The travelling man's eating plan

Sameer's job was weighing him down. As a journalist, he was travelling for up to two weeks a month, and his weight had ballooned. "That's when I realised what travelling had done to me," he says. Like most road warriors, diet was Sameer's last concern. "I was entering different time zones and dealing with job pressures. Once I met my deadlines, I just wanted to blow off steam." Then he sighs. "And the food at some places was delicious!" But Sameer attacked. He took our advice, revamped his diet, wedged workouts into his overstuffed schedule and lost 10kg in eight weeks. Now it's your turn. Every man is busy, every man is stressed and as a result, every man crashes into the same diet roadblocks. Simply put, travelling doesn't make you fat. Crappy food and crappier habits do. Rules of the road Any man who travels regularly needs a flexible, no-thought eating strategy-an effective diet that allows indulgence without calorie counting. The solution: a low-carb diet with benefits. Every time you eat high-carb foods-bread, pasta, rice, any product made with sugar or flour-the level of insulin in your blood rises. Insulin is a powerful hormone that signals your body to stop burning and start storing fat. How powerful? Jeff Volek, PhD, RD, a nutrition researcher at the University of Connecticut found that men who stuck to a strict low-carb diet for six weeks-without having to downsize portions-dropped an average of 3kg of fat and lowered their risk of heart disease. "We calculated that 70 per cent of the variability in fat loss was explained by the reduction in insulin levels," says Volek. Now think about that in reverse. If you're constantly downing carbs, you'll be in fatstoring mode all day. So adopt low-carb eating as your default diet and make high-carb meals an exception. You'll limit your number of daily insulin spikes, keeping your body in fat-burning mode most of the time. Here's what to do Using the guidelines below, choose from the lower-carb group as often as you can. But when those foods aren't available, go ahead and enjoy selections from the higher-carb group. Use this rule: each time you choose a higher-carb food, try to have at least three lower-carb meals or snacks before dipping into that well again. What about alcohol? You can down up to two glasses of wine (300ml) or light beer (700ml) a night. 6 more ways to take a load off Forget about the menu: In restaurants, determine your order before you even see the options. Most people choose with their eyes and not with their heads. At dinner, for example, you should decide that you're ordering a salad as your appetiser (instead of bread), and chicken or fish with veggies. Be your own man: When ordering dinner with a group, don't follow the overeating crowd-it could benefit your career. "If your boss and colleagues see you eating healthy, you're going to look like an outcome-driven leader," says behavioural therapist Robinson Welch, PhD. It sends a message that you want to be successful. You'll take care of business as you take care of yourself-effectively. Manage temptation: When reserving a room at a hotel, ask for your mini-fridge to be stocked for a diabetic. Desk your laptop: "If you work in bed, you associate the bed with wakefulness and activity, not with sleep and relaxation," says Mark Rosekind, PhD, a former sleep scientist at NASA. Men average two to three fewer hours of sleep when they travel for business, and this disturbance in your internal clock decreases your levels of leptin (a hormone that delivers feelings of satiety) and increases the levels of ghrelin (a hormone that sparks hunger). The net effect: your appetite increases by 23 per cent. Invite a new client to dinner: Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo observed that men consumed 35 per cent fewer calories when eating with strangers than with friends. Keep a stash of protein bars, but use caution: Energy bars are typically designed for athletic performance, and often contain around 300 calories and lots of sugar. How to eat on the road Lower-carb (choose most of the time) Poultry, seafood, vegetables (except potatoes), fruit, nuts, eggs, cheese, milk, dahi, water, low-carb protein bars and shakes, unsweetened coffee and tea, diet soda Higher-carb (eat in limited quantities) Bread (and other foods made with fl our), rice, pasta, hot and cold cereals, potatoes, chips, sweetened yoghurt, cookies, cake, pastries, candy, granola, sugar, sweetened beverages Web gems Access the Internet to gain access to exercise Download a pedometer. Enter your location and this Google feature allows you to design running routes, complete with mileage, on its high-tech satellite maps. Check it out at gmap-pedometer.com. Do your homework. Find hotels with good gyms or offer passes to health clubs at fitforbusiness.com Use your body as a barbell. Check our body-weight workout at www.menshealth.com/hotelworkout