Keeping a healthy routine on the road

With back-to-back meetings, heavy restaurant meals and junk food vending machines steps away from a hotel room, sticking to exercise and healthy eating routines can be tough on the road.

But traveling for business doesn't have to turn into a guilt trip.With planning and a little discipline, you can maintain healthy habits away from home and return feeling good about yourself.

Here's how to conquer the biggest challenges:

* Lack of time

It's difficult to work out when you're stuck in meetings from morning until night but not impossible.

Renobased personal trainer Sandi Messineo, owner of Strictly Form Inc., suggests packing a "fitness kit," which includes exercise shoes, a jump rope, strengthresistance bands and a door anchor.

With these simple and inexpensive tools, you can do a full workout right in your hotel room.

Jumping rope is excellent aerobic exercise, and with the bands and door anchor, you can work every muscle group that you'd exercise with weights and machines at the gym, says Messineo, who also is Nevada chapter president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Ask a trainer to show you how to use the bands, available at sporting goods stores, or check out an exercise video before you leave.

During flight delays at airports, meanwhile, stash your luggage in a locker and take walks through the concourse to use time effectively, suggests IDEA, a national health and fitness industry association.

* Eating out Fast-food in the airport, sodas on the plane, doughnuts at meetings and rich dinners with clients these can spell disaster for a diet.

Eating well on the road requires planning.

Through years of practice, Lizanne Stoever, president of The Magnolia Companies in Reno, has practically perfected her travel eating habits.

First she calls the hotel before leaving town and requests that the staff empty the mini bar and stock her room with healthy snacks.

On the plane, she takes hardboiled eggs, a can of tuna and other nutritious food that travels well.

That way she can turn down the salty, highfat airplane meals and enjoy the whole and organic foods she eats at home.

At restaurants, the biggest dangers are in the huge serving sizes, dietitians say.

Order off the appetizer menu for smaller portions or split an entree with someone.

Don't be afraid to leave food behind.

To cut down on fat, avoid heavy sauces, fried foods, and order vegetables and fruit whenever you can, Messineo advises.

Meanwhile, limit caffeine, sodas, salty snacks and alcohol, which can lead to dehydration, advises IDEA.

Pack water bottles, and drink lots of water throughout the day.

* Unfamiliar territory

Going for a long walk or run is a great way to start or end the day, but setting off into unknown neighborhoods can be intimidating.

Ask the hotel concierge for suggestions of safe walking or running routes.

When making reservations, Stoever, a marathoner, chooses hotels near good destinations, such as parks and nice shopping districts.

Sometimes she runs the route to her meetings for that day to get oriented.

She also arranges running dates ahead of time by calling business people with whom she'll meet or chapters of national groups with which she's affiliated to see if anyone would like to run together.

Stoever finds congenial running partners this way and gets to network and learn more about the cities where she's staying.

Just because you're from out of town doesn't mean you can't go to a local gym.

For longer trips, consider temporary gym memberships, Messineo suggests.

Many gyms offer one- or twoweek memberships or have drop-in rates.

Also, check to see if your gym has an affiliate in the city where you'll be staying.

* Too worn out

After working long hours, changing time zones and sleeping in a strange bed, the last thing you may want to do is exercise.

But a brisk walk or a few laps in the hotel pool can provide just the perk-up you need.

Take advice from Nike: Just do it.

Stoever says she has far more energy now as an avid runner than she did 10 years ago when she didn't exercise.

She says running and strength-training exercise help her acclimate to a new environment and time zone.

Her motto? "There are two pains in life: the pain of discipline and the pain of regret.

You never ever regret exercise."