Secrets for Staying Slim on the Road

July 15, 2008— -- Late-night room service. Transatlantic naps. Airplane food. When it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, the deck is stacked against you when you leave town on business.

Your familiar gym is no longer around the corner, nor is your go-to spot for lunch, where they make the big salad just the way you like it. And you're certainly not sleeping in your own bed.

Of course, it's completely impractical to pack your pillow. But you can still work out without packing anything extra — not even your running shoes — and eat balanced meals without doing an ounce of local menu research.

What? Workouts on the road without packing extra gear? If you're staying at a Fairmont Hotel (www.fairmont.com) in North America, yes. The upscale hotel chain will provide you with everything you need — shoes, wick-the-sweat-away apparel and even a custom-made mp3 playlist — all according to your sizes and preferences.

The benefit, called Fairmont Fit, is one of the many membership perks of the Fairmont President's Club, which is free to join. All you do is go online, fill out a profile with your shoe size, clothing size and music preferences, and it's all waiting for you in your hotel room when you check in.

"Fairmont Fit really fell out of an ongoing dialogue with our club members," said Brian Richardson, the hotel's vice president of communications. "Members were saying, 'It's easy for me to stay in my healthy routine at home. Anything you can do to help facilitate that while I'm on the road would be great.'"

Since convenience is king, Fairmont paired up with Adidas to provide the complimentary shoes and athletic apparel, so that road warriors would effectively have everything save a proxy to actually jump on the treadmill for them. You can even choose whether you want carbonated or regular water in your welcome pack.

Of course, your hotel is not the only place you can get in some cardio on the road. Turns out there's something more productive to do at the airport than browse Sharper Image gizmos and aisles of duty-free liquor while waiting for your next flight. And it's not a jog around the tarmac.