This post may contain affiliate links. I only share with you what I truly use and believe in as a product. Please read discloser for more info.
Traveling or not, we must remain living our life healthy with balance. When we are traveling, we tend to forget how to continue living life while still remaining balance. Traveling tends to bring us out of our element slipping right out of our daily healthy routines. We must remember to remain getting the right sleep, working out, proper nutrition, and over all making those healthy choices–all in moderation which gives us balance!
Read below for these 5 tips the next time you travel!
- Don’t abandon your workouts– First things first, accept you may not get THE best workouts when your away from home. One reason may be because of the lack of equipment given. I know when I personally travel, I look at all the gyms near the area in which I’m staying. This helps me plan accordingly to what type of workouts I may be looking at as well as pack an extra set of bands or weights. Lack of equipment doesn’t mean you have to completely ditch your workouts all together. Focus on hitting total body workouts rather than specific body parts. This allows you to use your body weight more than relying on machines and other equipment. If there are no gyms near you–face it, your stuck with your body weight anyway! Trust me, there is so many exercises that can be done with just your body. Choose 4 exercises and you have yourself a circuit. Remember, this is not going to be forever, this is just to get you through a couple days, maybe a week away from home! Keep in mind, any workout is still a workout. Therefore, any duration of workout is better than no workout at all. Find out what gym/equipment you have available and plan accordingly for your time away. Make it simple, yet effective.
- 80/20 rule– While traveling, one of the hardest things to do is stick to your normal eating regime. By this I mean; if your use to eating six times per day, your lucky if you get in three meals. Mood swings and irritability are up and down because your Blood sugar levels cannot keep up with the sudden change of “diet”. If you are not already following the 80/20 rule during your every day healthy journey, perhaps try to adjust more to this rule. 80% of the time eat clean, whole foods, leaving the 20% those not so good options. This will bring balance into your nutrition regime not only while your away but also through out your life as you enjoy events and time with others too! I”m sure you have heard before how important a good nutrition regime is for achieving your health goals. I like to say that 70% of your health and fitness results comes from the kitchen and your nutrition, while only 30% makes up exercise and recovery/sleep. Sticking to 80/20 rule when eating the right choices of foods, will keep you from feeling deprived but also continue on your path to achieving all your desired health and fitness goals. If anything, try to follow this rule ESP while away. When we are away and out of our setting, and day to day routine–we tend to get in the selfless mode and let ourselves go. Don’t allow one week of being away let yourself from not feeling and fueling your best!
- Research Restaurants– As soon as you arrive at your stay for duration of being away; check out local restaurants in town so you can plan ahead. Prior to dining out, look up the menu as often as you can therefore you can take your time to glance over the menu without feeling rushed. Knowing your food options before hand and having more time to review and decide will allow you to eat more mindfully. There is a better chance of you not ordering with an impulse of “I don’t care what I eat, I’m on vaca mode”. Here are some easy, simple options that usually you can order at most placers. For Breakfast, stick with eggs or an omelet with some sort of grain (one slice of toast) or oats. Maybe ask for a fruit bowl on the side. Ditch the glass of juice–way too many carbs/sugars in a cup. Lunch- go with a lean meat, vegetables, and a side salad to fill you up. I suggest saving most of your carbs for dinner/dessert–but that’s just me!! I tend to be able to eat more of a healthier breakfast/lunch as opposed to dinner and having to skip dessert–SORRY! For Dinner-lean meat with a side of rice or potatoes. Typically try to eat only ½ portion served. If you were to have a fatty kind of meat/protein like salmon or a steak; those are great options but double on the veggies rather than the carbs.
- Sleep– If there is one ritual you can continue while away, it should be your SLEEP! You may be out later at night or perhaps up for earlier mornings but do your best to sacrifice and prioritize your sleep. Your quality of sleep will be already decreased, so to decrease the amount of sleep wouldn’t go over well at all. When you return from your travels your routine will be even more hard to jump back into, as you continue to battle fatigue. If I’m away for personal rather than business, I like to set up a goal–allow body to wake up to its own alarm clock. Being able to go to sleep without setting an alarm clock already puts the body in an entire different stable mood of relaxation; Try it!
- Have snacks handy– When you don’t have anything on hand, we tend to grab for convenience. Keep in mind convenience is typically never our best option and can also get pretty expensive. We tend to grab unhealthy options because at that point we are simply starving and our appetite hormones are going crazy! Do not wait until you are STARVING. Try to plan having at least one snack on hand. Snacks on hand could be a piece of fruit, almonds/nuts, or protein bars. Macro friendly snacks would be a plus.
My ultimate favorite protein bars can be used as a meal replacement. Check them out here! They have four different flavors! Salted caramel (shown in this picture) tastes just like a snickers bar, now that’s a promise!
