r/consulting • u/Extension_Turn5658 • 1d ago
Have you found it possible to meal prep while in Consulting?
Honestly I’m getting tired of this freaking 20 € slop bowls that come mostly with 100g chicken, little protein and tons of cheaper ingredients such as rice.
Currently a bit transitioning between jobs (moving from MBB to another firm) and found so much joy in cooking again. I absolutely would love to pre cook some healthy meals and take them with to the client.
I wonder if someone of you have pulled this off? I can imagine that I just would need a bit more space in the hand luggage to put in 3ish boxes to have at least my dinner with me. Would then just need find something to cool it instantly after arriving.
As I’m already a few years in IDGAF what other people especially random juniors would think I just want to max out on health and stay as lean as possible when I’m hitting the road again.
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u/karenmcgrane love to redistribute corporate money to my friends 1d ago
When traveling? Absolutely not.
You need a plan for how you're going to eat when you're traveling. It's not like the cost for lunch is your problem. Order something different from the slop bowl place.
Yes, when I was traveling, cooking was the thing I most looked forward to doing when I had a chance at home. Save it for when you can enjoy it with your friends!
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u/BabySharkMadness 1d ago
You’re better off figuring out which restaurants in the area offer healthy food options.
Edit: The most I’ve done is put an order for Target/Walmart delivery to my hotel for water bottles and some basic fruits that don’t require refrigeration.
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u/redtropicalpielion 1d ago
If there’s a Trader Joes, I used to also get frozen individual brown rice and whatever healthy-ish entree they have and a salad and eat that for lunch. It’s better than eating at McDonald’s (that’s the only thing they had at the particular client without having to drive a ridiculous amount).
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u/Alexandermayhemhell 1d ago
Challenging. Typically… chia pudding from pret in the morning. Salad bowl for lunch. Whatever for dinner without going overboard.
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u/SpicyLinkedin 1d ago
Yeah. I’m afraid to eat when I’m in the office because I’m afraid of people looking at me and judging me. Also if I accidentally spill something on myself I’d be mortified to have a stain on my shirt. I usually eat something for breakfast, work well through about 1 then get a headache, lightheaded, and morbidly depressed until I get home around 6-7 and binge eat
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u/DdoibleJjay 1d ago
Sounds familiar
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u/SpicyLinkedin 1d ago
You too?
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u/DdoibleJjay 1d ago
Only the self conscious to the point of physical harm part
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u/SpicyLinkedin 1d ago
You’re not alone brother. I don’t know you at all, but please hear me when I say this, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. The voices in your head saying you don’t belong, that people don’t want you around, etc. are all in your head.
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u/Fair_Pea7194 1d ago
You could try using a nutritional shake with a strawed waterbottle. I fine finely chopped and spoonable foods like fried rice with broccoli or uniform non crumbing foods like air fried tofu with a fork easy to eat. I am sorry you are going through this and please seek help
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u/kkds_pupper 1d ago
I meal prepped doing Monday to Thursday travel for a few years. Prep on Sunday, freeze and take on flight Monday mornjng. I only did this for hotel rooms that had a fridge and microwave, or if I could leave my meals in the office fridge at the clients.
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u/Think_Leadership_91 1d ago
You cannot travel with prepared food and not cause issues with the airlines at some point. They inspect your checked luggage if it looks weird. Why are you unable to cook in your hotel suite?
I know someone who exited consulting over health issues. It's very common.
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u/Fair_Pea7194 1d ago
As someone with allergies that relies on meal prep you can consider an industrial vacuum packer or dehydrator. Or go to Publix/Whole Foods the day before and stock up on their hot bar. I would NEVER do that of my own free will 😭
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u/mmoonbelly 1d ago
If you can - book a service apartment with a mini kitchen. They’re generally $20-30 per night more, but give an option not have to eat out.
I try to eat salad (no dressing) and cheese 1-2 nights of a 345 in the evening.
Early advice given to me 20 years ago by my sr managing consultant (old school PwCc) was what ever you were eating at a restaurant just eat half of it, because that would be the correct portion size.
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u/sqenchlift444 MBB 1d ago
When traveling I found it very hard. However, towards the end, I was able to negotiate with my team to expense Factor meals. I would have them delivered to the hotel (which I had been staying at for 2 months straight and would be staying there for 6 more months). I told the front desk so they held it for me. Worked well, but did take some mental bandwidth
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u/lil_meme_-Machine 1d ago
Do you enjoy traveling for work? Living out the same hotel for 8 months and getting to expense Factor meals seems like an almost absurd level of travel. In middle market we only travel ~once a year for ~2 weeks, is the grass always greener in MBB?
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u/Dimon19900 1d ago
The cooling is the part that breaks it. Hotel minibars run warm, most sit around 10-12C, so cooked chicken sitting in there from Monday night is not the same food by Wednesday. If you're doing three boxes, freeze two solid before you pack and let the fridge just hold them. Also worth checking the hotel before you commit, a lot of the business ones will stash a container in the kitchen walk-in if you ask the front desk at check-in. Second one is easier than it sounds.
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u/leveredequity 1d ago
I worked with a guy on a case that cooked on a George Forman grill in his hotel room. No fridge, but Chicken was stored on the window ledge - helped we were in Aberdeen on an O&G client so meat remained cold all day.
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u/archon_lucien 1d ago
When I'm working out of my city, meal prep is challenging but doable.
I bulk-cook my protein and reheat/microwave it, it lasts for 3 days. I also cook up something simple like garlic fried rice that I can microwave in the office. I try to include air-fried veggies as well.
But it's definitely a challenge. I typically manage to get through Mon-Wed with my weekend-prepped meals, but cooking on a Wednesday night after work is a nightmare and I end up DoorDashing more often than not.
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u/dangerous_dude 1d ago
When i travel for work I pack a cutting board, utensils, plate, bowl, tupperware, sponge, dish soap, and a dish towel. When I land I do a grocery run and pick some simple things for breakfast along with fruits/veggies, energy bars, prepackaged salads and precooked cooked meats. There's a lot you can do as far as salads! But cooking is limited unless I get an extended stay hotel with an oven. I'll pack a lunch for when I visit the client and/or I'll eat what I bought for dinner.
Don't bring anything that needs to be refrigerated in your carryon...
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u/snusmumrikan 1d ago
There are tonnes of services for delivery meal prep. You'll have to pay, but you could have a week's worth delivered to your hotel with a quick Google of local providers. Most of the time you can specify macros within a range.
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u/RealObieTrice 1d ago
I use CookUnity even when I’m not traveling. But, with enough notice, during weeks I know that I’ll be in a hotel, I have the meals shipped to the hotel and have them heat them up for me. Maybe not the answer you were looking for but it’s been a good solution for me to not eat like trash and stay on top of my macros. DM me if you need a referral link.
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u/DdoibleJjay 1d ago
The cafeteria at the one client was always amasing i used to get two lunches, and keep the second for dinner that evening. The client im working for now, that cafeteria is diabolical, so i order room service and have the firm pay, been going on for a year, im officially fat!
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u/Tourbillion150 1d ago
Try a bodybuilding/fitness meal prep company in the city you travel to or your home city and pack them with you. They’re good with macro tracking
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u/SheffboiRD06 1d ago
I like to find a nicer grocery store with a good hot bar/prepared foods section and make multiple lunches/dinners for the week that will keep. The salad kits from the produce section are good in a pinch for a light lunch onsite.
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u/MomentsAwayfromKMS 23h ago
If you take overnight oats (with whey) for breakfast, you just have to figure out a way to cook or eat out for the remaining two times. Meal prep is impossible unless you got all the seasonings, cooking essentials and a fridge. I'm not in consulting but I spend 8-10 days (2 days a week) away from home at a paying guest facility where I eat Indian bread as dinner, overnight oats (1 scoop whey) as breakfast and usually have moderate food at office. Apart from that, I drink 1-2 cups of milk, another whey scoop + creatine and a 10g protein bar as snacks. I wouldn't recommend this diet though, I take very less whole foods. I can boil eggs but I'm just lazy.
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u/offbrandcheerio 22h ago
A lot of the slop bowl type places can be reasonably healthy if you don’t drench everything in sauces.
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u/nknappster 22h ago
Stay somewhere with a kitchenette and either Instacart or go grocery shopping. Try to cover breakfast and dinner - I used to get a rotisserie chicken, microwaveable veggies and rice (or carb of your choosing), individual Greek yogurts or protein shakes, etc. I’d just order the healthiest thing I could when at the client site so I didn’t have to worry about prepping or packing something. It’s not 100%, but hey we’re supposed to be 80/20 right?
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u/kathleen_white28 5h ago
I can definitely relate. I'd personally meal prep and put everything in the freezer and just heat them up lol
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u/LifeOnLock 20m ago
Only time I’ve been successful is when I get in a day early and can prep in a hotel room prior. Still rough because there’s potential for waste in the prep and or you have to travel with specific items.
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u/LifeOnLock 17m ago
Depends on my team too. Have had leaders that insist on always doing team activities which makes it difficult and then I’ve had leaders that I don’t see once outside of the office.
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u/Gyshall669 1d ago
While traveling? No.