike over to CFHK to get my order even if I'm not training there that week. While in Houston this past weekend, I found a My Fit Foods down the street from my hotel. Sweet niblets, is that place cool. You walk in and can get all of your meals out of the cooler. Jeremy, the sales consultant, told me that next time I can call him directly, tell him my macros and he'll have all of my stuff picked out and ready to roll by the time I land. If you are in Texas, California, Oklahoma, Arizona, Illinois or traveling to any of these states, you need to try this place.

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3. Identify splurges. Unless you travel with the aforementioned cooler, you will find yourself hungry in front of a menu with tempting treats. Figure out when you will splurge and prepare for it. I knew I wanted to see my friend Bailey while I was in Houston, so I made sure to eat three My Fit Foods meals throughout the day (it came to about 1,000 calories) and then went to the bar to hang out. I was driving so I wasn't drinking (no alcohol carbs) and I decided to indulge in some fried pickles and french fries. It didn't wreck havoc on my day and I wasn't starving so I didn't need to eat a full meal there, which could have easily surpassed 1,000 calories. Flying home during dinnertime is my biggest pitfall. I usually try to go with tacos but yesterday's tacos were a real fail. I should have picked something up on the way to the airport and brought it through security because I would have been happier with my choice. IAH just sucks for food and I knew that, but I saw the taco place when I landed and thought I was good to go.

4. Don't beat yourself up because you didn't hit your numbers. Last night I was annoyed at myself because I was way low on protein, my tacos hadn't satisfied me and I ate them at 5:30 PM ET, and it was 9 PM and I was hungry. I ate Cheerios and focused on the positive food choices I had made while I was away.