It is very easy to become isolated when you are traveling on business, which can result in a real tendency to eat out of boredom and loneliness.

Evening activities frequently revolve around food. If you are alone, you are often left with the choice between ordering room service or eating in the hotel restaurant in order to pass the evening.

Business associates may invite you out for dinner as a sign of hospitality, but even here, the focus is still on food. In addition, while you are on business travel your expenses are usually covered by the company, which encourages you to indulge your appetite.

One of the things that I find difficult when traveling is that it is often hard to find simple healthy meals on the menu. Often in hotels, you are faced with wonderful buffets and it is very tempting to look upon them as treats after a hard day of business meetings.

You may therefore find yourself returning to your table with your plate piled high, and even be enticed back for seconds. Buffets are frequently fixed price, and you may feel the need to “get your money’s worth.”

The options for breakfast are similarly overwhelming. Whether you order room service or attend the buffet, you will probably be faced with more food than you would normally eat for breakfast at home.

For breakfast especially, it is important to stick to your usual routine: Eat too much and you could find yourself not only putting on weight, but also be faced with indigestion as you start your working day.

A further temptation while on business trips is the mini bar. Unable to sleep due to work-related stress or jet lag, raiding the mini bar might seem like a welcome distraction. However, food available in the mini bar is unlikely to form a healthy snack, and certainly isn’t the sort of food that you should be eating just before going to sleep.

Recipe of the Week

Steamed Hamour Fillets

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 kg Hamour fillets

360 ml tomato juice

1.5 tsp. oregano

.5 tsp. seasoned salt, or to taste

.5 tsp. white pepper, or to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place fillets in a baking dish. Combine tomato juice and seasonings in a bowl. Pour over fish. Cover and bake 12-18 minutes, until fish flakes easily.

Ask Alva

I am a healthy man over 60 years old, but I am constantly adding kilos in spite of everything. Could you please help me find a long-term solution? It seems that diets are not working with me. I need quick results! — HKT

I often find myself asking the same question — why do you expect to achieve quick results when losing weight? Surely the process of gaining weight has been a gradual one? Diets never work long term, which is why I am so much against them. But quick results do no benefit in the long term either. Gradual weight loss is the solution, coupled with learning new, healthy eating habits. It is also important to remember that as we grow older, our metabolisms change, and we have less need for the same amount of food as when we were younger and more active. You say that you are a healthy man, and I believe that, but do you still take the same amount of exercise that you did five or 10 years ago? To ensure that you are not eating too much these days, send an e-mail to [email protected] for a free copy of my healthy eating guide. —Alva