Be a Healthy Traveler: How to Eat Right and Exercise While Taking a Trip

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Yes, you too can be one of those people using the hotel gym and making other guests feel bad. Here’s how to exercise while taking a trip, eat right, and be a healthy traveler!

 

Getting the chance to see the world can be immensely exciting. But if you’re a health food nut or have a newfound dedication to physical fitness, you may be worried about disrupting your routine and indulging a bit too much while you’re away. While you should certainly allow yourself to enjoy and get some much-deserved rest on vacation, you don’t have to resign yourself to eating pure junk and feeling sluggish due to a lack of exercise.

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There are plenty of ways to ensure you stay on track without feeling like you’re making a sacrifice. Being a healthy traveler can be simple and fun. These tips make it easy to eat healthy and exercise while taking a trip. Bon voyage!

 

BYOS: Bring Your Own Snacks

Healthy snacks and proper portion sizes are hard to come by in airports, rest stops, gas stations, amusement parks, and even hotels. That’s why most experts recommend that you bring along some easy, nutritious snacks with you throughout your trip. This will ensure you’ll have something to sustain you throughout those long travel days and that you won’t have to rely on chips, candy, or snack mixes.

There are actually some nutritionist-recommended snacks and meals offered by various airlines (JetBlue, Delta, Virgin America, United, and American are ranked highly by CNN). But often, it’s better to provide your own, particularly if you have long layovers or have a tendency to feel light-headed when you haven’t eaten enough. Nutritionists recommend a nut butter and jam sandwich on whole grain bread, carrot sticks, a banana, dried fruit, rice cakes, Kind bars, oatmeal packets, roasted chickpeas, or nuts. These snacks will work well on road trips, too! And if you make any stops along the way, try to plan your route around markets, rather than the drive-thru.

Drink Your H2O

Airplanes are notoriously dry (since there isn’t a lot of moisture when you’re up that high!), which does a real number on your skin. That’s why many frequent travelers will bring along a small spray bottle to keep their faces hydrated throughout a long flight. But you’ll need to remember to hydrate the rest of your body, too. One flight attendant recommends you bring along a reusable water bottle with you (you may even want to invest in one with a built-in filter, if you’re traveling abroad or plan on going hiking). Not only will this help your skin maintain its healthy glow, but it will also keep you from reaching for a beverage out of convenience, like a soda, and will help you to feel fuller throughout the day. Plus, with all the sightseeing you may do, it’s important to stave off the effects of dehydration!

 

Fitness is Best With A Partner – You’ll Want THIS

 

Bring Your Workout With You

Children tend to be thought of as fairly active, but only 43% of six to 11-year-old American kids get their recommended 60 minutes per day of daily exercise. As we age, it can become even harder to fit an exercise routine into our daily schedules. That’s especially true when you’re traveling — but that’s often when its most important. It’ll relieve the stress you feel during the long drive or before a flight, allow you to stretch those muscles, and sleep more easily during your trip. And of course, it’ll help you stay in shape. That’s why it’s so important to exercise while taking a trip!

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If your hotel has a fitness room or pool (or your AirBnB has some workout equipment available), you can try some of these workouts out. Since you can’t rely solely on those, you can bring along your workout equipment and still do many great “home” workouts. That doesn’t mean packing free weights in your carry-on. If you’re committed to a certain workout routine, you might consider investing in some resistance bands and a jump rope — and of course, bring your sneakers, too. You can definitely do lunges, squats, or yoga in a small space, too.

Fit In Some Physical Activities

Let’s face it: being stuck in a gym while you’re on vacation isn’t probably your first choice. But you can easily see the sights and fit in some exercise at the same time. Sign up for a walking tour (or create your own), participate in a bike sharing program, rent a canoe, go for a hike, or visit sites that require you to take the stairs. You can even squeeze in some reps while waiting in a long line. Keep in mind that burning an extra 300 calories a day can help you lose between half a pound to a pound a week and will give you the energy to see everything your destination has to offer. Now that’s great exercise while taking a trip!

Make Use of the Mini-Fridge

While the mini-bar might be your sworn enemy (both in terms of junk food temptations and steep price tags), the mini-fridge can be your truest friend while traveling. While it helps to have a kitchenette to prepare certain meals, you don’t necessarily need one to eat healthy snacks throughout your trip. You can easily store fresh produce and healthy perishables in your mini-fridge without worrying about attracting pests or missing that all-too-short produce time window. Since roughly 70% of Americans don’t meet their daily fruit and vegetable intake recommendations, being able to store these items and enjoy them when your stomach starts growling can be a real life saver during your trip. And as a bonus, you can store your reusable water bottles there overnight to ensure you’ll be able to enjoy a cold sip whenever you need it throughout the next day.

Enjoy Without Going Overboard

Getting the chance to experience the culinary specialties of a new locale is one of the great joys of traveling. A recent survey conducted by TopDeck Travel found that 69% of Millennials felt motivated to travel out of a desire to try local foods, with 98% saying that eating local cuisine is an important part of the travel experience. Of course, you shouldn’t deprive yourself of new food experiences while you’re on a trip. Reader’s Digest suggests that you always eat a nutrient-packed breakfast, schedule your meal times to avoid constant grazing, stick to one plate at the buffet, share more indulgent meals family-style, and try to fill up on veggies when you can. You should also allow yourself to indulge when you really feel the urge — without berating yourself — to ensure you get to truly experience everything to the fullest.

 

Maintaining a healthy diet and exercise while taking a trip away from home can feel like an impossible task. But really, it just requires a bit of preparation and a few adjustments throughout your trip. Deprivation and obsession aren’t the goals here; by remembering these tips, you’ll feel more energized while traveling and won’t have to work nearly as hard to get back on track once you get back home.

 

 

Exercise while taking a trip Photo Credits: YouTube

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