When You Are in a New Town

How often do you go to a new town for holiday, work, or passing through and you find yourself cheating on your diet? That was me until I realized that all I was doing to putting a hold on my goals and digging myself a larger hole to get out of when I got back home.

Preparation

As mentioned previously in part 1 & 2 of this series preparation is key. A few things to think about before you get to your new town for a holiday or a work event are the following:

Where are you going to stay?

This may sound trivial, but it is very important, if you plan on making meals and eating in opposed to eating out, you need to make sure you have the ability to make and store your meals. If staying at a hotel check out their amenities before booking. For me if I was driving, I would prep all my meals ahead of time in bulk and use my Coleman Cooler in the van and room to keep my meals cold. I would then use my Hot Logic to warm my food up. This was crucial for me since I didn’t want the added expense of a room that up charged for a microwave and refrigerator.  

If you are meal prepping in the hotel or AirBnB the next important thing to think about is, where are you going to get your groceries from. Not all grocers are the same. Using google maps to find out where a grocery market is that fits your needs is where I would start, or you can call the hotel or Airbnb owner to see what is in the area. If you are not driving, do you want to be taking an Uber 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back to get your food? More than likely you will use that as an excuse to forgo your diet and eat meals that you would considered to be cheat meals.

Are You Going to Eating Out?

If so, where? A great app to get besides Yelp is Happy Cow. This is a great source to find restaurants that are only plant-based for protein.   However, it may not be an all-inclusive list. That is my next recommendation to seek out, local groups that are Vegan or Vegetarian. Here in Cleveland we have The Cleveland Vegan Society they do a great job of finding and posting restaurants in the area that are plant-based protein friendly.

If you are traveling with a group, if you can control the restaurant selection do so, this is the easiest way to make sure if you are eating out, there is something on the menu that you will enjoy. If you can’t control the restaurant location, and they selection is a place that doesn’t have anything to eat, do you still go? Yes! Absolutely, don’t let your dietary and fitness goals stop you from having fun. However have a meal before you go, and just enjoy the people, and experiences without having a meal you will regret later on.

For more tips eating plant-based protein while in a new city, please reach out to me at jr@bfylife.com you can also find me on Instagram and Twitter, and you can also comment below.