I've noticed in several journals, as well as posts from new people in the past few days, the question of staying low carb while traveling. There are vacations, which present one set of problems (easier to control what you eat, more temptations) as well as business trips where you may have to eat at luncheons where you can't control the food, or the schedule is tight -- you definitely can't cook.

What do people who are frequent travelers and long time LCers do about traveling? How do you handle staying LC?

I have yet to have a problem while on the road in maintaining low carb.

Many places have salads, steaks, bacon, eggs etc. Even going out with clients and co workers hasn't presented a problem. If they chose mexican food, I can always order a taco salad or fajitias.

Many restraurants will subsititute veggies or salad in place of rice or potatoes, I have yet to find one that wouldn't allow this. Most at no charge to the customer.

Travelling through airports I normally try to eat before getting there so I am not looking to eat at the airport nor on the plane. When offered food on planes I pass, opting for water.

Always carry emergency food. Cans of tuna and salmon with zip-loc tops, pork rinds and macadamia nuts. With travelling, I think maintaining the LC lifestyle is important, and don't worry about weight loss. If I eat too many macadamia nuts, LC life still goes on.

If you're on a business trip, you can phone wherever meals are going to be and request a wheat free meal to avoid having a plate of pasta being plunked down in front of you.

Here, you can get a package that has a stick of pepperoni and stick of cheese at 7-11's, but I'm sure there is a bit more variety in the US.

I never drink coffee on planes, no matter how long the flight is and like ag, bring my own water as well as drink it whenever offered on the trip. I always ask for an aisle seat. I usually don't request a special meal for long trips, I just scrape off the sauce and eat the butter pat like rustpot. IF I want to eat more, I haul out the macadamia or pork rinds.

Karen

My travelling experience has been limited so far, but I have had to do some. So far I have found that I can usually get enough LC-good food from most meals to at least qualify as a small meal.

I haven't had any problems yet at a sit down restaurant. Some places will sub salad for the potato. Most will sub a second veggie selection. If neither is possible, I just ask them to hold the potato and a couple places have been nice enough to give me a senior discount to compensate. Failing all of that, I just leave the LC-bad stuff on the plate - even the Herb Toast (that was a bit hard, but I did it). Since I'm usually ordering from the more expensive meals to get the steak selections, they seem a bit more eager to please.

When I had an all day business meeting that I knew would be catered but had no idea what would be there, I took a baggie with a lot of almonds and cashews and put it in my jacket pocket. If push had come to shove, that would have been my lunch. Too many nuts, but a hell of a lot better than the alternative might have been.

I am also becoming more comfortable asking questions of the servers and requesting special handling. Most places have been quite accommodating - the servers especially since they see an opportunity to earn a bigger tip (and they do if they take care of my needs).

Am I positive that the server really told them to leave the cornstarch out or really knew what they were talking about when they said the veggies had no sugar in the sauce? No. But I figure that the minor slips resulting from the occasions when this is not the case will get lost in the big picture.

Staying LC while travelling is really pretty easy. In the US and Canada there is always something on the menu you can have, and most restaurants will substitute salad or veggies for potatoes, rice, etc.

The one thing that irritates me when travelling is that the airlines will give you a vegetarian meal, a low fat meal, a Kosher meal, etc., but never have a low carb option. So you wind up eating the miniscule amount of meat and cheese in a tiny sandwich, the salad if you're lucky, and that's it! We usually bring nuts and protein bars, some of which may have more carbs than they claim, but at least they do have protein and are lower in carbs than the bread and cookies the airlines give you.

Ok, I'm hopping off my soap box now... :grin:

Karla

I'm a great substituter. I love to ask if I can have vegetables instead of rice or potatoes. Then when I ask for extra butter or sourcream they look at me like I'm crazy. Also, asking for oil and vinegar... Their first thought when you start asking for veges instead of rice and potatoes is that you are "dieting." Then when you ask for "non-diet" foods, including a "high fat" dressing like oil and vinegar, they get so confused. It's fun. It's also fun getting what I want.

I don't fly much, especially not long trips, but I try to carry beef jerky. If there's nothing I can have on the flight, 1 ounce of beef jerky is equivalent to 4 ounces of meat. Eat it with lots of water and maybe some cheese or nuts and you're set. Plus beef jerky doesn't need to be refrigerated, so on a long trip, it's a great standby. And I make my own so I know what's in it.

My real challenge is going to be my 3-weeks camping vacation with my parents in September. They are following The Zone, which is not low enough carb for me. However, they seem to be amenable to my cooking for them while we are camping that I may convert them. The Zone is not really working for them.

;-Deb

When I am on the road, I will usually pack a few nuts with me, or some other LC snacks. When I eat meals, I basically say no to bread, sugar, rice etc. (and fruit for the most part), but everything else is legal. I wouldn't bother counting carbs either. It is best just to come up with a list of things you can eat, things you can eat a little of, and things you can't eat at all, and stick to that. It has worked for me.

Funny you should ask, I just returned from a successful trip last night.

I packed individual snack-size ziplock baggies of my favorite protein powder and a shaker bottle. (Good thing I didn't get my bag checked at any of the security checkpoints -- I would have looked like a cocaine smuggler!) I wish I had also brought a sponge in a ziplock baggie for washing the bottle.

I also packed individual baggies of FlaxOMeal, but I know how you feel about that. For the first day I also had a small container of egg salad, a small container of chicken breast pieces, and a bag of Canadian bacon. As others have suggested, I also carried nuts. Yesterday afternoon I stopped at a grocery in the city I was visiting and picked up individually wrapped pieces of string cheese. The woman in line in front of me was buying slices of turkey from the deli counter -- that would have worked too, as would the "no-drain" tuna that comes in foil packages in single servings.

I don't find restaurants difficult. Most restaurants serve a chicken breast, pork chop, steak, eggs, or the ubiquitous chicken Ceasar. You only need to remember to ask for more vegetables in place of the potato or to omit the croutons. Airports always have a Burger King.

In your case, I'd suggest throwing a few of those Zone bars in your purse.

The only meal that became a problem was a company lunch: lasagna, garlic bread, salad and brownies; no choices other than the alternate vegetarian lasagna. I picked the cheese off the top of the lasagna and ate the salad with it. Fortunately, I'd had a big breakfast and there was a huge bowl of nuts on the snack table two hours later. I should have carried some kind of protein bar to that one.

I pulled it off okay -- I never deviated from LC and I got job offers from four of the managers there!

Allison

Thank you so much for mentioning the no drain tuna! I completely spaced on those. I still buy cans like my mom and I was so worried about the tuna leaking all over my spare clothes in my carry-on that I will have to use when Iberia Airlines loses my luggage(on 4/12)...AGAIN!

The tuna queen,

Julie

Since Sept. 11, I don't think you would be able to get a can opener past the security checkpoint anyway. Tuna in foil pouches might be your only option.