Event planner gets lost in the work crunch

Shay Watson

Age: 33

Occupation: Event planner

Height and weight: 6 feet, 220 pounds

Desired weight: 180 pounds

Activity level: Moderate

Eating pattern: High-calorie restaurant meals with occasional fast-food forays, tries to eat healthfully at home

Exercise routine: Hour-long workouts with a trainer twice a week, plus occasional beach walks

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A recent day

6:30 a.m.: Has a pre-workout protein bar (140 calories).

7 a.m.: Arrives at the Sofitel LA Gym in Los Angeles to work out with trainer Mike Donavanik. The hour-long weight training workout consists of super sets and brief incline walks on the treadmill, all done at a moderate to vigorous pace (burning about 350 calories). Eats two apples during the workout (110 calories). Donavanik asks Watson if he’s been keeping a food diary. “No, but it’s in my head,” he says.

9 a.m.: Breakfast at the Crescent hotel in Beverly Hills is a breakfast egg bruschetta, with two eggs cooked in olive oil topped with burrata cheese and tomatoes, served on a baguette, along with salad and vinaigrette, plus an unsweetened iced tea. “I’m not eating the bread because I know I have a lunch meeting today,” he says, and he also forgoes the salad (500 calories consumed).

10 a.m. to noon: Various meetings.

Noon to 2 p.m.: Lunch meeting at the Hotel Bel-Air. Skips the bread again and has a lobster Cobb salad with low-fat Thousand Island dressing and unsweetened iced tea (830 calories).

3 to 4:30 p.m.: Meeting at a private Westside club. Has 8 ounces of lemonade (108 calories).

5:30 p.m.: Open house at a luxury downtown high-rise. Skips the fruit and cheese platter but drinks about 4 ounces of white wine (100 calories).

6:30 to 9 p.m.: Dinner at Church & State in downtown L.A. Orders a prawn appetizer (300 calories), flatbread with caramelized onions, bacon and creme fraiche (250 calories), and steak frites with bearnaise sauce but eats few of the French fries (700 calories.) Eats a few bites of apple galette with ice cream (100 calories) and berry cobbler (100 calories). Drinks a vodka and club soda (103 calories) and a glass of red wine (130 calories). “I do think about what I’m eating,” he says between bites. “And I know French fries are not that good for me. But I think more about the balance of foods I’m eating -- like chicken, fish, vegetables. If I’m cooking at home I’ll use fat-free sour cream. And I can’t keep ice cream in the house, I’ll eat it all.” But eating dessert at a restaurant is another thing: “I feel like I need something to clean my palate,” he says, “especially after eating salty food.”

Calories consumed: 3,471

Calories burned (using the Harris Benedict Equation, see related story): 2,900

Extra calories consumed: 571

What he needs to do

Not paying attention to the details is a mistake. Even people on the go should keep a food diary, even for just a few days. “It can be time-consuming to look things up,” says Kara Mohr, co-owner of a Louisville, Ky.-based nutrition and fitness facility, “and it’s difficult to find calories in things like beurre blanc. But it’s critical for him to become a little more aware of what he’s eating so he can make more informed choices. He can also rate how he did that day -- how many fruits and vegetables did he eat at each meal?”

Then there’s the alcohol. Besides being high in calories, alcoholic beverages can lower inhibitions, leading to overeating. Mohr suggests limiting alcoholic drinks to one at dinner, then having club soda with a splash of juice.

Janet Walberg Rankin, professor of Human Nutrition, Foods & Exercise at Virginia Tech, recommends asking the waiter to put aside half of the entree and packing up the rest to go, although she admits that men might be less willing to do that than women.

She also suggests that Watson tote a few sensible snacks, such as almonds or a protein bar, to keep his blood sugar from crashing and leading to a fast-food binge.

If budget constraints aren’t an issue, Rankin says Watson might benefit from some sessions with a registered dietitian to learn more about healthful eating, especially at restaurants, plus portion sizes, and tips for navigating situations such as parties. Also, low-fat meals can ensure that at-home meals are balanced and low in calories and fat. Watson says he’s done that in the past and that it helped keep his weight down -- until the restaurants beckoned.

-- Jeannine Stein