Please help me find a diet/nutrition plan that takes into account my lack of a kitchen.

August 26, 2008 10:24 PM

Please help me find a diet/nutrition plan that takes into account my lack of a kitchen.

My circumstances are rather specific.

1) I travel 100% of the time and have been doing so for a year. Those belongings that do not fit in my suitcase live in a storage unit. I do not have a place of residence. As such, I do not have a kitchen or any of the comforts associated with a kitchen.

2) I train hard, burning more than 1,000 calories a day 5 - 7 days a week. Combine that with an RMR of approximately 2200 calories, I end up consuming a lot of food just to maintain my level of activity.

3) My goal is to lose somewhere in the range of 10 - 20 lbs before my next A race in early June of next year. That's 9 months. That's a little over 2 lbs per month, or 1/2 lb per week, or a calorie deficit of roughly 1750 calories per week, or 250 calories a day. Given that I lost 65 lbs last year and have maintained my weight despite lacking a kitchen, this seems like a reasonable and manageable goal. (Whether or not my body agrees remains to be seen. I will modify my goals as necessary.)

Despite my successes, I have struggled without a kitchen. All of my meals are purchased at the time they are consumed. This leads to impulsive food purchases, especially when my body is screaming for nutrition and I find myself in a drug store (where most of my just in time grocery shopping is done) or at a restaurant. I have come to the conclusion that if I had a diet or nutrition plan that could work for someone in my circumstances that I could, in fact, reach my goal. Without a plan, though, I tend to simply refuel my tank.

I am prepared to put time and effort into both modifying a plan to work for my circumstances and to changing my behavior to meet my goals. Though I don't see my kitchenless lifestyle changing in the short term, it is a top priority for the next six months. In the mean time, I'd like to move forward with my nutrition goals as I move forward with my fitness goals. Given my circumstances, what diet or nutrition plan would you suggest? What other resources would you suggest I investigate?

posted by sequential to health & fitness (7 comments total)

so where do you live, in hotels? if you've got access to a refrigerator, you can at least store things to have for breakfast or snack on, like milk for cereal, some cheese or fruits. housekeeping can bring you plates and bowls and cutlery on request, for no charge.

anyway, lots of new yorkers manage to go on diets and lose weight without cooking—our kitchens are tiny and are mostly underutilized if not completely unused—so while i don't have specific plan recommendations, i can at least tell you that it is possible to get proper nutrition when you always eat out. but, um, try not to buy your food in drug stores! if you really have to, at least try and get things that you should be eating anyway, like yogurt, instead super processed and preservative-laden things like frozen pizzas or pop-tarts.
posted by lia at 10:42 PM on August 26, 2008

Do you have access to a kitchen periodically and hotel rooms with fridges? If so, Google "freezer cooking" or "once a month cooking" and cook a weeks' worth of nutritious food at a time. Hopefully, it'll fit in your suitcase.

If not (and I know that was a big if), there's Seattle Sutton meals. They're expensive, but I hear they're healthy. She probably has competitors as well that might have better prices. You can pick up a week's worth of meals and take them with you.

One thing you can do to combat the impulse eating is keep protein shake mix with you. Drink it right after your work out to stop hunger (and both prevent catabolism), then take your time non-impulsively choosing a good meal.
posted by ignignokt at 10:44 PM on August 26, 2008

Wow. If I were in your shoes, I would do 2 things:

1. Ask if your company can put you up at a place like Extended Stay vs. your standard hotel. Even a microwave/fridge would do wonders for expanding your purchase options. It's really not an unreasonable request given the amount of traveling you're doing.

2. Do some research online about major chain restaurants. Many of them have their nutritional information posted online. To be honest, it's even possible to eat well at a Mcdonald's or other fast food restaurant if you're informed about your choices and you go out of your way to do so. But many middle of the road places like Applebees et al have some really healthy choices on the menu. By researching acceptable meals ahead of time, you'll be sure to have a game plan when it's 9:30 and you're just ducking into a restaurant because you need to eat. Those chain restaurants might not be the most appetizing choices, but it's a fair bet that if you accumulate a nice list of nutritionally sound options at a variety of places that you'll be able to order up something almost anywhere.
posted by theantikitty at 10:48 PM on August 26, 2008

Thankfully, I don't generally eat frozen pizzas or most of the terrible crap in drug stores. I buy from a select group of foods that, while not perfect, are not entirely evil. (Fiber One, bananas, and water make up more of my diet than I care to admit.)

I stay in hotels frequently, but don't always have a kitchen - I am at the mercy of priceline.com. It is unreliable, but if I am in a hotel with a fridge, I do use it. One thing I did fail to mention is that I always have access to a refrigerator and a microwave during my work day, though space is limited. It is feasible for me to keep and heat some food there.
posted by sequential at 11:02 PM on August 26, 2008

do you spend most of your time in one city and if so which one? I ask mainly because many larger cities have food delivery systems that are geared towards the dieting. one example I frequently cite here because of my positive experiences with them is nukitchen in nyc. I had them deliver to multiple places all across town on short notices, switch me from one menu to another, take time off when I was out of town and so many other naughty little extra wishes and they never had trouble getting them right. (the billing system was a bit chaotic though, so I'd suggest paying attention to that.) services like this one will deliver food that's actually really good and get you to lose the weight. my coworker used to say I ate better than him in spite of being on a diet all the time.

so that's why I am asking about cities. I know a similar company exists in los angeles and faintly recall one in chicago, though I'd have to search. I'd recommend calling them up and asking about single week offerings or however long you are in town.

many drugstores now also sell small packs of really great cereal/granola (you know, gluten-free and all that goodiness) that you could easily take with you. spike a yoghurt with that and make it a meal, go for performance-enhancing bananas (what kind of race? running?) instead of the real junk food. having travelled extensively and knowing the hotel-room life, I do realize it's just way too convenient to go for junk but it's possible to avoid as well. I think you should be able to achieve your goal, even without knowing much about your size/shape/etc.

nukitchen suggested I'd heat the lunch and some of the other stuff but I often ate it cold, so I don't think that's gonna be a problem.
posted by krautland at 11:53 PM on August 26, 2008

2nding the recommendation to select hotels with kitchens. That opens up a large range of healthy possibilities.

There are a number of hotel chains which provide some of the amenities of home, at what seem to be similar rates to regular hotels (I dunno, maybe they save money by not giving you new sheets every day).

With some of these hotel names in mind, you can search the discount travel sites and perhaps get deals that are comparable with what you'd get with Priceline. Factor in that your food costs are going to be much cheaper if you prepare your own means, and might even be doing better financially.

Good luck.
posted by zippy at 11:54 PM on August 26, 2008

Buy Nutrisystem for a month. It will cost about $350 and come delivered in a big box. All of their foods require no refrigeration (even the TV dinner-type ones). You'll need boiling water, a microwave, milk (for cereal), and you'll need to make a couple salads every day (but you can skip/replace the salads)

Once you've gone through the supply (you'll like some of their food and hate some of it) you'll have a better idea of the world of non-perishable food out there and can shop for it on Amazon. Or continue w/ Nutrisystem.

If you're a foodie, you'll be dissappointed, but the food is comparable to pre-prepared food you'll get in a grocery store. If you re-up for another month, you can custom-select all of your meals to weed out the ones you don't like.
posted by VTCarl at 4:40 AM on August 28, 2008