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Without careful planning, eating out regularly and travelling for work can be hard on your health, productivity and body weight. If you travel regularly for work, here are some solutions:

Reshuffle your plate

One of the ways many restaurants save money while ensuring customers leave with full bellies is by filling you up with starchy foods such as bread and excessive portions of rice, pasta and potatoes. In general, veggies, fruit and protein-rich food such as meat, poultry or seafood are more expensive than starchy foods.

Aim for half your plate to be veggies, one-quarter protein, and one-quarter starches. To get this plate balance right, you may need to request half the portion of starches, double the veggies and aim for a maximum of six ounces of protein

Refocus your snacks

Travelling can make you more susceptible to justifying less nutritious choices because of loneliness, stress or fatigue. Corporate travellers also often say they are too busy and find it inconvenient to pack snacks.

Make grabbing snacks at the airport part of your travelling routine, just like checking in your flight. Early in the day at the hotel breakfast buffet, grab a piece of fresh fruit to go along with the nuts or protein bar you have stashed in your briefcase from home.

Choose to have a snack if it will be longer than three to five hours before you will eat again. This helps boost your concentration and interactions with others while preventing you from overeating later.

Looking for some healthy snack ideas?

Try these 10 snack options at the airport:

-Yogurt parfait (yogurt, berries and cereal)

-High-fibre, low-fat oat bran or bran muffin and cheese

-Raw veggies and dip or salad and nuts

-Crackers, cheese and grapes/ sliced fruit

-Fresh fruit/fruit salad/dried fruit bar and carton of milk/chocolate milk

-Canned fruit cup/applesauce cup and cottage cheese/yogurt/ hard cooked egg

-Trail mix

-Protein bar or nuts and unsweetened juice

-Fresh fruit smoothie

-Coffee-shop latte, steamed milk or chai tea

Rethink what you drink

Travelling can contribute to dehydration and further decrease how you feel. Be sure to buy or bring your own water bottle since you likely won’t drink enough by relying on what is served on the plane or at your meals.

Watch your consumption of alcohol which can further contribute to dehydration, stimulate your appetite and add extra calories.

Rework your perception of value

Some of my corporate clients associate value with an entitlement to gorge on expensive meals and wine picked up on the company credit card. For others, value is leaving a restaurant stuffed after cleaning a colossal plate of food.

Instead, consider value as having energy to thrive at work and in your personal life. Like many leaders and sales representatives, what may surprise you most is the change in your confidence at work, which stems from gaining control of your health and feeling good about how you look in your business attire.