Business Trip!!!!!

[anandagirl]

Hello everyone - I am packing tonight for a business trip over the weekend. I won't have a car to get to a grocery store, and most (if not all) meals will be provided with little choice of items or timing. Therefore, I need to pack some stuff to help keep me on my 6 meals a day schedule, minimize the damage and keep me from eating the bad stuff. This is what I was thinking:

Meal Replacement Bars
Protein Bars
Freeze dried fruit and veggies
Whole wheat crackers
Nuts

Anything else you can think of? I might try some veggie jerky or any other protein snack I can find at the store.

I was also trying to figure out if bringing Meal replacement/protein shakes would work with no kitchen. I hate those shaker bottles because they ALWAYS seem to leak. I was thinking about trying BSN dessert, so maybe this is the perfect time to do that! But I guess only if it mixes easily.

The hotel has a gym and I have all my stuff already packed to get my workouts in while I am gone. Thanks in advance!

[MarySvajgl]

Get some turkey jerky... low in fat and good quick protein

[anandagirl]

ooohhh, don't know if i can handle that! I'm a super picky meat eater - grew up vegetarian and won't touch most meat in general! Maybe I'll buy a small package and see if i like it...

[MarySvajgl]

Ooohhh I know what ya mean. But it seems you got a pretty good list going. Maybe get some peanut butter crackers? I like to make my own and I carry them to class with me. I get the Kashi Crackers and Natty Pb.

[moon girl]

I hate those shaker bottles because they ALWAYS seem to leak. I was thinking about trying BSN dessert, so maybe this is the perfect time to do that! But I guess only if it mixes easily.

Depending on the brand of protein you don't really need a shaker bottle (and yes, they do always seem to leak!). I have a few 'regular' plastic bottles with a wide mouth as shaker bottles. They're like these but the older model:

http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid...d=HPProd100018

I'm sure any non-leaking bottle with a fairly big mouth (so you can get the protein powder in there) would be fine. I sometimes use my Nalgene water bottle.

I use ON and EAS whey and they mix fine in bottle without a strainer - no lumps. Sometimes I just need to let it sit for 20 seconds & shake again if it doesn't dissolve right away.

[Jordyn]

maybe some whole wheat bread, cereals, avocados, beans....

whether the shaker bottle leaks or not depends on the brand. i have 2 cheap gnc ones and those always leak. theres this one that costs $3+ more, i forgot the brand name but it comes w/ a little silver spiral shaker ball in it, that one doesnt leak at all. its prob $7-8.

[slgalberth]

You could also bring some tuna and salmon pouches.

[litlfalafelgirl]

I just went on my frist business trip last month and had to figure out what to do too.

I went out and bought a box of kashi go lean crunch for snacking and i also got a bag of spring mix and blackberries and kept them in the ice bucket.

the hotel store had apples so I bought a lot of them, and had them with the almonds i brought. they also had little bottles of skim so i'd grab bowls and spoons and have the cereal and berries.

Also, i'd ask for suff to be cooked with no margerine or butter and as little oil as possible. their menu had grilled chicken and salmon and egg white fritatas and oatmeal with fruit, so if they offer stuff like that make it work for you.

Finally, i went to a fantastic (slightly hipster, ugh) restuarant with alternative foods, egg white things galore, veggie and vegan stuff and let myself splurge on a great homemade veggie burger and slice of strawberry shortcake on the company dime!

[anandagirl]

It was a disaster! Thanks for everyone's suggestions though! Unfortunately, fresh food was too difficult to get through TSA, so i was stuck with protein and meal bars, walnuts, some whole wheat crackers, and little packages of dried fruit. The rubbermaid bottle worked like a charn though - thanks Moon Girl!

It was a three day conference with buffets at every one of the snacks and meal times. It was bad - we actually gave them dietary requirements, and an associate of mine needed kosher food, but there was cheese or pork in almost everything - That's texas for ya I guess. I tried abstaining from all the food and only eating the food I brought, but I ended up with the biggest headache of my life - probably because I never eat packaged food. Clean or not, it was packaged. I felt better when I ate a just little of the food they provided, and supplemented with my cleaner food, but it was bad. I can't even describe. A carb fest too - the only meat was incorporated into the dish - pasta with chicken, eggs stuffed into croissants. UGH. The worst was that the one dinner we had where is was plated, it was a set menu with no substitutions. I got lucky that they forgot to put dressing on my salad, but after all the cheese they put on it, it really didn't matter anymore.

The good news is that I'm no bigger than I was when I left - I just have some water weight from all the sodium, and I can drop that in the next day. I did actually get all my water in, but I'm sure if they could have figured out a way to add bacon to the water, they would have! LOL