Written By Hannah Abdulla RD

If you are reading this, you are probably one of our many clients who travel for work. If so, you’re in the right spot! The long days and lack of predictability in travel adds a lot of stress to our clients. Clients report not having access to their go-to stores where they know they can find the items needed to maintain a balanced diet. Clients frequently struggle navigating meals when a hotel restaurant is downstairs, instead of their kitchen at home. Check out some of our go-to tips for navigating hotel offerings.

Tip 1

Find some shelf stable staples to take with you on your travels. Items like Jif To Go peanut butter can be taken on a plane or kept in a suitcase. Dried fruit, trail mix, bags of nuts and beef jerky are also some great options. Having these at your reach will be helpful if you are struggling to locate a snack. You can also incorporate some of these items in hotel offerings.

Tip 2

Many hotels offer continental breakfasts but navigating them might be tricky as the items available are often high in calories and low in protein. Prior to selecting items, look at all the offerings. From there try to visualize MyPlate and see what you can put together. Opting for a Bran cereal, milk and a fruit may be a good option. The bran cereal is high in fiber, the milk will provide protein and the fruit will help meet your produce goals. Many continental breakfasts will have yogurt available and depending on the non-perishables you have on hand (See Tip 1), you can add peanut butter or nuts to the yogurt. This will give you a boost of fat and protein to hold you over on the yogurt.

Tip 3:

Depending on where you are staying, the hotel may have a buffet-style of service. This can be exciting- so many options and someone made them all for you! It can also be overwhelming, because again, so many options. We recommend taking an approach like that above (Tip 2) and assess the offerings prior to making selections. We suggest grabbing a plate and filling half the plate with produce, from there add your protein and your final selection can be your grain. 

Tip 4:

If your hotel has a restaurant downstairs, you will likely have a lot more options and flexibility in your meals. We have a several tips for navigating hotel restaurant menus:

• Portions are large and you likely don’t have somewhere to store leftovers. Check out the A La Carte section of the menu, as well as the appetizer section for smaller portions

• Ask the chef if you can double up on the veggies in the meal. Sometimes you will be asked to pay a small fee, but most chefs are happy to accommodate

• Choose a side of fruit or a side of veggies with every meal

• Build your own meal by ordering a few sides. This will allow for more control in what you are eating. Select a protein and produce first and if you are still feeling hungry you might decide to add a grain

Tip 5

If you are staying in a hotel for an extended period, look for a hotel with a small kitchen. At the very least, a refrigerator and microwave. This will allow you to carry over some of the same practices you incorporate at home. You can stock the mini refrigerator with accessible snacks such as

• Produce

• Yogurts

• Cheese sticks

• Store-bought protein drinks

A microwave will allow you to make things such as

• Instant oats

• Steamed rice packets

• Freezer meal such as the Healthy Choice Power Bowls