TIPS ON
STAYING FIT WHILE TRAVELING
An article by Linda
Byard
It can be a challenge to stay “in
shape” while away
from home unless we are talking about a balloon shape. Each
kind of travel: business, vacation, or personal, has its own stresses
and temptations. Plan ahead and make sensible choices while
on the road. Be realistic. Don’t try to
lose weight. Instead, try not to gain any.
Don’t aspire to a greater level of fitness.
Instead, try not to lose what you have already achieved. Here
are some tips to help you stay fit while traveling:
DAILY WORK OUT: Plan where and how you are going to work
out. If you are staying in a hotel, inquire before you leave
home about amenities like a swimming pool or fitness center.
Hotels which offer no amenities of their own, sometimes have
arrangements with nearby fitness centers. If not, you can
almost always buy a day or week pass at a fitness
center. You might also ask about places to walk or
to jog. Even if there is no fitness center or equipment
available to you in your temporary residence, you can still bring an
exercise DVD to play in your computer, or you can bring stretch
bands. Or you can go to the internet, and find strength and
toning exercises you can do on your own with absolutely no
equipment. You can also fill in your schedule with planned
walks. Clearly the most important thing to bring is
motivation and a positive attitude. If you have that, you
will find a way to exercise.
PLAN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: When selecting vacation options,
consider choosing one which revolves around a physical activity like
hiking or biking or kayaking. Even if shopping is your
favorite vacation activity, you can still include a lot of vigorous
walking.
REGULAR EXERCISE: Schedule exercise into your day just as you
would at home. If you exercise early in the day, you
won’t have to worry about fitting it in later when you really
would rather take a nap. Be aware that if you are staying in
a hotel which caters to a lot of business people, there are usually
many “road warriors” competing for the treadmills
and ellipticals between 6 and 7:30 AM. Other times and
especially on weekends, the fitness centers are often empty and you can
choose your machine and favorite television channel.
PEDOMETER: Wearing a pedometer will help you know how active
you are in an unfamiliar setting. If you are not already a
dedicated pedometer user, try one for a few days before you leave, so
that you will have some idea of how many steps you do at
home. You don’t want your activity level to
slip. If you have trouble eating the way you should while
away, you can make the situation better by increasing the number of
steps you take in a day.
WALK: If you are in a hotel, choose an upper level floor, and
get in the habit of using the stairs every time you come in and go
out. Leave your car at the far end of the parking
lot. Choose your hotel carefully and it may even be possible
to walk to some of your destinations. Never miss an
opportunity to take some extra steps. Every single one counts!
BREAKFAST BUFFETS: Breakfast buffets are very popular in
hotels these days. They are usually attractive and they are
also loaded with fat and sugar calories. The danger is that if you
don’t eat a reasonably good breakfast, you will likely
indulge in a mid-morning snack you won’t be proud of, or you
will gorge yourself at lunch. Look for things like oatmeal,
whole wheat toast, fresh fruit, and low fat yogurt. If there
is a grill you might be able to get an egg white based omelet stuffed
with veggies. The problem might be the tempting displays of
doughnuts and pastries. If you just can’t pass
these up, can you seriously limit yourself to one mouthful?
Think about it.
If you know you won’t be able to avoid the sweets, pack a
bowl and some whole grain cereal. Go to the buffet, pick up a
carton of milk for your cereal, a piece of fruit, leave temptation
behind, and enjoy breakfast in your room. If you are feeling
adventurous, explore the local supermarket for your food supply.
RESTAURANTS: We generally know what we should eat but even the finest
restaurants may not offer enough in the way of fruits, vegetables, and
whole grains. Make the best choices you can. Be
charming and look to your server for information about the food
preparation. Ask for salad dressings, and sauces to be on the
side. Pay attention to portion size. This is no
time for the clean plate ethic. If there are two of you, try
some different strategies. For example, one person orders a
main dish salad and the other orders a dinner, and then split
both.
EAT SLOWLY: Don’t wait too long between meals or you may find
that you are too hungry to make sensible choices. You might
find yourself eating handfuls of chips or several pieces of bread
before your meal even arrives. Drink a glass of
water. Order a soup or salad to begin your meal.
Eat slowly. It takes around twenty minutes before the brain
and stomach can talk to each other to let you know that you have had
enough. You can go through a heck of a lot of food
in twenty minutes!
WATER: Let water be your main beverage. You can drink as much
as you want, and indulge whenever you want it. There is
evidence that drinking beverages with artificial sweeteners may
actually make you crave more “sweet.” Not
a good idea, right? Carry a bottle of water around with you
during the day. It will help you stay hydrated, you will feel
less empty, and less tempted by unhealthy snacks.
DESSERTS: Who doesn’t like desserts? If
you plan to have dessert occasionally, you may find it easier to eat
sensibly the rest of the time. But surely no one needs
chocolate mousse cake everyday. Learn which desserts pack the
most fat and sugar calories. When you do indulge, consider
sharing dessert with someone else at your table. Can you take
a pass on the whipped cream and still be satisfied? Some
people talk about a special exercise which assists them in weight
control. You do this just before dessert is served
– extend your arms and push yourself away – from
the table. This one sounds extraordinarily hard!
AIRPORTS: If you are flying to your destination, you may need
some food while traveling. Most airports do not have very
much available for health conscious foodies. But look around
and undoubtedly some choices will be better than others.
Don’t wait to buy food on the airplane. You can
pretty much count on most airplane food to have too much sugar, fat, or
salt or maybe all three. The best strategy of all is to bring
food from home or buy food before you get to the airport. If
you have time between flights, skip the moving sidewalks and walk to
the next concourse. If you still have time, walk around and
explore, and burn still more calories. Once strapped in on
the airplane, movement may be difficult but there are some exercises
one can do while seated. These help with circulation and
lessen your chance of blood clots, a complication of flying for some
people.
NO REGRETS: When you get home, if you are in a bit of a
physical mess, don’t waste any energy on
regrets. Just be glad if you can still fit into
your workout clothing. Resume your normal exercise program
the day you return or the very next day. Drive to the
supermarket, or better yet, walk if you can, and load up on healthy
choices. And start looking forward to your next
trip!
More articles from Linda:
Driving
in the UK Take your life in your hands
The Transatlantic Journey
- Surviving Long Flights
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When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we
do not see the one which has been opened for us. --
Helen Keller
