Let's Get Real: Business Traveler Nervous to Venture Out

[charli71170]

I'm on Day 5 and have good success but I purposely chose a week when I would not travel and I have allowed myself to cut back on work and take naps when I need them. So far, so good.

 

But let's be honest: I have no intention of packing a cutting board and paring knife on my next business trip. I am a frequent business traveler and I need the "real" good advice for how to approach this before my next trip in a week. Most major airports offer fresh veggies (limited, usually to carrots and cauliflower, not my favorite but okay) and some even have boiled eggs. Beyond that the salads usually look pretty unappetizing and without dressing they aren't that great.

 

I've bought almond butter in travel packages and love it on apple slices. I also found snack packs of black olives. But what else can anyone recommend assuming a few recurring challenges for me:

 

1) I don't always get to pick the hotel where I stay and I sometimes end up in hotels with very limited menus or towns I like to refer to as "food deserts."

2) I cannot be that girl who opens a pack of tuna on a plane; even boiled eggs are pushing it for fellow passengers

3) No way I am trying to get coconut oil or ghee through security nor do I want to find it leaking in a checked-bag

4) I hate jerky

5) One of my worst eating habits before Whole30 was packaged granola/snack/protein bars, so I really hesitate to buy the Rx bars when I think that will just feed an old habit of mine.

 

I'm just looking for the most honest account of how this works for the business traveler and specific suggestions for what to do and how to pack it.

[Tom Denham]

I just do my best when traveling. I think it is too hard to complete a Whole30 while traveling for business where you have limited control of your time and location. 

 

I carry a one gallon ziploc bag filled with macadamia nuts and raisins for "emergency" food. I take advantage of steak restaurants where I can eat a grilled steak, baked potato, and grilled broccoli when available. I eat a lot of fried eggs and steak on the road. 

[ShannonM816]

I don't travel much, so I can't offer anything specific, but this has been discussed a lot. While not everyone's travel will be the same as yours, maybe you can get some ideas from those past discussions. Here's one article with some tips, and google Whole30 forum travel for past discussions.

 

I can tell you I've seen on Amazon Artisana brand coconut oil in individual packets, if you want to take that in a form that's less likely to leak.

[Seafarer]

I take Ziploc bags of every kind of veg I can get my hands on (carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage wedges, & string beans are all favs). I put a LOT of these in my luggage and toss them in the fridge in my room. If no fridge, I just use the ice bucket. Also nuts & raisins, as Tom said, although too many of these & my digestion gets a little cranky. I order double or triple vegs with my meals, plus salads, plus baked potatoes. For protein, I have generally had pretty good luck finding steak or boiled eggs or even GF hamburgers (no unexpected filler). I usually toss a can of tuna or salmon (some folks use sardines, but, um, no thanks) into my checked bags just in case I am caught short somewhere. So far, so good.... you can find protein.... you can supplement the vegs or order extra.... the timing of when you eat may not be the best (steak for lunch, extra carrot sticks later...), but you can still work around the protein & the vegs. The thing I find hardest to work around is getting compliant fat. I am not an "olive oil on everything" kinda gal, but that's usually an option, no matter where you are. I have been known to pack a larger snap-lid container of both ghee and one of my fav salad dressing.... neither one of which require refrigeration.... and take along a couple of tiny snap-lid containers for transporting these items to restaurants. Mind you, I also triple bag, with twist ties, these containers, and then shove them inside my woolly bedtime socks. I have never had leaks, but I am paranoid! (I brought triple bagged olives... commercially bagged, not bagged by me... home from Italy once. They broke in my backpack and there was no time to clean or fix, because I was changing terminals & catching planes on the fly in Paris and in London and in Toronto.... my poor seatmates!   ) ​Aaaaanyway.... sticking to the W30 while you are travelling is definitely a challenge, and is almost certain to lead to food boredom, but think of the stories you can tell when you get home.   Best of luck! ​

[WholeMama]

I did it recently. I took some Lara bars and nuts for emergencies but that was it. I ordered very carefully - steak and burger places were the easiest. In a pinch I had larabar with almond butter for breakfast.

[GLC1968]

I do this all the time and honestly, it really helps me appreciate how awesome it is to be doing a Whole30 at home!

 

You are smart to get the first week under your belt before you hit the road.

 

In addition to what everyone has said, I keep track of things I can eat that are compliant from chain restaurants.  I tend to eat a lot of carnitas salads from Chipotle.  Panera has a few salads that will work if you leave off the cheese and sub their roasted turkey for the chicken.  I hear you on the food deserts though!

 

I pretty much always have apples, baby carrots and both RxBars and Epic bars (or bites) on me at all times. That way, if I can't find anything that will work, I have *something* to eat.  That said, after about day 20 or so, I find that if I really can't find anything that'll work, skipping a meal doesn't hurt me.  I couldn't do that in week 1 or 2 without crazy hunger or headaches, but once I've become 'fat adapted' it's easier.  Not ideal, but better than eating off plan.  I just make sure that my next meal is bigger (like at a steakhouse or something).  Oh, I also keep a small bottle of olive oil and vinegar in my liquids bag in my carry-on.  This makes a HUGE difference on airport salads (if you can find versions without cheese in them!).  Just make sure this bottle seals well.  I have a camping version from REI.  

[ultrarunnergirl]

It really depends how badly you want this.

 

Where there is a will, there is a way, but if you begin by listing the things you aren't willing to do, you may just have to live with breaking your Whole30.

 

It's your health. Whether that's worth a little extra trouble packing, potentially annoying a fellow airline passenger you'll likely never see again, or having to eat food that's simple and salads that are "not that great" instead of something fancy -- that's a question only you can answer.

 

Sometimes when something seems aggravatingly difficult, I pretend someone has told me that I can't do it. Then, I figure out how, no matter what. Look at it as a point of pride.

 

I really hope you make it!

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

I'm so grateful for all that has been shared above. It makes me wish that I could get my hands on RXbars or epic bars without paying a fortune in shipping (I'm based in Korea and haven't seen them locally).

I would also appreciate international business travel tips - it's so much harder when you can't converse with wait staff in their native language and you can't read the labels on food products.

In fact, an upcoming trip to Europe is one of the reasons I'm delaying starting my official Whole30 - there's no way I'm going to Paris and not having baked goods (hopefully just a few really high-quality ones and they had better be worth it).

But I can't put off my Whole30 indefinitely and I will continue to have business travel in Asia so I would appreciate tips. I feel like in could handle business travel in North America with relative ease compared to this (not saying it's not hard for those of you challenged with it, but just easier than what I'm facing right now).

Cheers,

-Lauren (GGG)