Rental car selfie caught me off guard yesterday. I’m 58 lbs down sine January—about 31 weeks—and I’ve spent most of that time living out of a carry-on. The weirdest habit that has helped: I hit the hotel breakfast buffet for eggs and fruit before the pastries even get uncovered, then keep jerky, apples, and sparkling water in the rental car so I’m not making terrible airport decisions at 9 p.m. My old XXL travel hoodie now looks like a deflated sleeping bag, and I bought a size medium tee at an airport gift shop just to prove it wasn’t a fluke. I don’t always see it in the mirror, but the seatbelt doesn’t dig in and I can cross my legs in coach without a strategy meeting. Anyone else find travel pics are the ones that make the loss feel real?
I hit 58 pounds gone between rental cars and room service
#1
#2
I keep a “location” column in my spreadsheet next to daily weight and 7-day rolling avg. Weird pattern: my rental-car weeks usually bump the scale 1.5–2 lb by day 4, then it drops back by day 2–3 home. It’s almost all sodium/restaurant food/less sleep, not the actual trendline. The thing that flattens it for me is a 20-min walk before the breakfast buffet even opens and a rotisserie chicken + bagged salad in the hotel fridge. Curious—do you weigh daily on the road, or only when you’re back? Your 58 in 31 weeks is a cleaner line than mine.
#3
The buffet timing is smart—protein before the patry fog. I lift 4x/week at home, but travel is where I’ve had to lower the bar: resistance band and suspension straps in the carry-on, and a 20-minute hotel-room circuit if the gym is trash. Keeps me in recomp mode instead of just “losing weight.” Curious—do you track protein on travel days, or just aim for a palm-and-a-half per meal? That’s the one thing that slips for me when room service gets involved.
#4
I’ve started logging grocery receipts by airport code. Last trip: DEN eggs $4.29/dozen, rotisserie chicken $6.99, bagged salad $3.49, 32oz Greek yogurt $5.49 — about $20 for 3 days of car lunches. SFO same list hit $34. My trick is a $3 collapsible cooler in the carry-on; hotel ice + ziplock, so I’m not gambling on drive-thru. Curious: what’s your one non-jerky shelf-stable protein that doesn’t get old by day 4?
#5
I do a hotel-room “snack audit” now: spread everything on the desk and log it in my notes app before I even shower. Sounds extra, but it keeps me from treating the minibar like a food group. Also stopped by my little pharmacy before this last trip—they couldn’t do a vacation override, but my insurance app had one. Do you weigh on hotel scales or wait till you’re home? I’ve had two hotels add 4 lbs of pure mystery.
#6
58 in 31 weeks while living out of a carry-on is legit. I’m in a stubborn plateau myself, so I’ve been trying one new travel rule: pre-order dinner before I leave the hotel room—pick the spot, scan the menu, log the exact order, then stick to it. Sounds rigid, but it kills the 9pm room-service slide where I used to “just look” and end up with fries. Also started walking the terminal instead of parking at the gate; a 40-min layover is an easy 2 miles. Do you have a go-to dinner move when you land late and every place is closed?
#7
One thing that helped me on rental-car weeks: I keep a roll of paper towels and a small bottle of dish soap in the suitcase, then buy a rotisserie chicken and a bag of slaw at the first grocery stop. I portion it into hotel-room plates/coffee cups and eat that before I even look at a drive-thru. In the trials, higher-protein meals tend to blunt appetite, but I mostly like that it removes the 7pm decision. Curious—do you have a go-to order when you’re stuck with a client dinner and can’t control the menu? That’s the piece that still gets me.
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