6 Tips for Staying on Track When Traveling Plus 3 Workouts You Can Do Anywhere!

We just arrived in Washington DC for a weeklong vacation on the east coast with friends and family! So much of my desire to travel is fueled by the fact that many of the people I love and care about the most are spread all over the country! I always I wish I could see my close friends and family members more often, but I do love the excuse to visit other cities and see other parts of the country.

I thought that since I am traveling this week, I would share some tips to help keep you on track when away from home.

1. Relax…When I am at home, I am VERY routine oriented and structured (possibly too much so!) However, when traveling, I have a much more relaxed mentality about what I eat and how much I exercise. I never want my specific dietary needs or desire to get in a work out to affect my vacation experience or the people I am with.
2. Find Balance…Like with anything in life, eating and exercising when traveling is all about If I eat a bunch of bread, sugar, and dairy on the first day of traveling because that’s what’s convenient, that will likely affect how I feel for the rest of the trip. But if I am walking around Fisherman’s Warf on a cold and windy day in San Francisco, you better believe I will seek out a bread bowl filled with Clam Chowder because that is part of the travel experience.
3. Ask yourself “Is it worth it?” When making a food choice, it all comes down to asking yourself if it’s worth it and sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t.
4. Plan Ahead…I am sometimes pleasantly surprised with airport food options, but usually it is all bread and sugar everywhere you look. Aside from the fact that the food choices are typically not ideal, it is so overpriced that that alone is motivation for me to pack some snacks from home! Here are some snack ideas that are not only better for you, but also cheaper if you buy them anywhere besides the airport.

• Dried Fruit and Nuts
• Beef Jerky
• Bars (RX Bars, Lara Bars, Perfect Bars, Kind Bars, etc.)
• Plantain chips, sweet potato chips, etc.
• Lunch Meat (with an ice pack)
• Bananas w/ almond or peanut butter, apple slices, grapes, etc.
• An empty water bottle that you can fill once you get through security!
  

  Some pretty decent options at the airport in DC!

5. Communicate with your friends and family. Believe me, I have never wanted to be “that guy” that dictates where we can go out to eat or what I am “allowed” to have for a homemade meal. I just don’t want to be a pain or make people go out of their way. But, I feel SO fortunate to have family and friends that are more than happy to make any accommodations. At this point, they pretty much know the list of can and can’t haves, and some have even started following a similar diet in their every day lives!
6. Do your best! There is only so much planning and forethought you can do. If you have done your best to follow the other tips, you have to just remember that the vacation will come to an end, so enjoy it while you can and then get back to business when you get home! Don’t let stress ruin your trip, but also try not to completely go off the rails to the point of no return!

I have a similar mindset when it comes to exercise when traveling. Sometimes, a vacation is a perfect and much needed break form the gym and rest that my body needs. Other times, I am craving a good sweaty workout to start my day. Most of the time, I know that even just spending 10-20 minutes moving my body and getting my heart rate up will give me energy and make me a happier person all around! I also know that when I exercise, I just naturally make healthier food options because that is what my body craves. It all works together, and I have learned by now that sweating it out and making mostly healthy food choices is going to make my trip more enjoyable!

Since I knew I would be traveling this week and (as I’ve mentioned before) I am 100% more likely to workout if I don’t have to think about what to do, I came up with a few hard hitting workouts that you can do anywhere in a short amount of time.

For this workout, the good news is that the reps decrease as you go, so in theory, it gets easier. The bad news is that with smaller reps, the faster you should go! This was the perfect workout that got my heart rate up and muscles working but was quick and over before I knew it.

This one will likely take just a little bit longer and therefore be a little less “intense.” But push the runs because you’ll catch you breath on the other moves! Gotta love lunges…I always feel them the next day no matter what!

A tabata is when you perform the same movement at a high intensity for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds. You will repeat this cycle 8 times, totaling in 4 minutes per movement. If you need extra rest between movements, you can add in a minute transition time, or go right into the next movement. Without the extra rest, this workout should take a total of 16 minutes. Interval training is always good, especially for intensity! You can go hard for 20 seconds, knowing you have rest coming.

Hope you can give one of these fast and “fun” workouts a try the next time you are traveling or just can’t make it to the gym!