Good Food on the Fly Ditch the burger and try these tasty, healthy eats.
By Julie Moline
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
For some people, eating out three meals a day is a kind of bliss. For road warriors watching their weight, it can be just the opposite.
Convenience usually comes before health when you're on a business trip. But there are ways to eat reasonably well while on the road. Many hotel chains, including Four Seasons, Hilton, Hyatt Hotels and Sheraton, offer heart-healthy choices on their menus, both in restaurants and room service.
But when a balanced meal isn't available or you're scurrying out of your hotel room to get to a meeting on time, eating healthy may seem impossible. For those times, Terry Riley, author of The Complete Travel Diet, recommends the following:
- Pack healthy, easy-to-grab snacks in your carry-on. Low-fat breakfast bars, whole-grain crackers, dried fruit, trail mix, apples and sunflower seeds are good choices.
- Instant oatmeal is a quick, healthy, hearty breakfast (or snack) choice that can be prepared easily in your hotel room with hot water made in the in-room coffee maker.
- If you're ordering room service or you're at a restaurant where there aren't any obviously healthy options, order meats and fish broiled or grilled dry--without butter or oil--and ask for sauces on the side. Salads should always be ordered with dressing on the side as well; vinaigrettes are preferable to creamy dressings. Fresh vegetables without butter are a good choice, as is pasta in a light tomato sauce.
- Order what you like, eat half and give the rest away.
- Be smart at fast-food joints. McDonald's has decent salads; Subway offers a variety of filling, low-fat sandwiches. A tasty alternative to a cheeseburger and fries comes from the prepared-food section of Whole Foods, where there's a huge assortment of sandwiches, soups, salads and entrees. Or try high-protein smoothies from a chain like Jamba Juice.
