Ripped on the nutritional nuggets

I wrote most of this blog in the few spare moments i had whilst at a Starbucks on a little crossroads somewhere in LA! I was on a business trip, honest! It was early morning, still a little cold with a slight haze of fog hovering above the ground which gave an eerie calmness to the place, sheltering it from the hustle of LA. I had already trained at the local 24-hour fitness and I was waiting for the wholefoods to open so i could grab my supplies for the day ahead. I've really no idea where in LA i was but it was a nice cosy little place, with a big ol fire so I thought id chill out with an americano and start writing.

it was day 2 of a recent week long trip to the states combining some sightseeing with a fitness conference.

This was the perfect time to employ the codes of Ripped on the road! 

Eating healthy while on the road can be tough, some may think impossible!! 

just think back, how long did your diet last during any of your recent business trips?....as soon as they brought out the bacon sarnies right, or when your stomach rumbled as you past the service station.


lets face it these things are you don't associate any of those things with health, you think it will be to hard so why bother, you say ill just "get back on it" when i return?

but what about when the next business trip comes along, doesn't that just turn you into a yoyo dieter, hardly an ideal scenario or a set up for long term leanness.

Hopefully i'm going to show it can actually be pretty painless to eat the foods you want to eat, without crazy limitations and still be healthy and on track with your goals, maybe even progress faster!

It starts with Knowing your journey.

don't just wing it, unless your planning to get lost!

when crossing a foreign land you don't just wing it, you buy a map (ok now you have a sat nav) you set out your route, the good thing with a map is that you can always make adjustments as you go and always find your way back to the route and hit your destination.

with that in mind here's my 1st simple task to do before any business trips to stay "Ripped on the road"

1 - Goals - where do you want to be by the end of the trip a few steps back or forward? here i list a few targets i want to achieve by the end of my trip.Just some very short term goals.

- Such as maintain strength.

- maintain leanness.

- stay motivated.

Seriously, just google it.

2 - The recon mission - this is a quick check list of things to do or find about your actual physical destination, so you have the info and tools in place before you set off. 

- can you take your food with you? what places on the way to your destination are there where YOU can you decide what to eat?

- what are the best local places i can eat out or get food on the go at your destination.

- does the hotel have a gym? or are there any gyms close by that i can use

by simply writing this stuff down you are way more likely to adhere to it, by having a plan in place you wont need to wing it.

Before your next Road trip, apply the above task to your trip and ask the questions and identify the scenarios where you may need to have a plan in place to keep you on track.

• On the road: what is your form of travel? plane, train or automobile? what are your options? car or plane means you can be in control of what YOU eat, in my car i will pack my cool bag with Bottles of water, flask full of coffee and i will take the essentials, i know i need to prioritize protein (so should you), the night before i cook up some chicken and bacon and wrapped in them in foil a slung them in my cool bag, in there is also my whey protein and my shaker. Protein SORTED! carbs are easily available everywhere so not really any need to pre pack them but i like to have a few pieces of fruit in my cool bag so i am in control and the smell of krispy kremes doesnt get me at some service station.

These contain Protein...right?

#Wolfin

• at the conference or Meetings: i know this can be a hard one as most places will put on food, however most the time it will be something that doesn't take You closer to your goal. in these situations this is where you have to be the wolf! and be shameless about doing it, you do not have to do what everyone else does and you don't have to explain!!! you might get a few jibes from some colleagues, but only because it highlights what their not doing, be proud that your in control, be the wolf! its very simple to have a bottle of water and serving of your favorite Protein powder,  whack the 2 together and Bish bash bosh your done, still hungry? thrown down half a punnet of raspberries with that, kills a sweet craving while being very low in sugar, your talking less than 5 grams per 100g, which keeps any elevation in insulin minimal so you won't be falling asleep then hungry again in less than an hour like everyone else in the room! this is known as boardroom hacking! Keep an eye out for my brain upgrade.

not what i meant!

• Back to the hotel room: So your done for the day, where do you eat? what do you do? well as you followed the codes your prepared, you did the recon! so you know where the best places are to eat! But first its a good idea to re-balance the activity levels from all the sitting down bent over a desk from a days worth of meetings and driving! Hit a KISS (keep it simple stupid) workout or hit the gym. If there's no gym in this hotel your gonna hit a quick 20 min "no gym no problem" session, then head off to one of the restaurants you already checked out before arriving, after your meal you head to the local supermarket found in the recon and purchase some supplies for tomorrow like some deli meats to snack on, some more protein powder, some fruit n veg and water. 
• The Planned plan B: if you know your going to be heading out for a meal on one of the nights i don't just suggest ordering the steak and swapping the chips for another side of veg! you've heard that before, tried that before and rarely does it work. instead i suggest you apply your nutritional will power during the day throughout the meetings when your already in "work-mode" for eg by simply avoiding carbs up until the evening meal. Then later on when you go out for your meal with your colleagues, eat any meal of your choice unrestricted. Not only is it possible you'll wake up leaner it will help you de-stress if rather than stress if it is planned in and works much better socially on the occasion. The following morning you jump straight back into your routine, this simple trick works every time!

when your going a long way, a few simple tactics go along way!!

take it easy

Dan