I can do this but am scuppered by a job which means living in hotels for weeks on end and a home life which means catching up socially as I’ve been away from friends and family for ages. I have an 8 week break before I start again so I am determined to do something about my weight through this diet as all my siblings are diabetic and so far I’ve escaped it and mean to stay that way. If any of you had any tips about eating away from home when you have little control over ingredients I’d be very grateful. I’ve stopped drinking alcohol, don’t like fruit juices or cokes so that bit’s easy. It’s the breakfasts and 3 course dinners when you’re hosting a group of people I find really hard. Thanks.

Hi oldlady,
Welcome!
Can you do omelettes for breakfast or bacon and eggs? Salads with dressing on the side for lunch? Steak/chicken/fish + veges for main?
I don’t think it’s socially unacceptable to refuse dessert, so I don’t think that would be a problem. My OH is away this week and that’s what he’s going to try and have.
If you’re in restaurants, ask for no potato/rice etc and request more veges or a side salad, I’ve never been turned down.
Good luck, let us know how you actually go when you get there.
Cheers
Linda

Thanks Linda. Maybe I’ll try an egg breakfast as I normally have porridge, have done for years but if I can force myself to like poached egg and bacon or ham that would probably be better. I can live without desserts but lunches tend to be cafés or pubs (I do escorted tours for small groups) and dinners are set menus normally with no choice plus the evening meal doesn’t normally start serving till 8pm by which time I’m tired and hungry.

It’s a lovely way to earn a living but a nightmare for the waistline. Hoping to use these 8 weeks to change my eating habits and lose a decent amount of weight. Will post on here next week and say how much I’ve lost. I’ll have eggs for breakfast tomorrow! thanks for advice especially asking for more veg instead of potato, hadn’t thought of that one.

Hi oldlady

Yes, it does sound as if you’ll need more organisation – but hopefully by cutting out the refined carbs you will start feeling less hungry and able to make better decisions in all these hotel meals.

I agree that a good breakfast – eggs, bacon, ham, smoked salmon with mushrooms, tomatoes – is an excellent start so that lunch will be easier.

Then I would go for a piece of protein with salad/veg for dinner. I’ve been on holiday this week, and it’s not too bad to stick to that in a hotel/restaurant type setting. Could you have two starters at any point? I’ve done that this week, with smoked salmon followed by cheese salad with nuts, or cold meats followed by fish? Have the starter size for both, so you get some nice variation of flavours in relatively small portions.

Lunchtime a carb free ploughmans? Eat the cheese/ham and salad, but tell them no bread?

I think also that once you get used to simply requesting ‘no potatoes, more salad/veg’ it will be surprisingly easy. I’ve found people really accommodating. And you CAN get round things – I had a pub dinner during my holiday and with fairly limited choice I had scampi (I dissected them to get out the scampi from the breadcrumbs) with extra salad (delicious) and no chips.

Good luck with it! 🙂