Friday night I had dinner with a friend who works for a tech company that has him on the road most of the week.  His accounts are spread out between 4 medium size cities.  He’s travelling most of the time and therefore eating out most of the time.  He’s had this job for two years now and while he’s making a decent six figure income, he’s put on more weight than he’d like. 

He didn’t realize how much weight he’d put on until he saw some recent Christmas pictures of himself. 

Unfortunately, this situation is all too common.  I would have to say that a large percentage of the people that I have worked with over the years in technology experience a similar situation IF THEY ARE TRAVELLING A LOT. 

That’s the key - if you’re on the road, it’s not hard to put on the weight.  Especially if you’re not used to that lifestyle:  You’re entertaining clients, taking them out for dinners, drinking more alcohol than usual and typically eating portions that are larger in both calories and serving size.  But it all tastes and looks SO good! Further, you’re almost always eating on the company expense account which makes for slightly less inhibitions when it comes to have the best stuff on the menu.  This is more true lately with companies being more generous with such perks to keep employees who travel frequently more happy.

Anyway, my point is this, if you’re about to take a sales position that will have you travelling and eating out more often, be wary of the above and do what you can to eat well and stay fit on the road.  Because my friend now has set the goal of stripping OFF that twenty pounds while his travel schedule remains the same.  He said it’s affecting his energy levels and therefore his productivity. 

 …maybe I can document his progress and share the results in my blog.  Take care of yourself if you’re on the road and be wary of all the extra calories that exist in restaurant prepared meals.

 ~Brooks.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Sales Reps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.