Away from home....how do you manage

[Sam5350]

Evening folks.

Currently on low carb diet and i have a query.
How do people manage when staying at hotels?
I am due to be away for a week staying at a Premier Inn that has a restaurant. Any advice for maintaining low carb?

Thanks

 

[PansyP]

I say avoid the obvious ie rice, pasta and fried potatoes/chips, pastries, bread, cereals - if you can resist! Contact the hotel before your stay and ask for certain food that you would prefer.

 

[Resurgam]

I found it quite easy to get more than enough to eat when staying at a hotel. There was a serve yourself breakfast buffet where the only disappointment was the dried up black pudding. I did not need lunch, and in the evening ordered the dinner without the high carb foods - and then fruit for dessert. I ate very well but actually lost weight.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I imagine they have proper cooked breakfasts, so bacon and eggs, mushrooms and a tomato should be available. Salads for lunch. Meat or fish and veg for evening meal. Most of these should be available in any hotel/restaurant. Just be careful of salads with dressings on as these are often full of sugar, and sauces with the main meal can be difficult.

 

[jonbvn]

It's not too difficult really. I dobit regularly and manage ok. A good cooked breakfast, usually skip linch then a decent steak or steamed fish with salad. Look for a cheese selection for dessert.

 

[jonbvn]

Sorry about the typos lol

 

[Snapsy]

@Sam5350 In terms of evening meals I ask for my sausages/steak/ham and eggs/grilled salmon/chicken/roast beef/ham hock/whatever to be served without the chips/mash/rice/roast potatoes/whatever and the resulting space on my plate to be filled with more vegetables. Sauce on the side. Cheese for pudding (I always ask for no grapes/chutney/biscuits, and for a little more cheese to make up the value. Nobody has ever had a problem with me asking, and I've always been well taken care of.

Breakfast I just go for eggs, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes. After hotel breakfasts, before I went low carb, I could never understand the alarming peakiness I would feel after consuming toast, jam, croissants, pains au chocolat, fruit salad etc. I called it 'hotel breakfast syndrome'. Despite being type 1 and therefore able to match carbs with insulin the massive peaks and massive lows from hotel breakfasts were always awful. So it's bacon and eggs all the way for me!

And oh boy I'm so much better for it!

Hope the trip goes well.

 

[Goonergal]

Agree with the others, it's usually possible to pick good options. Premier Inn offer a cooked breakfast so that should be good (watch out for any sausages which may have lots of carbs in them). Then for other meals just skip the carbs and ask for extra veggies/salad instead. I ask for dressings on the side so I can taste to assess how sweet they are before adding to the salad.

For lunch and evening meals why not do a Google search for nearby eateries and check out their menus online before going so that you can identify possible options.

The biggest challenge for me when away from home isn't the food, rather that the change of routine seems to play havoc with my blood sugar levels, particularly in the morning. However they soon settle down once I'm back home.

 

[PansyP]

In Spain recently I stayed at two hotels. Both had large continental buffet breakfasts. At home I usually have a mug of organic unsweetened cocoa for breakfast. When I'm away I take a can of it with me! However this time whilst others were tucking into the rolls, croisants, cereals, jam and orange juice, I stacked my plate with cheese, ham and fruit! I could also have had boiled eggs or yogurts. I confess though in Europe they serve cake too at breakfast and I had small slices of egg custard cake too and yummy they were!

 

[poshtotty]

Evening folks.

Currently on low carb diet and i have a query.
How do people manage when staying at hotels?
I am due to be away for a week staying at a Premier Inn that has a restaurant. Any advice for maintaining low carb?

Thanks

I travel a lot with my work and often have to stay overnight. Next month I'll be in different hotels for 6 consecutive nights. I don't have any trouble sticking to LCHF, in fact I often find I'm more disciplined with my eating when I'm in hotels.

As others have said, Premier Inns do a large cooked breakfast (currently £8.99 on top of room price). When using independent hotels, I prefer a lighter breakfast either continental meats and cheeses, or scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, kippers or smoked haddock with poached egg.

Other times I take a cold bag with my own food ie low carb bread, butter, cheese, ham, hard boiled eggs salads etc.
What I invariably find difficult in hotels are drinks as the chain hotels often don't have cream, or full fat milk for coffee or they serve those awful pots of UHT milk and cream, so I take a my own cream in a small thermos with an ice cube to keep it cool, and keep it in a cold bag with an ice block or two.

If you do find you can't keep to your usual LCHF routine, you could always climb a few flights of stairs within the hotel, to walk off any excess carbs