What’s the best way to eat out while working & eat on the road?

By the Authors of The Mediterranean Diet eBook

Eating out with the Mediterranean diet

Following the tips in this post I’ll try to give you useful info on how to use the Mediterranean diet principles and answers these questions:

  • How do we eat healthy when we’re limited to airport food and business dinners?
  • How do we keep up our exercise routine when we’re on a plane most of the day or in meetings?
  • How can we lose weight while stay 8-10 hours in an office?


Generally eating healthy and working are not always linked together. This is due to a lot of facts like:

  • Time
  • Places
  • Stress
  • Etc…

Now let’s discover some useful info on “How to” optimize your time and eat the right meals to avoid the main problem of people who work a lot…OVER WEIGHT!!

Tips to eat at work

The typical problem with eating at work is the timing. Generally, to arrive in time to your office, you won’t do breakfast. An some times there’s not much time to luch well. So you’ll arrive in the evening very hungry. Consider that the combination of poor nutrition and high stress make you probably overweight.

So…

What foods to eat while in the office

In the office you don’t have lot of time, so choose foods easy to eat while working like: Apples, Watermelons, peaches.

Business travel eating tips

Before you go you should organize simple aspects of your travel:

  • WHERE you will eat
  • WHAT you will eat.
  • WHEN you will eat.

General places where eat while travelling

On the fly – This is the first place you go and where you could eat…Don’t eat the airline food!! It’s tempting to take snacks offered, but don’t. Those snacks are full of sugars and junk carbs.

Lot of airlines companies offer healthy foods:

In the airport – It’ usual to find eating spots in the airports. Here a good guide to find the best spots for airport dining in 18 cities around the U.S

To find the eating spots (Restaurant, Bars, Fast food) in the Airports have a look here:

Fast food – Generally fast foods are not healthy places where eat. They use fried food, etc… You should search for salads, chicken sandwiches and yogurt.

You can find more info to find a list of fast foods eat healthy and guide to find healthy fast foods or see a list of Fast foods + nutritional facts

Restaurants – While choosing a restaurant search for these aspects:

  • Have they substitutes for butter?
  • Do they serve fat free (skim) milk?
  • Do they leave all butter, gravy or sauces off a dish?
  • Do they serve salad dressing on the side?
  • Do they accommodate special requests?
  • What type of Oil they use for cooking?
  • Do they have Steamed, Garden fresh, Broiled, Baked, Roasted, Poached or Lightly sauteed foods?
  • Do they offer foods lower in cholesterol, fat, and sodium, and higher in fiber?

Sure it’s difficult to find answers to al these questions quickly but you can find 80% of these info by reading the Menu outside the restaurants or planning before your reservation. Sometimes many restaurants have menu items that are “heart healthy”.

Before travelling you can find restaurants:

To find healthy restaurants

At the Hotel – Generally Breakfasts and sometimes Dinners are done into the Hotel.

To find a list of health hotels have a look at here:

If you carry out your foods – Carring out your meals is the best thing you can do. You decide what to food and how much to eat. Be sure you can clearly organize the period os the day when you can eat.

What foods to eat while travelling

On the airplane – Eat the foods you’ve carried out (Bring nuts, bread, dried fruits, vegetables, Orange Juice, Tomato Juice). Don’t buy snacks or similar. You can read more tips on the best foods to bring on flights.

In the fast food – TOTALLY AVOID burgers with cheese, special (mayonnaise-based) sauce and bacon. They are full of saturated fat and calories.

Buy a sandwith or something that contains:

  • Eat salads wich Onions, lettuce, tomato and Olive oil
  • Fish or chicken
  • Potatoes (no butter or fried or with “unknown” oils added

Into the restaurant – Generally you can choose to combine the main foods of the Mediterranean diet and follow these simple tips.

  • Avoid dishes with lots of cheese
  • DON’T EAT FRIED FOODS
  • Eat fresh fish
  • If you eat pasta choose it with tomato-based sauces rather than cream-based sauces
  • If you eat meats join them with salads and a bit of bread
  • STAY OUT FROM THAT BUFFET!!
  • Drink water and a glass of wine – I’m sorry but only a glass ;-)
  • Share all the bad things with your colleagues:dessert, appetizer, etc…
  • It’s better you don’t eat fruits with the other foods of your lunch or dinner (they contain glucose and can increase you digestion time)

If you travel in foreign countries

In this guide you can find the healthy foods to eat while in countries like:

  • China: Won ton or hot-and-sour soup; boiled, broiled, steamed, or lightly stir-fried entrees; dishes with water chestnuts; steamed rice; fortune cookies
  • France: Steamed mussels; mixed green salad with vinaigrette dressing; French bread; bordelaise or other wine-based sauces; peaches in wine
  • India: Papadum or papad (crispy, thin lentil wafers); curries with a vegetable or dal (lentil) base; shish kabob; tandoori chicken or fish; gobhi matar tamatar (cauliflower with peas and tomatoes)
  • Mexico: Ceviche (raw fish soaked or “cooked” in lime or lemon juice); grilled fish or chicken breast; salsa, pico de gallo, jalapeno peppers, or cilantro; chicken fajitas; chicken or vegetable enchiladas with red sauce or salsa
  • Italy: Roasted peppers or minestrone soup; pasta primavera with red clam sauce; marinara sauce; italian ices
  • Japan: Fish or vegetable sushi; steamed vegetables; tofu dishes; yakitori (broiled chicken)

When and How to eat

Generally following the Mediterranean diet principles  you should eat 5 times a day.

  • Breakfast – Look for choices that include fresh fruit and whole grains
  • Snacks (11:00 and 18:00) – Fruits and easy to eat foods
  • Lunch – Principally pasta and salads
  • Dinner – Meats and salads to stay light and sleep well

And if I find the time to do physical activity?

There are specialized services that provide you useful info for “Active business travellers” i.e. http://www.athleticmindedtraveler.com and Travel Fitness for Business Travelers

The main place to organize it is the Hotel’s location. You should choose it for

  • Early workouts
  • Find gym partnerships
  • Stretch

Useful tips

  • In the restaurant don’t be shy about making special requests.
  • Asking for smaller portions, sharing entrees with a companion, or putting half of your meal in a to-go box to enjoy another time.
  • Ask that your food be prepared without added salt
  • If you’re eating out with others, ask them to eat at your usual time

Useful resources

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