How do you feel about maintaining a healthy lifestyle while traveling? I know this can be a touchy subject for some but I wanted to make sure we discussed it here because it actually is a great topic. So in this episode I wanted to share with you my tips for continuing a healthy lifestyle while traveling. I know there can be many different opinions around this and I really wanted to give my perspective on it. So even if you are hard sold on the fact that there should be no health tips related to travel whatsoever, I still think you should keep reading because I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised with the things that I have to say.
You need to do what is best for you, not what is best for me or for your partner or your family or your friends. You should especially not do what is best for the random person on Instagram, myself included! They don’t matter either. The only thing that matters is what is best for you. When it comes to maintaining this lifestyle while traveling, I really want you to think about it and decide what you think is going to be the best for you. The reason I am here is because I wanted to talk to you about what I do while I’m traveling to kind of help maintain the lifestyle that I have built in these last eight years.
Planning Ahead: The Key To Success
The biggest thing that I do is plan ahead. Now when I am planning ahead for vacation it matters where I’m going. For example, if I’m going somewhere where I’m driving, planning ahead is going to look different then if I’m flying and going somewhere else, right? A lot of the time in our family we drive places, so I have the opportunity to pack healthy snacks for the car ride. I might check out different restaurants along the route that we’re taking to try to make better decisions when I can. I might check out restaurants or local places for the destination that we’re going to. The biggest thing I do for traveling is buy snacks that are going to make me feel happy, right? I mean I am still on vacation, but I also make sure that they are a good fit for my lifestyle.
These are snacks that I might have for the car or for the hotel. The hotel is really a big one because I don’t want to be stuck with not having something and then feel the need to attack that vending machine. You’re really not going to find your best choices there, and a lot of the times those choices for me end up being impulse choices. I want to try to avoid those. So I try my best to just pack some snacks that I know I’m going to be happy with but will help that impulse control that I’m trying to avoid when I’m on vacation.
I’m not looking to be 100% healthy the entire time. I like to indulge on vacation but I do try to make better choices when I can, so for little snacks here and there, I’d rather bring a healthier option with me and then travel out and try to find local donut shops and enjoy that.
Staying Active
The next thing I do while I’m on vacation is staying active. This does not mean I hit the gym every single day. It also does not mean I’m doing this intense workout every single day. I don’t typically do that. If you are not interested in doing your workouts like you normally would there are other options. I feel like sometimes we get caught up with the thought that a workout is a workout and that’s really it, right? Like you have to go to the gym for it to count, but this is not how it works. You can stay active in other ways without doing a traditional workout. Maybe you plan activities while you’re on vacation. You go for nature walks or you go for hikes to see the surroundings. Maybe you are in a big city and you’re going on sightseeing tours so instead of the bus tour you opt for a walking tour. Maybe you don’t jump on the subway and you walk a few blocks extra. That all counts as staying active, I know, it’s not your typical workout, but it’s still movement and it’s still being active.
When I say that I’m active on vacation most of the time that means I’m doing one of those things. I’m either walking around, I’m going on a hike. I’m playing a game. Some days I’ll do a traditional workout. It depends where I am and how I feel. Recently we were on a vacation and I happened to go past the hotel gym and they had an air runner there and I had never used an air runner before and I had to try it like I had to. I wanted to know so badly what it was like. So I went into the hotel gym for a day. That doesn’t mean I was there every single day and it doesn’t mean you have to do that. Maybe you don’t get excited about air runners. I definitely did and it was really fun and hard to get used to, in case you’re wondering.
It’s up to you what you do. Sometimes I go on vacation and I bring dumbbells with me, sometimes I don’t. It’s really up to you what you want to do and how you’re going to do it. But I find saying active in some way helps. I like how I feel better. I like just being active in general to begin with, so it’s always usually a good option for me.
Setting A Small Goal
Before I go on vacation, to help get into that mindset of keeping that healthy lifestyle while I’m there, I set a goal for myself and be realistic. When I’m setting my goal, it’s like I’m setting a minimum. These are the minimum things that I want to do to maintain my lifestyle. This healthy journey that I’m on. For me usually it is to make sure that I’m drinking enough water because I can definitely let that slide. I want to make sure that that’s something that I hit, and I know that’s easy for me to just let go by the wayside, so that’s a bare minimum. Another thing is I just make sure that I’m eating vegetables at most of my meals. Whether it is a meal or a snack I just make sure that there are vegetables somewhere in my day. I can tell you I’ve been on vacation a couple times where I haven’t paid attention to food as much and I started craving vegetables.
That’s kind of my bare minimum when it comes to maintaining my diet or watching what I’m eating while I’m on vacation and then getting in some kind of movement. I had said that before when we were talking about staying active, but that is a bare minimum for me. You need to set goals that are realistic for you. We want to be realistic when we’re setting them. These are the things that I am going to be happy doing while I’m on vacation to maintain this lifestyle.
Don’t Forget You’re On Vacation
I want to make another big point here. You are on vacation. Do not stress over every single workout that you’re missing, and every extra calorie that you’re eating. You’re on vacation. You need to rest and relax and enjoy your time. Stressing over your losing progress at the gym or gaining a ton of weight is not only not realistic but it’s going to ruin your trip! You need to kind of let go of that thinking. You don’t have to do any of these things that I’m saying here. If you want to go on vacation and lay on the beach and have someone bring you a drink every single day, be my guest! If that’s what you want to do, then that’s what you do. Just don’t panic!
Whatever you choose to do, I want you to do it because it is what you want to do. Don’t feel pressured by people around you. And for sure don’t be pressured to do any of this out of fear of gaining all the weight back or losing all of the momentum you have. Enjoy this time whether you’re whether your friends or your family enjoy it.
