Complimentary Analysis

Carry a Controlled Substance

Four Words That Will Change Your Nutritional Regrets on the Road

Today we’re discussing the 2nd Energy Habit – FUEL

When I survey business travelers to ask them what their biggest challenge as a road warrior is, 9 out of 10 will answer: eating healthy on the road. I have the handful of stories of some incredible food I’ve eaten and wine I’ve drank during my many years on the road and the 40 extra pounds to prove it!

There are many reasons why eating healthy on the road was their biggest challenge, such as no self-control, lack of control over your own meals, FOMO (fear of missing out), peer pressure, etc. All understandable but in the end, we’re left with the weight, the guilt, and the lack of energy.

Here’s a Question For You…
Have you ever wondered if food really affects your energy? How often have you missed breakfast and start dragging in the mid to late morning or because you’re hungry and your stomach is growling. Or how often have you made a poor lunch choice and it’s haunting you (and others) mid to late afternoon on the road? You become THAT guy or girl.

You’re either tired, bloated, or struggle digesting whatever you ate that seemed like a good idea at the time. This proves how much our food can directly affect our energy.
Early on, sadly, my criteria for food most of my road life was as follows:

  • I want it quick
  • I want it easy
  • I want it large
  • I want it tasty

When I first started out, I had the budget of a small child who hated food, which meant I had to get very creative on the use of my daily food allotment. I made so many bad choices early on and also created many bad habits that took years to unlearn.

Here’s a stat: 75% of adults are overweight and 36% are considered obese.
Think about that.

And this statistic doesn’t address the Road Warrior who eats many of those meals on the road with many more tempting and fattening foods literally at their fingertips.

Now, there’s overweight statistically then there’s overweight for you. And here’s the problem:

We don’t see the correlation between nutrition and energy.

If we don’t watch what we eat and continue down this path, we’re always going to feel:

  • Embarrassed about how we look
  • Insecure
  • Shame
  • Lazy
  • Out of control
  • Lack self-discipline
  • Little to no energy

Is that the life you want? And if we’re REALLY honest with ourselves, will my health affect the quality and length of my life?

And THAT is the real issue: Not having energy as a result of not eating properly to do my VERY BEST every single day.

Is that your story? Do you feel unhealthy? Overweight?

I can relate.

I used to eat whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted and often times, the later the better. Can’t go to bed hungry, right? I never looked at the label to read the calories, fat, or sugar – and definitely not the ingredients.

Looking back, I’m a little horrified at what I consumed a majority of my life.

I justified my eating because I worked out and once I started traveling, I couldn’t hide the weight anymore. I felt horrible, far from my best, and detested how I looked in the hotel mirror.

For me, this was not acceptable and I hated how I felt and looked. But I chose to change the way I ate on the road which became a catalyst to change my eating behaviors at home as well.

I feel in control again and in really good shape for my age. I prefer to curl the 40 lb. dumbbell not carry it in my gut.

Food is a personal issue especially on the road. It’s easy to feel justified by what we eat on the road. I hear consistently from women that too often food becomes emotional on the road and reactive due to the stress. Understandable, but there’s still a cost.

Men often turn to alcohol and we know where that could lead.

Energy Habit Two is FUEL. It’s challenging how we look at food when we travel.

Here’s The Problem

I was eating on the road because I was hungry or because it was time to eat and it was just there in front of me. I did NOT look at food in the way that is critical for a Road Warrior:

I had to change my mindset to the following…

FOOD is FUEL.

It’s the fuel your body needs to have the energy you need on the road to be an Elite Road Warrior

FUEL is ENERGY.

Food is Fuel and Fuel is Energy.

And when you begin to think this way, Energy Habit Two will start to make a difference in your Road Life

There are four words that will become your fuel mantra. These four words simply and literally changed my food choices.

Four Words That Will Change Your Nutritional Regrets on the Road
Make The Healthiest Choice

What if you said those specific four words absolutely every time you were about to eat? How much different would the results be AFTER you chose the healthier option?

These four words, Make the Healthiest Choice became my personal mantra. I got serious and I mean serious with these four words.

I put it on my mirror so I would see the phrases and the overweight person staring back at me in the mirror every stinking time. (That guy was consistent!)

I even put it on my door so I would see it walking out of the room. I put a sticky note on my fridge in my hotel room if one was available to me.

I repeated those four words staring at a menu especially when my natural reaction at a restaurant is the tastiest choice or the largest choice.

And here’s a challenging question for you to think about: What could begin to change in your nutrition if you followed these four words, Make the Healthiest Choice? This could be a game changer for you.

My wife and I ask this question of our kids now: What would be the healthiest choice? When we go out to eat and they choose from the kid’s menu: What would be the healthiest choice? When they get a snack: What would be the healthiest choice? We want them to recognize this now at an early age. So, if a 7-year-old can do it, I know you can too!

Here’s the point: We want to feel healthy so we can accomplish and enjoy what we want out of our work and life. Your nutrition can and should be a source of energy for you to do your best work.

In this 2nd energy habit of FUEL, you’ll learn three actions that will change how you view nutrition on the road.

1.Continually Hydrate

Wait, hydration is not food! But just as a high performing car needs gas (food to the body), it also needs oil to run smoothly. And that’s exactly why we need to hydrate.

2. Clean & Green

This is where our four key words: Make the Healthiest Choice begin changing our decisions on the road. Don’t worry, you’re not going to starve yourself or have to eat only things you hate. This is a process.

At first, it will be Make the Healthier Choice. But it simply gets down to Eating Clean and Eating Green.

3. Carry a Controlled Substance

Two things I don’t care for: being hungry and limited options when I am hungry. This is why it’s critical you learn how to leverage the power of snacks or your own meal to subsidize in a way that continually fuels you and doesn’t put you in a spot to Make the Quickest Choice, or the Easiest Choice, or even the Largest Choice.

Once you learn how to carry a controlled substance and make it part of your road routine, you’ll be able to have complete control of your fuel on the road.

Warning…

This is a process.

It takes determination and dedication to have these four words become natural before you eat each meal or even snack. Chances are there will be times you will choose a different key word in the four words (easiest / quickest / largest / tastiest). But the key is what you do the next meal.

I’ve found that not continuing the pattern and making the 2nd mistake is absolutely critical to getting back on the nutritional wagon. You need to stop the bleeding immediately. Engrave “Make the Healthiest Choice” in your mind. Remember, only YOU control your nutrition, so take responsibility now. Implement these four words with your very next meal on the road. Then at the next meal. Then the next…

You’ve got this!

How to do more than survive a trade show on the road

One of the aspects of business travel for many road warriors is trade shows, events, conferences, etc.

Whether you’re working them or just attending them, they can be an absolute grind that becomes even more of a challenge.

Those very long days and sometimes even longer nights expose many of our already bad road habits on the first day let alone an entire event!

I remember my very 1st large trade show that I was “working the booth” as we often say.

It was in Orlando in the early spring so I was thrilled by the weather coming from Chicago. Silly me to think I would get to enjoy ANY of that Florida sunshine. The show hours were ridiculous, then the customer dinners and corporate events/parties at night.

I was young, ambitious, foolish, and did NOT know how to pace myself in those early days.

For someone who’s never worked or attended these type of events, they somehow seem more glamorous than the true reality.

I rarely saw the sun, ate whatever and whenever I could. I was unable able to enjoy the hotel except crash on the bed in a complete coma which seemed like a nap then wash-rinse-repeat.

My voice was shot, my feet hurt, I was tired of giving the same elevator pitch to people who too often could care less, and I had my fill.

And the more my role changed and my title increased, the more responsibilities I had on any given day of an event.

At one point, I was working the booth, in meeting rooms, hosting dinners, attending 2-3 corporate events into the wee hours of the morning, then having to get up early for key breakfast meetings.

Day after day after day after day.

I did NOT know what I didn’t know and just grinded myself through the trade show / conference season not knowing there was any other way.

Here are three of the Most Common Challenges I Faced

1. Food-Related = how do I find a decent place to eat on a trade show floor or conference? And it’s a challenge with going right to an event after the show to a corporate event that only serves appetizers.

2. Sleep-Related = I get more sleep at home with an infant than I do during the week of a trade show event or conference!

3. Health-Related = all I do is stand and I’m wiped out. No time to workout and even if i did, I wouldn’t have the energy.

But…

 

 What can you do to not only survive a trade show or event on the road but really thrive?

I mean the kind of thrive where you stand out as the show goes on while others are tanking big time?

Three Event Realities:

Reality Number One – Only you can take care of you – most barely do on a normal travel week but all the more the week of a trade show and/or conference

Reality Number Two – You don’t have to attend every event or be there every moment

Reality Number Three – Winging it is a horrible plan – too many business people just “go with the flow”

So, how do you do more than survive a trade show on the road…?

CREATE A PLAN…

Four Thrive Plan Essentials at an Event

1. Sleep Schedule

I start with this because on these grueling weeks, this is the 1st priority to go. You look at the average person on day two not to mention day three and they’re a walking coma.

Sleep is our biggest performance enhancer on the road but it seems to become even less of a priority with a brutal morning-to-night event schedule.

We MUST prioritize sleep and remember reality #1 – only you can take care of you I know the amount of sleep I need to be sharp – not just coherent – so I need to do whatever I can to guard that sleep time.

When you’re tired you make tired choices that are the path of least resistance and are only convenient, rarely healthy or the smartest choice.

Michael Hyatt often says, “the more tired I am, the dumber I get.”

I’m starting with the biggest ask in guarding your sleep, but it’s the biggest difference maker to your energy especially at a trade show or an event.

You need even more sleep at trade shows, conferences, events because you’re consuming far more of your energy so make sure you guard your sleep ESPECIALLY your 1st and last night.

Why those nights? Get your event off to a good start and the last night you want to start removing the sleep debt you put yourself in and you don’t want to be a complete train wreck and useless to those back home.

Event Tip – if you’re at an event, don’t make a HUGE DEAL when you decide to leave. No one ever really knows unless you make a huge deal that you’re taking off. I’ve found when I used to make this BIG ANNOUNCEMENT, this is when the peer-pressure came in full force – and… I often caved. But if you just slip out to go to the bathroom then head out the door instead of back into the madness, you’ve just pulled off a masterful escape.

An ERW (Elite Road Warrior) knows when it’s time to go and is shameless about it. They know who they need to see at a corporate event or party, they know the end goal of that conversation and when they’re just hanging around just to hang out. Look at the bigger picture and what an extra hour at a late night event will do for you in the long run compared to an hour of quality sleep.

2. Water

We normally don’t consume enough water on an average day, but Continually Hydrate is a key focus area.

You need to be responsible for your own water which starts with carrying your own water bottle. I don’t know, maybe an ERW branded water bottle with a slick handle? Just sayin.

You need to stay hydrated if you’re up on your feet and talking to people all day. There are often places to “fill up” water but rarely anything to put water in more than a toddler dixie cup so BYOWB (bring your own water bottle)

Also, for you “adult beverage drinkers”… you absolutely must join the free 1:1 Match Program – create a rule that you won’t have a 2nd drink until you finish your glass or bottle of water.

This alone is a game changer for those who decide to get the happy hour drink and I don’t know, 4pm when they start serving it, hit 1-3 corporate events/parties and a customer dinner!

And shockingly, you don’t have to drink everything offered to you. Often, I save it for the “better stuff” later – you can take a pass just don’t try and make it all up later.

Another tip, know when you’ve had enough and just switch to water. Nobody there knows and to be honest, nobody really cares. They may actually like you better if you stopped a beverage or three ago!

The point? Get watered down, man.

Have water be your companion all throughout the day but especially the last hour before bed.

3. Meal Planning

I used to consume the worst food that was so overpriced and did absolutely NOTHING for my energy.

I inhaled it and felt like I ate nothing, but was reminded a couple hours later when my body’s trying to process it. I’m stinking up the joint looking around like it was someone else.

Remember, Food is FUEL and FUEL is ENERGY.

When you don’t eat or you eat poorly, it’s a direct correlation to our energy and that’s exactly what we need to not just survive but thrive at an event.

As a result, control what you can control and that starts with breakfast. Make sure you’re taking time for a Clean and Green breakfast to at a bare minimum set up your day guaranteeing you have a strong base if you don’t know what will happen the rest of the day.

Do whatever you can to guard your lunch break. If you’re working a booth, you’ll get a lunch break. Maximize it.

I always and I mean always do intel on my options, how long it will take to get there and what food will be available for me.

If I’m not working a trade show floor, I have even more control and less excuses. Many conferences offer a lunch so MTHC (Make the Healthiest Choice).

Remember, food is fuel and fuel is energy. Where most people crash is in the mid-to-late afternoon depending on what they had for lunch.

Don’t be THAT guy or THAT girl.

Take control of your food because Food is Fuel and Fuel is Energy

4. Maximize Your Breaks

You have breaks at an event beyond your lunch break. Ask for them. Guard them.

Make the most of them – find or do something that brings you energy not consumes more energy

1. Snack
2. Go Outside
3. Watch or Read Something
4. Meditate

These sound crazy and require effort but remember, you’re NOT everyone else. You’re an Elite Road Warrior and your behavior is different as a result.

Here’s a Tip that combines #3 Meal Planning and this one, #4 Maximize Your Breaks:

Create a Snack Bag – I have a certain small lunch bag I carry with me to “Carry a Controlled Substance” and not be caught off guard. Normally I use these on the road but especially for the Trade Show / Conference / Event Week.

And even more so if I’m working a trade show. I’m a captive audience and that mid to late afternoon crash can be avoided and this is one of the biggest ways – having a healthy snack that is easily accessible.

You need to take control of your day. Let me give you a recent example.

I was in Vegas at a trade show after walking the show floor and had an event to attend in the early evening before a client dinner.

In the past, I talk myself out of going back to my hotel room due to all the effort and choose the path of least resistance and just stay at the event and drink cheap beer or wine and eat unhealthy appetizers.

This time, though, I choose to make the effort to go back to my room, workout for just 10 minutes in my room for some energy, FaceTimed with the fam, had a healthy snack (since I had a kitchen in my room and that was done on purpose!).

At that point I was more than ready for my evening with two corporate events and a dinner.

It can be done.

Let’s Land This Plane

There is a way to do more than survive a trade show and/or event whether your working or just attending it.

I want to challenge you. You have more choices than you realize when you’re at or working an event such as a trade show, conference, etc. Most “go with the flow and react” but not an ERW.

We have a THRIVE PLAN then execute it no matter what those around us are doing or not doing. If you can learn to take control in the toughies like an event, you’ve got this for the normal business travel trip.

Leverage that for road for YOU to become an ERW today.

You Got This!

How I’m Learning How to Do Keto On the Road in Five Challenging Ways

One of the biggest challenges we hear from Elite Road Warrior Group research is how hard or challenging or impossible it is to eat healthy on the road.

A theme quote from my book: If you want to do something you’ll find a way – if you don’t you’ll find an excuse. – Jim Rohn

My self-identified role is to push you, challenge you, and hopefully motivate you to move beyond the average. From the existing or exhausted road warrior to an elite road warrior. This is my Master Evil Plan.

One of the biggest challenges on the road – eating healthy.

How you eat affects so many aspects of your road life:

  • How you feel about yourself – confidence, disappointment or even shame in how you look (I remember those days trying to escape that overweight guy who kept following me to each hotel bathroom mirror – hated that guy)
  • Your energy levels – Food is Fuel and Fuel is Energy

 

I’ve always been a bigger guy since my college days of lifting and eating a ton.

In college, there’s the freshman 15 and
For the business traveler, there’s the Travel 20. And I was such an over-achiever I hit 40 pounds overweight to prove it.

If you want to see that picture, check out eliteroadwarrior.com and watch the video on the top header.

I loved eating the best of the king’s food and drinking the best of the king’s wine and have more than enough opportunity on the road.

Here’s one sad, revealing true story: I was at a large dinner party of 12 and someone after dinner challenged to pay money to anyone who would finish the table’s dessert.

Now, this wasn’t some dainty-cute dessert. This was one pound of brownie and a gallon of ice cream. Topped with a mountain of whipped cream.

Once they started throwing out large bills, I was in. I milked the experience acting like I was done so they would throw more money down.

I finished every last bite and did my “victory lick” with my finger of the last piece of chocolate.

I won.

Or so I thought.

I didn’t sleep for one second that night. I could not digest what I had just eaten mind you after appetizers, a Porterhouse Steak, and serious Vino.

I couldn’t even lay down. I was miserable for 72 hours.

Brutal. Stupid.

 

Once I dropped the weight, I would add 10 then lose it. Add 15 then lose it.

I didn’t look bad. I just didn’t feel my best. I felt it the most around my stomach.

Many of you can relate.

Then my wife got involved – that always changes, well, about everything!

She wanted to lose the weight from the last child. But although she’s in good shape, she just struggled to lose that last 15-20 pounds.

I’ve found myself there again minus giving birth.  My wife’s friends had been doing Keto but we were a little concerned about the quality of food they were eating, getting the Keto flu, with symptoms such as low energy/ nausea, hunger cravings, brain fog, constipation, bad breath, difficulty sleeping, etc.

My wife was wanting the same weight loss results they had, but we just left the whole Keto-thing alone for awhile.

We’ve been following Dr. Axe for awhile now and you can at DrAxe.com

He has his own practice and started seeing a number of patients doing Keto but had a similar experience as my wife’s friends. But it got personal when his own mother became very sick with cancer and he encouraged her to go on a certain type of Keto Diet which he tweaked with his paleo spin.

The results were amazing. Her cancer was gone and her health bounced back incredibly.

Dr. Axe saw similar results with a ton of his patients and ended up writing a book, ironically called Keto Diet by Dr. Josh Axe.

Since we follow and trust him, we picked up the book and the audiobook versions.

I listened to the audiobook on the road during a ton of drive time visiting California in early May. My wife listened to it on her commute to and from her elementary school as a 2nd grade teacher.

We were hooked on his style of Keto and were willing to try it.

But.. here’s the catch:

My wife didn’t want to start the Keto30 without a long ramp-up plan.

So, we used May to integrate the full-on Keto30 on June 1st.

Keto30 is a 30-day focus to jumpstart the Keto program.

Now, I’ll get into the weeds of how we’re doing it and how it’s going but I wanted to give you the backstory up front.

The first thought that came to my mind when my wife wanted/demanded I do this with her was:

“I can’t possibly do this on the road. Eating healthy is already hard enough but going Keto style is just not possible.”

Couldn’t or wouldn’t?

That was my first reaction and I do this for a living! The reality is if you want to do something you’ll find a way and I wanted to find a way.

And the 1st level of being an Elite Road Warrior is becoming an Experimental Road Warrior.

You’ll go back to Experimental Road Warrior time and time again, to try new things and this is exactly what I needed to do.

Our family is primarily Paleo which means we seek to eat foods that are Whole Foods.

Megan Blacksmith defines a whole food as “something that eats a plant, grows on a plant, but is never manufactured in a plant.”

In short: No label and/or fewer ingredients the better

Here’s the Keto Way

1. Limit the Carbs (focus on getting your carbs through vegetables and certain fruits)

2. Organic Protein (grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish)

3. Increase the Healthy Fats (avocados / nuts / coconut, MCT oil, Ghee butter, raw cheese, healthy oils, even dark chocolate, etc)

4. Quality Supplements (collagen / bone broth protein)

Ironically, grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish are high-fat as well.

The overall point of Keto is most of your food intake is high quality fats and proteins and selective, quality carbs that are at a minimum.

 

Now, at the time of this recording, at halfway through the Keto30 and our May ramp-up time, I’m down 17 pounds.

My wife doesn’t know that and she doesn’t want to ask since she’s not seeing it on the scale as much but I can sure tell.

You can see it all over on her and especially with her clothes. I’m so proud of her! We’re both having success. And the 1st week of June I wasn’t traveling which helped. The 2nd week was two days of travel and this past week was the entire week.

Here are the five challenging ways I’m Learning to do Keto on the Road

1. Hotels with Kitchens

My success starts with where I stay – normally my hotels have at least have a mini-fridge which is the bare minimum but when trying to do Keto I look for:

  • A large fridge
  • Oven
  • Stove

I want to prepare and cook my own meals

A question came to me from a Road Warrior: what if you can’t find a hotel with a kitchen that is near you?

Answer: leverage every square inch of your mini fridge and see if you can find a Whole Foods near you to eat their hot dinner

I’m willing to do the extra driving if a hotel with a kitchen is in striking distance. If I can pull it off on the Las Vegas strip finding a full kitchen, I can most places.

2. Grocery Stores

This is an absolute must – but my 1st day I BRING my own food depending how busy my 1st day would look like especially if I couldn’t get to the grocery store until Day Two of my business trip. I usually do this anyway on my 1st day of my trip but especially doing Keto and 100% of the time on Keto30.

Make sure you set up your business trip for the highest chance of success but ESPECIALLY on Keto30.

Another question that came in was: What do you purchase at the grocery store?

I try to shop at Whole Foods and/or Trader Joe’s every chance I get, even an Aldi which is owned by TJs has enough for me for a business trip. A regional chain grocery store will do if needed but read the label and ask questions, especially on the meat!

1st of all, I shop the perimeter which means the fresh stuff not the box stuff (remember the definition of a whole food – doesn’t have a box)

  • Greens – spinach / kale / Swiss chard / cilantro
  • Meat – beef / chicken / fish
  • Veggies – organic broccoli / cauliflower / green beans
  • Berries – blueberries / strawberries / blackberries / raspberries
  • Grass-fed butter to cook with
  • Mixed nuts
  • Avocados and olives
  • Almond Milk for smoothies
  • Grass-fed Yogurt
  • Matcha Tea

I know, it sounds like a week’s worth of groceries but I buy ONLY for my trip and IF there are any leftovers, I bring them home and if non-perishable, I’ll save them for my next trip.

Note: I cook most of meat at one time if possible: I’ll bake all three chicken breasts at the same time or all three pieces of salmon so I have it ready in case the next night I’m not in a hotel or it’s my last day of the trip

3. Add the Highest Quality Supplements

Dr. Axe teamed up with one of my all-time favorites Dr. Jordan Rubin to create an incredible supplement line: Ancient Nutrition.

  • Collagen
  • Bone Broth Protein
  • Digestive Enzymes
  • MCT Oil

I interview Dr. Jordan Rubin on Keto, supplements, etc. on my ERW podcast episode 032 for those of you who want the science behind Keto and the supplements.

4. Intermittent Fasting

This is not required but definitely a kickstarter to Keto.

Intermittent Fasting (IF) – eating within tighter windows within your day to give your digestive system a break and allow your body to burn more fat for longer periods of time.

Dr. Axe suggests 8 hour / 7 hour / or 6 hour fasting options.

My road experience when I don’t have control of my time as much. I’ll eat hotel hard-boiled eggs or make a smoothie in the morning to eat later, or whatever is easiest between meetings to try and keep on schedule.

5. Stop Drinking on the Road

To some of you, this is the easiest one of all because you’re not a drinker of the alcohol-variety.

But most road warriors are drinkers in some form. Statistically, road warriors drink over 30% more on business trips and too many are functioning alcoholics. Don’t believe me? Stop for 30 days on the road or how about just one business trip. Or just one night? See how THAT goes and let me know.

But what if you’re at at social event or client dinner?

This is for 30 days – it revealed to me my habit of how often, not necessarily how much I drink on the road.

Flights / evening after a long day / nice restaurant with a great wine list / corporate credit card where the shelf of the liquor is easily upgraded or doubled for that matter.

It’s been a challenge but good for me to take a 30-day break from any and all alcohol

If you’re going to do Keto30 and really see results, alcohol must go. It has so much sugar which Keto30 avoids except a limited amount of allowed berries.

Bonus Recommendations

1. My Life Saver Item – Lunch Box to Carry a Controlled Substance – I bought good quality Tupperware in different sizes that fit exactly in my travel snack box to maximize space along with a Spoon/Knife/Fork All-in-One.

2. BYOB – bring your own blender

This content is not for the faint of heart. You have to want to it to do it otherwise you’ll find an excuse, a whole bunch of people to side with you (who are most likely overweight and not self-disciplined).

I wanted to do something difficult, under he Energy Habit: FUEL,  and that’s doing not only Keto Diet but Keto30.

If you are serious about dropping some weight and getting control of your food and alcohol intake, hopefully I’ve proven this is a viable and possible option even on the road.

So, wherever you are on the road, do something, anything, just not nothing to master the business travel life.

Go and get your girlish figure back and leverage the road to get it.

You Got This!

Why You Must Carry a Lunch Box to Work on the Road

Elite Road Warrior Group Research shows that this one simple bad habit takes down many road warriors. You find them everywhere. In the airport, flight, gas station, board room, the bar, and on and on.
What is it?
Snacks.

Now, Russ loves snacks. The problem is, he eats them on the road at the worst times, not to mention he eats the wrong things.  It starts with plane snacks (and I don’t mean plain), whether at the airport or on the actual plane.

Then there are snacks offered during a meeting or a conference.

And how do you resist “snacky” things at the bar? (You know, the ones that have had who knows how many drunk hands touching them?)

Russ wonders why he feels like he never really eats a full meal yet he is overweight.  C’mon Russ, seriously?

Why You Must Carry a Lunch Box to Work on the Road

One of the smallest yet most effective energy habit changes I made on the road was learning to carry a controlled substance. I know, most of the time that’s illegal, but as most things, there’s a way around it.

In this case, it’s carrying the correct controlled substance: a healthy and sustainable snack.

The power behind the concept is two parts and in the name.

1. Carrying – You bring it with you/carry it along with you. I can already hear the whining (and I don’t mean vino):

  • I’m trying to pack light.
  • I already have too much to carry.
  • What if it needs to be refrigerated?
  • I have small hands and it will bring attention to them (okay, I may have pushed it on that one).

These are all easy issues to overcome, and we’ll address them later, but for now, you need to carry – packing some heat, my friend.

2. Controlled – This is the opposite of Russ because it is not reactionary but controlled.

  • You bring it – You literally bring food with you from home (it’s possible and we’ll talk about what and how).
  • You buy it – This requires a little more effort on the road, but you literally find a healthy store to buy controlled substances for you to have on hand to eat on the road.

Carrying a Controlled Substance is YOUR Lunch Box you must carry with you on the road.

The point of this article is minimizing and ultimately eliminating being caught off guard. When I don’t Carry and Control my supplemental nutrition, I get reactive and lazy.

Not a good combination on the road.

You may be asking, “But what do you put your food, your controlled substance, in while traveling?
Well, it’s not an old school or a “carrying booze” paper bag, but a well-thought-out item.

And full disclosure, I tried one of those old school metal lunch boxes but I couldn’t fit everything I wanted in it. Just goofin – although, that would be cool and a great conversation starter in an airport.

The one I finally landed on I found on Amazon (imagine that) it’s called the OPUX Premium Insulated Lunch Box

This OPUX lunch box has:

  • Black Fabric with two zippers
  • 10 x 8 x 5.5in
  • Two handles – one on top and one on the side. The side handle has a clip to attach it to anything you want
  • Optional strap if you so desire to use it
  • Insulated inside as well as an insulated pouch
  • 10 Different color choices

What I love about the one handle is I can attach it to my carry-on handle. I put it on top of my computer bag so it’s easy to get around and not “one more thing” to carry.

 

THREE WAYS YOU CAN CARRY A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

1. YOUR FIRST MEAL

So many road warriors become victims right out of the gate (literally and figuratively). They leave the house and decide to get a quick breakfast at the airport. I meet a certain guy often on the plane and have even given him a nickname: Egg McMuffin Man.

Let me tell you his story…

He sits down (we’ll call him Ed McMuffin), opens up his McDonald’s bag, and pulls out his two Egg McMuffins, hash brown, and his extra-large Diet Coke. (Pause) Of course.
As he’s scarfing down his food like someone is going to try and steal it or something, he looks over at me.
Let me set the full picture: I’m eating a controlled substance. I brought my own breakfast called the Anchor Day Casserole through security and even on to the plane (I know, crazy, right?!). I feel stoked to have my clean and green meal, and in this case, it is the first meal of the day on the first day of my business trip.

Egg McMuffin Man looks at me, looks at my controlled substance, looks down at his food, then the justifications begin.

Ed: “Yeah, I was in a hurry this morning.”
Me: “Really?” (With just a touch of sarcasm leading him to tell me more…)
Ed: “Had to grab something quick.”
Me: “Hmmm.” (Long pause for dramatic effect.) “In that long McDonald’s line?”
Ed: “Yeah, it took like 20 minutes.”
Me: “Bummer,” (then with a sense of pride and joy,) “this took me two minutes to warm up and 30 seconds to put in this Tupperware to take it to go.”
Ed: (Quickly responds) “I used to be THAT guy. Now I’m THIS guy.”
Me: “Why don’t you get back to being THAT guy again?”
Ed: (Starts talking again as ketchup drips on his dress shirt)

and the excuses begin all over again…Give it a rest, Ed. Make a healthier choice.

I want to do everything I can to make sure the very first meal of my trip or the very first meal of any day on the road is clean and green, and I’ll go to great lengths to make that happen.
You have control. Step up and take it.
This principle can also apply for your last meal, and I don’t mean “dead man walking” on Death Row.

I’m talking about before your flight home.
Often, I’ll purchase a healthy meal and take it to-go so I can eat at the airport or on the plane so I’m not left with minimal options and maximum justifications.
This can be done and carrying a controlled substance in your Work Lunch Box makes it possible.

2. YOUR GREENS

The road offers “greens” and I don’t mean cold hard cash, but they’re often hard to come by on the road.
I mean nutritional greens that you intentionally add to your daily nutrition. Well, it is difficult if you leave it to chance.

Do you get a sense I don’t leave this to chance anymore? Nor should you! You need to have a plan for making sure you’re getting proper fuel in your system on a consistent basis, and this begins with your greens.

HERE ARE THREE QUICK WAYS TO KEEP THE GREENS COMING DURING YOUR DAY:

  • ASK

There are certain hotels that will have greens with their breakfast. If you are at a hotel that has a breakfast buffet and an omelet bar, they most likely have spinach. I’ll request a large side of sautéed spinach, which is a perfect way to add greens to your breakfast.  At every restaurant, I ask for more greens than what’s on the menu, but here’s the difference: I ask for one now and one to go. I want to have them later, even if later never comes (but somehow it always does).

  • BRING

This is my master evil plan all the time. I make sure I have at least enough greens for my 1st day of travel and not leave it to chance.

Again, in a pinch (literally), you could use a high-quality greens powder to keep all your options open.

  • BUY

Begin to get in the habit of stopping somewhere to stock up on your snacks, especially your greens, so you can have them when (not if) you need them. I’ll buy a bag of spinach, kale, or spring mix to have and can keep in the hotel fridge. It’s only a few dollars and worth having on hand.

Now, the 3rd way to carry a controlled substance in your Work Lunch Box is…

3. YOUR GO-TO SNACK

All of us tend to have a snack we prefer. We eat it by default and we choose it regularly.
On the road, we need to make the healthiest choice and choose a healthy go-to snack.
Mine is mixed nuts (peanuts and fillers sold separately and for the record, I used to work for peanuts, so I don’t need to eat them!). It’s one of two fuel foods I purchase every time on the road (the other being mixed greens). Here are my choices of mixed nuts confirmed by the research of Dr. Axe

  • Almonds
  • Walnuts
  • Brazilian Nuts
  • Cashews
  • Pistachios

Nuts are rich in fiber and smart fats. Since your brain is approximately 60 percent fat, you need good fat in your diet to nourish it, and nuts are one of the most brain-nourishing choices you can make.

I’m a huge fan of mixed nuts because of their big punch of nutritional value and how easy they are to take on the go.  Not all nuts are created equal. While there are plenty of nuts jam-packed with nutrients, some types of processing may diminish the health benefits of nuts.
Pre-shelled nuts, for instance, leave the natural casings of the nut exposed, causing the natural fats and oils to break down and become rancid more easily. Pre-seasoned or flavored nuts can also be high in added sugar or salt, reducing their health properties. Even nuts that are roasted can be unhealthy because they are roasted in harmful hydrogenated vegetable oils and fats.

You don’t have to choose my go-to snack (although I highly recommend choosing at least a couple of mixed nuts that you like).

Here’s the Key: Find something low in sugar and high in protein every chance you can.

PRO TIP: Stop at a grocery store (healthier the better like Whole Foods or TJ). But I hear often, “I don’t have the time!” You’re right, you never “have time” you must “make the time.”

If you plan for it, it’s amazing how quickly you can get in and get out. But again, this is a pro trip, not an excuse tip.

Lastly, what do I actually put the food in and how do I eat it?

Key Items to Maximize the Lunch Box

1. Spork – but wait, there’s more. The one I use has a knife option as well. I know, right?
I used to bring crappy plastic wear from home or picked them up at the airport but often forgot them or they were just so flimsy. I invested a few dollars and bought a camping style spork with a knife – 12 Pack Sporks, Durable & BPA Free Tritan Sporks, Spoon Fork & Knife Combo Utensils

I carry two with me at all times and put them in the inside pocket of the Work Lunch Box

2. Tupperware – I geeked out on this one after thinking any kind would do.
But I wanted to maximize my space in my lunch box and I also wanted the Tupperware to stay sealed.
So, I use one that is: “8.5 x 2.5 x 6
Then two that are: “6 x 2.5 x 4
So it maximizes space and can stack right on top of each other
Ironically, I found mine at Pavilions in Southern California. Go Figure. I haven’t been able to find the exact ones on Amazon just yet.
I did find something close here

You just have to experiment with whatever you chose as your Work Lunch Box.

3. Pink Sea Salt / Pepper Grinders – I’m a big fan of pink Himalayan sea salt due to the incredible trace minerals found in it and it’s the healthiest salt you can eat. I also like ground pepper so I have two small grinders that easily fit in my Work Lunch Box. I found mine at Trader Joe’s.

4. Individualized Wet Wipes – Why? Have you seen me eat? Just kidding.
But I want to stay as healthy as I can on the road and one of the most germ-infested locations is a plane and specifically the seat tray.
How many times have you seen someone sick rest their head on the seat tray and hack all over it.
And I’m going to put my Work Lunch Box and healthy meal on THAT? Not a chance.
So, I have these individualized wet wipes to wipe down the tray AND seat
I have them on the road in a pinch.
I bought off Amazon: Wet Ones Antibacterial Hand and Face Wipes Singles, 24-Count (Pack of 5)

Note: I also carry tea bags in my Lunch Box (I’m not a coffee guy but a tea freak, okay snob) and both the Individualized Wet Wipes and tea bags easily fit in the front zipped pocket.

Packing your own healthy food may be a new concept for you. So, your baby step to carrying a controlled substance may simply be to bring your first meal or bring some healthy snacks at home. Or it may be to get the suggested lunch box.

Do something, anything, just not nothing to master the business travel life.
Go and get your Fuel Edge on today!

This article is brought to you by the Sleep Score Labs where you can find all types of sleep resources such as blue-blocker glasses and eye masks that I endorse and actually carry in my Road Warrior sleep kit.

Five Decisions You Must Make at Every Restaurant on the Road

One of the best parts of being a business traveler is the food experience.

It’s great not having to cook or clean up.

Then there’s the ability to chose the type of food you want:

  • Steak
  • Seafood
  • Italian
  • Mexican
  • Thai
  • …and the list goes on.

But wait, there’s more!

Then you get to choose what you want to order off the menu.

Oh the choices.
Oh the temptations!

And the best part of all? You’re not paying for it!

Or at least not yet, right?!

The nights you’re with a customer or client or team dinner, there are no limits.

Choose that appetizer or wine you’ve always wanted to try but never could afford.

Order that top-shelf liquor – heck, make it a double!

But on the company card, of course.

Bring it on!

Yet there is a cost. A heavy cost. And too many road warriors literally carry that cost with them all over their body from flight to board room to hotel. The travel triangle. The weight is literally weighing them down and the scale only goes up.

However, each decision can be easier if you view eating out on the road with the following lenses:

  • Food is Fuel
  • Fuel is Energy

This mindset is critical because it’s not based on the here and now “oh that looks or smells good” but on how I will feel later when we oftentimes need the energy.

The energy to….

  • Finish that proposal
  • Review the presentation
  • Get to bed at a decent time

I not only made the wrong decisions for years, I had the weight to prove it.

You’ve heard of the Freshman 15.
Then there’s the Travel 20.
And being the over-achiever I was on the road, I doubled it and earned what I call “the Entitled 40”

The reality is I could justify my choices and behaviors all day long and night for that matter.

And who was going to argue with me? The business traveler who struggling with the same issues? They’re my biggest supporter!

The point is you need to come to a point in your Road Life where you begin to think about your health along with your work.

We focus too much on the work aspect of the road in general when our health and our home life suffer just as much if not more.

This is why Elite Road Warrior has three focus areas:

  • Work
  • Health
  • Home Life

You do have choices.

And your choices have consequences.

I used to be the guy who said,

“Wow, that looks good. Oh, that looks good, I’ll try that too.”

“Another drink, please?”

“Look at that dessert! I’ll just try a bite”…. until it’s gone.

Leader of the pack! So, I get the battle of eating out on the road ALL-THE-TIME.

I’ve since lost the Entitled 40 in pounds and have kept it off.

I’ve stopped “getting by” on the road and chosen to “get better” and that means every time you eat out on the road.

There is hope and you can learn to leverage the road to get better. And I’m here to be your guide.

All five key decisions are in full effect the most at dinner when we’re much more relaxed potentially after a long travel day or a stressful day on the road but these apply to lunch too.

Five Key Decisions You Must Make at Every Restaurant on the Road

These five decisions are naturally in order. They shouldn’t surprise you but somehow we act surprised when the server comes by and asks us these five questions.

Every.
Single.
Time.

And the nicer the restaurant, the more choices you’ll have right before your very eyes, oftentimes even presented to you on a literal silver platter.

Decision One – What I Will Drink

At dinner time, “the entitled me” always seems to show up ready to go no matter how last night went if you know what I mean.

And depending on if ‘I’m alone for dinner with my laptop lover or entertaining guests or being entertained, I enjoy the wine part of the “wine and dine”.

This is where the slippery slope begins and we have to “know thyself.”

For me, the more I drink, the sloppier I become on my nutrition, especially after a long day.

Here are some suggestions:

  • Always and I mean always order a glass of water if one is not already provided for you. Then here’s the key: drink as much as you can to start. Why?
    • Most of us are more dehydrated than we even think so getting some water into your system is always a smart decision
    • 2. Water fills us up and hopefully detours us from over-eating
    • Join the Free WMP – water match program so whatever drink you do order, make sure you match it 1:1 with water. This will keep you hydrated the rest of the night and especially save you from waking up overly-parched and feeling like you’ve swallowed cotton balls that seem to multiply throughout the night
  • Think about what you’re really drinking and how much you plan to or should drink. Are you going to stay with one type of drink or hop all over the place? For me, when I start hopping, I start paying for it and I don’t mean the tab. Through the years, I’ve become a vodka tonic guy and it’s served me well.

Decision Two – Will I Order an Appetizer

This decision doesn’t come far behind the 1st decision of What I Will Drink.

I never order an appetizer when I’m by myself but somehow am overly tempted with other people.

It’s like each person is waiting for the other one to say “no thanks” or “sure, what looks good to you?”

The appetizer can be the “gotcha” to the meal. When I give in to something especially unhealthy, I get lazy at everything after that point.

Here are some suggestions:

  • Always pre-decide – this means don’t base your decision on what looks and/or smells good. If you do, you’re going down like a Mike Tyson punch.
  • If you choose, eat the cleaner and greener appetizer.
  • If you’re a moderator, which means you can take just one bite and stop, stick to the plan
  • If you’re an abstainer, which means if you start, hide the women and children, it’s going to get ugly quick and the appetizer will disappear, Know Thyself, and don’t start.
  • Order a dark green salad – this is my go-to-choice for a few reasons:
    1. I avoid the tempting and fattening appetizer
    2. It allows me to get in healthy clean greens – just be smart with the toppings and dressings

Remember, Clean and Green is the 2nd element of FUEL after Continually Hydrate. So, use this time to get the good stuff in early – meaning the clean and green stuff.

Decision Three – What Is My Main Course

Ah, the featured presentation. This is why we’re here eating out, well, at least as far as food is concerned.

And depending on the restaurant, this may not be top-secret. If you’re at a chophouse, duh. If you’re at a seafood place, you get the point.

There are two main choices here:

  1. The main course needs to be Clean – look for the cleanest meat possible whether beef, chicken, eggs. If it’s really clean, it will list “grass-fed or organic” which means this is your easiest choice. If not, your 2nd main choice becomes all the more important
  2. What goes ON the main course – we can make a great clean decision with the main course then go five steps backward by all the heavy sauces, etc.

You may fight back and say, “but that’s what gives it all the flavor! And there is truth to it. But it doesn’t mean going ALL or Nothing.

Here are some suggestions:

  • Always do your research – most restaurants now have online menus, so do some intel. Why? Avoid impulse choosing.
  • Put the sauce on the side – sometimes when it’s doused all over the place, you’re forced to eat ALL of it. But if you can just try it, maybe it’s not as good as advertised. Sometimes just a dip here and there is all you need and a better choice in the long run.
  • Add First Then Reverse – first and foremost, get the healthy in. Start there if this is not natural yet and feels like too big of an ask. Add the good stuff in first then begin reversing by taking the bad stuff off. For example, the sauces all over the meat or salad.

Decision Four – What Are My Side Dishes

This may seem like a default decision from your choice of the main dish. But not always.

You can go rogue and choose a side other than what the menu suggests or compels you to choose.

And most restaurants will allow you to easily make the change and sometimes with a very small upcharge. Not a big deal and worth the cost to eat clean and green.

Here are some suggestions:

  • Always have at least one vegetable and preferably with not a ton of processing – steamed broccoli/asparagus / green beans, sautéed spinach, cauliflower, etc.
  • Choose a sweet potato over a baked potato or fries
  • Choose double veggies – another way to sneak in more “Green” of the clean and green.
  • Take a healthy side to go – I do this very often since almost every hotel I stay at has at least a mini-fridge and a microwave.

Decision Five – If I Will Have Dessert

You know they always ask if you want dessert, and if you’re not prepared, you go back to the awkward moment of deciding on the spot.

I tell this story in the Elite Road Warrior book about how at a dinner of 12, a one-pound brownie with a gallon of ice cream covered in whipped cream came out and after hundreds and hundreds of dollars were put on the table as a bet of who could eat it, I took on the challenge (mind you, this was during my Entitled 40 days…).

Impressively and sadly, I finished it then couldn’t digest it, lie down, or sleep for 48 hours. Brutal. Stupid (at least I donated the money).

All that to say, I’ve been the freak in the freak show so I understand the power of decision five: If I will have dessert.

Here are some suggestions:

  • Learn to say “no” upfront so others know where you stand
  • Know if you’re a moderator or abstainer – I know the “wanna be moderators” whose “just a bite” is the gift that keeps on giving or should I say taking. I’ve eaten with you people.
  • Choose a fruit bowl – this is my go-to when I want something sweet but not go down heavy with the dessert. I love anything berries and you can’t go wrong.
  • Carry dark chocolate with you – my wife and I are huge Trader Joe dark chocolate lovers. I carry a bar with me – far healthier choice and less ugly in the long run.

If you follow these five decisions you must make at every restaurant on the road in the healthiest form, you will win with nutrition in business travel.

And you will have the energy to prove it along with fewer pounds to carry.

I get you because I am you!

References

10 Business Travel Hacks Guide

7 Early Warning Signs for Companies to Avoid Business Travel Burnout