Easy Travel Hacks for Staying Healthy
Nov 07, 2022
It’s a fact that it is much easier to stay on track with your health goals when you are set up for success. Having the right food in the pantry/fridge, access to workout gear and your own bed are instrumental in keeping you on track. So what should you do when you do not have access to your ideal environment?
Well, it is possible to take your “nearly” ideal environment on the road with you when you travel. It just takes a little bit of pre-planning and being committed to keeping HEALTH as your number one priority. By incorporating these habits you will not only reduce the amount of stress placed on your body while you are “away”, but it will also help you fall back into your normal routine quicker when you return home.
Here are the Top Four things I focus on when traveling:
SLEEP & TIME ZONES
If you are traveling for a seminar or will be away for less than a week, you may want to try and stay in your own time zone. On a recent three-day business trip to Nashville (which is a two-hour time difference for me), I stayed in my own time zone by waking and going to sleep based on my Atlantic time zone. This took a little bit of discipline (and I was up REALLY early), but it helped me have a much smoother transition both getting there and returning home.
EXERCISE
When choosing a hotel, look for one that has a gym, a pool, or hopefully both! Some hotels (like the one I chose) may have yoga mats available which will allow you to do some stretching and mobility exercises to release some of the stiffness from traveling or sitting in meetings all day. If your hotel has a fitness room or pool, look at your itinerary and block out a time for your workout and ensure movement continues to be a priority for you.
HYDRATION
If you have to wake up for an early flight, it is best to avoid consuming too much caffeine. I normally drink coffee in the morning but will avoid it when flying because the combination of caffeine and the increased altitude can cause dehydration and may increase jet lag symptoms.
My recommendation is to increase the amount of water you drink to compensate for any caffeine consumption and to continuously hydrate before, during and after your flight. Adding salt and/or electrolytes to your water will provide additional minerals which will help keep you hydrated and minimize any negative impacts from your flight.
I used an electrolyte tablet and I also used greens that I purchased in convenience-sized packages at Parks Health Shop in HRM. The greens gave me a great nutritional foundation for the day (it also sparked a lot of interesting conversations 😀)
This leads me to the next thing I focus on…
NUTRITION
In the past, airports have had limited “healthy” choices when it came to food but thankfully now there are more and more options available. I was happy to see smoothies, salads, veggies, and other healthy snacks in each of the airports I was in.
It is very important that you have something readily available to curb your hunger so that you don’t make an impulsive decision and grab the first thing you see. I brought some clean protein bars from the health food shop and these came in handy on more than one occasion.
Another strategy that works well while traveling is following an intermittent fasting regime. I find fasting increases my focus and is beneficial when I am traveling to a workshop or seminar. To learn more about intermittent fasting, you can read more about it HERE from a previous blog.
It is important to continue to make good choices when you travel but to also not place an overwhelming amount of restrictions on yourself as to what you can and cannot eat. The stress that this will cause will reduce the positive impact that your vacation will have. I may indulge in some local cuisine or beverages but if I overdo it I often don't feel my best.
So what CAN you do? Choose one meal or snack per day that you will relax your restrictions for and then stay on track for the remainder of the day. If you have removed a particular food from your diet and are re-introducing it, remember to use moderation.
Finally, a warm reminder that perfection is never the outcome that we are striving for. The goal is to have a great vacation and not have to RE-START your health journey when you return home.
If you are interested in starting your own health journey and don’t know where to begin, check out our Longevity Academy. For a small monthly fee, we can help you find the best route for you to reach your health goals.