Is FF-ing affecting your health ?

[GCD123]

We all read the great trip reports with interest. However, it does appear that we travel from lounge-to inflight meal-to hotel-to restaurant-to airline lounge again. Combine this with long days & time changes - how do you maintain weight & general health ?

For me - doing frequent domestic & 4-5 international trips a year - I know it's not easy.
My salvation is that time changes often mean that I awake early and can do a 1 hour walk most days. (Allright - SOME days)


Cheers
GCD123

 

[simongr]

I skip meals a fair bit and often will only eat half what I am offered as I am tired.

I put on about 8-10KG when I changed jobs to this role and being conscious of that I am trying to better manage my weight - havent gone up again since then but need to shed some weight again.

 

[drron]

Its taken years of training but now I do eat less travelling.mostly a continental breakfast and only one major meal-a late lunch or an early dinner.It really is tested in the states having been to a BBQ restaurant and a Brazilian churrascaria in the last 2 nights-so just snacking today.Mrsdrron takes care of the exercise part-at least 10km walking malls each day!

 

[serfty]

Walking 18 holes of golf at least twice a month does wonders ...

 

[Flashback]

Walking 18 holes of golf at least twice a month does wonders ...

it's not for me, yet! Although a few too many HP's could also be the case

 

[jasonja3]

we travel from lounge-to inflight meal-to hotel-to restaurant-to airline lounge again. Combine this with long days & time changes

This is where I really fall down, I love food, and with it being put in front of you constantly, tight schedules, it is really hard. I would like to say that I eat only when I need to, and exercise at the hotel..... but in reality the best I usually do is healthy choice meals in flight (usually the fish), put up some resistance for the desert :mrgreen: , then try and play catch up with excise and good living when I return.

Now put two circle asia trips in one month.... then I am in trouble!!

 

[Febs]

I try to use the hotel gym at least 3-4 times per week (or run)...but it's not always easy, especially when you get back to the hotel at 8-9pm, have dinner, then collapse.

I seem to be the opposite of most of my colleagues when travelling. In the US, I never put on weight. Even after a 5 week holiday there last year (with not a whole lot of exercise), I maintained the same weight. In India though - I put on 3kg in 3 weeks. INDIA!! :shock: I blame all the carbs.

(Lost it all over the next 2.5 weeks over Europe and the US though. Probably from all the walking I did.)

I read somewhere that many people now drink more calories than they eat. :shock:

For me it's about balance. I won't give up a nice meal, or go for a dish I don't want simply because it's healthier...but if I do choose the unhealthy option, I'll exercise more to make up for it.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[tscharke]

My general health suffers more, sure my working lifestyle overall is the big issue but I notice the direct impact of longhaul flights, hotel living, different climates and time zones etc on the body!
Inconsistent sleeping patterns, dehydration/dry skin and loss of appetite are the main ones!
I suppose I have the opposite problem with weight as I have lost 10kg over the last 12months!
As for exercising while away, I don't bother with the gym as I prefer to explore the city I am in on foot!

 

[JohnK]

Since I have been commuting SYD-BNE the past 2 months I have put on a fair bit of weight and I am not feeling well. I am eating well at home and in my apartment in BNE but the problem is the time spent snacking and drinking in the lounges before and after the flights.

I have been trying to get fitter by walking up the 86 steps of Jacobs ladder and the 104 steps to my 6th floor apartment but all that appears to do is get me more tired.

Walking 18 holes of golf at least twice a month does wonders ...

I walk 18 holes of golf at least 6 times a month and it does absolutely nothing for me.

 

[Flashback]

Alcohol tends to play a large play in weight gain, and I too am guilty of such

 

[superchris]

Alcohol tends to play a large play in weight gain, and I too am guilty of such

Go ahead and make me feel guilty then!!
Here am I on the wireless outside the shed having a glass of shiraz in the autumnal Melbourne sun

 

[openseat]

Let's face it lounge and airline food is about carbos & high kJ drinks (usually alcohol). This makes it very difficult, since a drink and grazing can be easily 20% of recommended daily intake.

 

[straitman]

For what it's worth I have a very close friend who took early retirement from Cathay Pacific as the long haul flying and poor sleep patterns was really affecting his health. He's much happier and healthier now.

 

[Keith009]

Go ahead and make me feel guilty then!!
Here am I on the wireless outside the shed having a glass of shiraz in the autumnal Melbourne sun

As I have done so many times in the past, this weekend I managed to cure my cough and stop my nose from running with large doses of a fine Marlborough Sauv Blanc... Never mind that I couldn't really taste any of it.

No need to feel guilty. Medication in a bottle!

 

[NYCguy]

I recently lost 20kg, and now I am paranoid about putting it back on. To maintain my weight; skinny is trés chic for men at the moment; I make healthier choices:

1. Limit alcohol intake to 7 standard drinks per week;
2. Order low-calorie or vegan meals on flights, or don't eat at all - who needs a hot dinner after departure from SFO at 2300?;
3. Exercise for at least 6 hours a week;
4. Maintain sleep hygiene - this can be difficult, particularly on east-bound flights. If I have to say up for the whole flight, then so be it;
5. Another key component of sleep hygiene is avoiding sleep-inducing pharmaceuticals, and avoiding stimulants. This means I have given up melatonin and caffeine;
6. I eat fruit and yoghurt from hotel breakfast buffets and in airline lounges, and avoid hot & fatty or carb-laden selections;
7. I always wear knee-length anti-embolism socks on flights, and;
8. I drink lots of water, on the ground and in-flight.

 

[anat0l]

For me, I'm probably not an FF as much as some people here, but I am overweight. Having said that, travelling seems not to do too much to my weight....

This is rather odd, since:
1. I eat almost everything offered on flights. Else, I'll stash it in my hand carry for later. Thankfully (or not thankfully?) most of the offerings in Y domestic are small.
2. I'm horrible at the QP. Food goes in lots and fast.

Some of the balancing acts:
1. I try to eat less carbs where I can. Not such a bad thing, because piling on the carbs after lunch tends to make me tired - not good at times (e.g. conferences). Also a good reason to give a miss to the token rock-hard roll on inflight meals...
2. Drink lots of water - this is difficult at times for me, because a handy source of water is not always at hand (and I'm not very keen on drinking straight from the tap - even in Australia), and at times I can easily drink anywhere from 500mL to 2L or more in one sitting.
3. Limit alcohol intake, particularly beer. For me, I don't usually drink as much as the typical red-blooded male of my age, so it's not all that bad. Even at the QP where the booze is free, I'd be lucky to knock back 2 drinks (and perhaps none if complementary bar is on the next flight).
4. My primary source of keeping active is walking. I have a pedometer with me and on a work day I'll try to walk at least 10000 steps per day. Average if I don't make 10k is usually 8k or so. When travelling, I try to walk as much as I can. Good way to discover a new location! Walking up and down new airports also makes for a good discovery journey.
Walking also serves as a good indicator of relative fitness. I have a rough idea of my endurance when I walk; if I find it harder to walk a certain distance under certain conditions, then I know something isn't right......
5. Changing small habits. For instance, I rarely have margarine or butter on bread. It is extremely rare when I add salt to something, irrespective of the taste. Drinking tea - especially green tea or Chinese tea - after a heavy meal is not a bad idea. Limiting coffee intake is also a good idea (especially instant coffee and/or decaf - these are particularly bad); while I like my coffee, at times I'll give it a miss and opt either for water or black tea.

So, while I'm not considerable to be deemed as in-shape (and no, round is not a shape!) - of which many here can pay witness to - I do have a fair idea on how to curb the weight gain, but to get back on topic, FF travel never makes that easy. Now I just have to work harder on the weight loss part.......

 

[GCD123]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the candid & informed responses to the topic.
It seems that we generally fall into 2 camps :
1. Aware of the issue and responding intelligently to stay on track
2. Ignore completely - and pretend that all will be well

Congratulations & all the best to the former.

GCD123

 

[dajop]

It is not the travelling that is the problem, it's the coming home to a Melbourne winter .... I've been back and forth a lot to SE Asia this winter and whilst I'm away, most evenings I'll try to find time to go for a long walk, after all it is usually pleasantly warm in the evening and there's often places to explore in cities like Singapore, Bangkok, Hanoi etc. Come home, it's windy and drizzling outside and although on a few occassions I've rugged up and ventured out (most notably when minding my brother's dog), a stroll through suburban Melbourne just doesn't have the same appeal ....

Also I try to keep swimming going, and have found a good 50m public pool near where I stay in Singapore. Oher engagements permitting I try and get down there some nights (not every night) before it closes at 9. But this can be bizarre when you come home .... one day you're leisurely strolling from the change rooms to the pool in the tropics ... the next you're running shivering from the change rooms to the pool at Albert Park, in 7 degrees blustery weather . The problem with swimming is a tendency to pick up whatever bug is going round, and that did stop to it for a few weeks.

 

[serfty]

... I walk 18 holes of golf at least 6 times a month and it does absolutely nothing for me.

Maybe you hit the ball too straight?

 

[JohnK]

Maybe you hit the ball too straight?

Not these days. It feels like I do as much walking around in circles as I do walking forward....