How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

[Helena-in-England]

Maybe they bring their own?

I will travel next with a small bottle of olive oil.

So, my HUGE challenge coming up is five days away, during which I am going to Sweden to give a lecture.

If I can keep to my diet through that it will be a miracle.

It's the loss of control, that is the problem, plus the lack of true understanding from others.

What I have to contend with:

1. Already-paid-for dinner at the Travelodge (small choice of set carby dishes microwaved to order, no proper chef, nowhere else to eat)

2. Airline food (at their mercy - help!)

3. A set lunch during the conference (Swedish "healthy eating" - help!)

4. Finding the right foods at a reasonable price in Stockholm (will be stuck with fast-food burgers; can throw away buns, but is it all meat - or some rusk?)

5. Four mornings of protein-poor buffet breakfasts in the hotel (apparently hidden within the carbfest is a tiny bit of ham, which I must seek out and appropriate for my own use)

6. Airline food - again!

There is no fridge in the hotel room, by the way. And its a cheap hotel, no restaurant just breakfast served. Stockholm is a ridiculously expensive city for Brits and we're having to get by on a budget.

I am exceedingly worried that a few slices of lean ham for breakfast is going to leave me feeling extremely hungry, then I will be let loose in a city drenched in carb temptation, weak with hunger, where you need a mortgage to pay for a sirloin steak and bready products stare you in the face at every turn while their aromas make you salivate in anticipation.

I could fall into carb ****!

I wish I didn't have to eat AT ALL, that would solve it. If only I could have a good old meatfeast the day I leave then not eat till I got home.

I actually feel scared of going. This is because I know from bitter experience that if I get tempted and go off the wagon, I am a lost cause for months or years afterwards, trapped in carbhell and gaining ten more pounds every month.

My only "strategy" so far is to go to a supermarket (there is one by our hotel) and see if I can buy cooked meat such as sliced beef etc, and eat this cold, spread with butter (yuk sounds horrible). Or look for something in a can, goodness knows what - tuna perhaps?

Having written this, I am going back on the net to search for a self catering room. I do not think I will find one but I must look.

[Elizellen]

Re: Away for the weekend ~ what am I going to eat?

Maybe they bring their own?

I will do that next time my Red Hat ladies decide to eat there

I will travel next with a small bottle of olive oil.

I bought a travel pack from Boots which contains 2 small screwcap bottles and two screwlid container which I carry filled with oil, vinegar, seasalt mixed with seaweed and dill/lemon seasoning.
Boots Mini Travel Set - Boots

For your trip to Sweden probably you would need to buy some vinegar/oil/seasonings in that supermarket as the airlines might panic if you carry unlabelled liquids, but it should be do-able I think.

Another useful thing I carry in my bag is a few sachets of mayo (pinched from restaurants) which seem to keep out of the fridge for a week or so. You might be able to stash a few wraped butter pats each day from breakfast too for later use.

So, my HUGE challenge coming up is five days away, during which I am going to Sweden to give a lecture.

Wow - I know someone famous!! I hope you have a great trip!

What I have to contend with:

1. Already-paid-for dinner at the Travelodge (small choice of set carby dishes microwaved to order, no proper chef, nowhere else to eat)

Not sure what kinds of food they will offer. Can you have plain cooked meat with a salad?

2. Airline food (at their mercy - help!)

Do they have a diabetic or celiac menu choice? See if you can phone and speak to someone at the airline to see what is possible.

3. A set lunch during the conference (Swedish "healthy eating" - help!)

I found some links to Swedish lowcarb websites and blogs on Jimmy Moore's blog Jimmy Moore's Livin' La Vida Low Carb Blog A High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet Explosion Happening In Sweden
Maybe you can find a lowcarb board in English where you can ask for help with what is available over there? Or maybe one of the blogs linked to will have a section where you can ask for advice on lowcarbing in Sweden?

My only "strategy" so far is to go to a supermarket (there is one by our hotel) and see if I can buy cooked meat such as sliced beef etc, and eat this cold, spread with butter (yuk sounds horrible). Or look for something in a can, goodness knows what - tuna perhaps?

Having written this, I am going back on the net to search for a self catering room. I do not think I will find one but I must look.

This sounds like a good plan to me Although I would choose cream cheese rather than butter to spread on the meat slices. Maybe you can find a sugarfree or reduced sugar mayo there too?

I hope that with your attitude towards planning and finding out in advance what can be done that you will get through this and enjoy your trip!

[Helena-in-England]

Re: Away for the weekend ~ what am I going to eat?

Thanks for the tip of the travel pack Eliz.

Travelodge: "Can you have plain cooked meat with a salad?"
Er, if I could I would not be on here worrying about it. I haven't stayed at the London City Airport Travelodge before but I have stayed at other TLs and the dinner "menu" at Chiswick was just a small choice of chilled dishes that the staff heat in a microwave. As I remember the choice was something like curry and rice, lasagne, pizza and chicken Kiev and chips. I had the curry and I remember thinking "Lucky I am not on Atkins now - there's nothing I can have".

"Do they have a diabetic or celiac menu choice? See if you can phone and speak to someone at the airline to see what is possible. "

Just phoned them. The onboard catering is pre-wrapped, pre-packaged filled bread rolls that we have to purchase onboard. No there is no alternative.

I think I am going to have to finally try out the buying-three-McDonalds-and-throwing-the-bun idea. Oh dear!

"A High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet Explosion Happening In Sweden"

I jolly well hope there is! Thanks for that!

Plans have changed a bit. My hosts are now putting me up in a £150-a-night 5 star hotel for two nights (the breakfast ought to be better) and I am paying for the other two nights. Been searching all day to find self catering or a room with a fridge, and can only get one with a mini-bar if I pay a ridiculous amount of money.

I might be living on McDonalds etc the whole five days. Depressing isn't it?

Thanks Eliz

Helena

[Elizellen]

Re: Away for the weekend ~ what am I going to eat?

"Do they have a diabetic or celiac menu choice? See if you can phone and speak to someone at the airline to see what is possible. "

Just phoned them. The onboard catering is pre-wrapped, pre-packaged filled bread rolls that we have to purchase onboard. No there is no alternative.

Bummer!! However if the flight is not too long maybe you can manage without having any of their food?
It usually isn't too nice anyway so you would not be missing much

Perhaps have a small snack in your pocket/handbag to nibble on?

[Helena-in-England]

Re: How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

Yes I am looking into what small snacks I can have that won't go bad if unrefridgerated.

Those individually wrapped little cheeses are nice, but I don't find them remotely filling or satisfying - I really AM such a carnivore!

Aw the flight - SAS has cancelled the flight we were booked on and so now we have to go from London to Copenhagen and change there and wait and then get another plane so instead of it being 0930 to 1130 it's now 0930 to 1730 and then we have to go by train to Gavle not arriving at the hotel till about 1900.

I am wondering how many bits of bacon I can stuff into my Tupperware box at the Travelodge breakfast buffet without the staff noticing anything. I'd love to pack sausages as I love them better cold than hot but its scary how many carbs are in ONE cheap sausage - 5 to 6 EACH!

Obviously at Copenhagen airport there will be a hellish carbfest all around me. Yikes!

I asked for a diabetic meal when I flew to Hong Kong and they gave me a tray with two indentations one containing a portion of plain boiled white rice and the other containing six cubes of plain white boiled fish. It's stilled burn into my visual memory to this day, especially how I had to force the insipid fatless, tasteless, saltless stuff down my throat knowing that is all I'd be getting for 12 hours.

How I hate not having control of my food!

[liv]

Re: How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

Have you thought about packing some canned stuff in your baggage (if you are checking your baggage in) tuna, chicken, salmon, red pepper, can opener. Perhaps you will have time to pick something up at a grocery store here or there.
I grew up in Scandinavia and I know they like their complex carbs but there are good protein food available - I like their liver pate, canned herring, their cured meats, and smoked salmons. They also like to eat their fish very clean (no carbs added - shrimp is usually absolutely fabulous. )
I did go to Norway last spring and I lived with family and ate with them but I made as many good choices as I could. Nuts was a help to me. They are filling and somewhat low carb. (I know you are not in that rung yet but nuts would be better than potatoes) The crisp bread they sometimes serve for breakfast is of course not allowed but if it was loaded with cheese and salami (I love Salami from Scandinavia) there would not be any huge impact from it. I mean these would be compromises but when I did this I felt OK about it and when I came back I just went back to a straight clean Atkins induction and have not looked back
On the airport there may be a store that sell touristy stuff and you can very likely find salmon, nuts and cheese (The Danes makes marvelous cheese)

[chauber]

Re: How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

When we were at the airport they allowed us to buy food from inside the airport and take it on the plane. You should be able to pick up something good at least for that portion of the trip.

Good luck and stay strong!

[amazon1]

Re: How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

I lived in England for 2 years and I'm always on a weird, low-carb diet (just started official Atkins). Suggestions for traveling - there's a website which sells Spanish food in England. I'm trying to think of the name - it begins with an O? You can get chorizo from them that has no sugar (call and ask them which one) which also doesn't have to be refrigerated. I took them with me on a few trips and they saved my life.

Do you live in

London? Whole Foods has sliced chorizo, and sausage meat with no sugar. It's in the deli section.

Marks & Spencer sells cooked bacon - smoked and unsmoked - with no sugar.

You really should stay away from most English sausages as they have rusk and sugar.

In most restaurants you should be able to get olive oil for a salad but you can bring a bottle just in case. Maybe bring about 5 hard boiled eggs. Eat over the first day and half. They probably won't spoil.

What about pork rinds? I don't remember if they had them in the UK.

Canned tuna would be good to bring. There's also a brand of mayonnaise - Delouis - that they sell in jars in Britian (maybe Marks & spencer again). If you bring a sealed jar and open it when you get there, it should stay fresh for a few days.

At the airport, there's an expensive place that sells smoked salmon that doesn't have sugar. I've bought that and brought it on flights. It's a little stinky, about 3 hours into the flight but probably won't be a problem to Sweden.

Good luck!

[Helena-in-England]

Re: How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

Thanks everyone for the input.
Lots of wonderful suggestions!

[Elizellen]

Re: How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

Wishing you a pleasant trip, Helena!!

[soon2bslim]

Re: How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

I used to travel quite a bit for work and usually brought some tunafish cans and mayo packets, also Olive OIl in an old Vanilla bottle or two - sm ones which hold less than the max amt of liq you're allowed to bring on board. These days u can get tuna and salmon in a foil packet which does not require refrigeration - in the US - but they even have something similar where we live now - far, far away. For future reference, u can order a vegetarian meal which is often fresh or steamed vegetables, salad, and probably some carby thing; sometimes a 'cheese platter' kind of meal is available which is usually crudite and cubed pieces of cheese, but it sounds like there are few options for your particular flight.

Also if u plan to check luggage u can bring along food that's been in your freezer because the baggage area of the plane is really very very very cold. The flight from the US to where we live is much much longer than Eng>Sweden and my husband has brought back frozen meats and cheeses from the US on occasion w/out any spoilage. We have many friends who are American ex pat's who fly much more frequently than we do and buy much more food especially meat since it is quite expensive here and we are used to American cuts of meat. (there are some funny stories in our circles about times when planes were diverted and grounded for sev hours to as much as 24- 48 hrs and all the passengers feasted on some really good home cooked food - but i digress)

U can probably get ice at the hotel or buy a bag of ice in Sweden. If you bring fresh vegetables on the plane, you probably need to finish what you brought since most countries don't allow u to bring in fruits and vegetables. Swedish Smoked meats and fish sound great, bring a knife(not in the carry on bag) and cutting board and buy some vegetables in the supermarket, cheeses should be fine.

Have a great time! Good luck with your speech! Let us know how it goes!

[Helena-in-England]

Re: How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

A bit of a breakthrough: turns out the Travelodge menu includes a "double burger" which is 2 x 4oz burgers with cheese and bacon, and the manager said I can have it with salad instead of chips!

[chinadoll]

Re: How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

Good for you. That takes the pressure off!

[Elizellen]

Re: How can I stay lowcarb on my visit to Sweden?

Sounds good!!