How to Travel Without Wrecking Your Health Goals
I LOVE to travel. There’s something about inserting myself into a new environment that:
Brings a sense of adventure to life.
Changes my perspective.
Renews my spirit.
Earlier this month, my family and I went snow skiing. I grew up in northwest Kansas, not too far from Colorado. So as a kid, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to the Colorado Rockies a lot, both in wintertime and summertime.
I now live in central Illinois, so getting to Colorado is more difficult (and more expensive). But man… every time we make it out there, we have such a great time. It’s become a memorable, magical place in my kids’ life, just as it is in my life.
My daughter (second from right), skiing with her cousins.
The Thing About Vacations & Travel…
As great as traveling/vacationing is, it’s not always great for the health goals. Because it typically involves:
Being out of your normal routine.
Eating differently.
Indulging more.
As a result, it’s common to feel unhealthy, sluggish, and depressed after a vacation. That’s no fun, of course. So let’s look at ways to avoid this!
How to Travel Without Wrecking Your Health Goals
I’m definitely not perfect at this. But I’ll share some things that helped me during our most recent vacation.
I’ll start by sharing two things that didn’t go so well, healthwise. Then I’ll share five intentional steps I took to not let things get out of hand.
Not So Healthy
1. Less-Healthy Eating/Drinking
This is pretty typical for me when traveling… unless I’m at a lifestyle medicine conference (where delicious, healthy dishes are prepared for every meal… which is a rare situation). When my eating patterns decline while traveling, I don’t beat myself up about it. I don’t expect to be perfect. But I also don’t go hog-wild.
2. Sluggishness
As it turns out, when you eat/drink unhealthy stuff, you feel less healthy. It’s crazy how that works, isn’t it? :) Sluggishness is what I tend to experience. I did experience some sluggishness at times on this trip. However, there were things I did to combat this, which I’ve outlined below.
Healthy
1. Tackled the Negative Self-Talk
I intentionally changed any negative self-talk that crept up as a result of the above. I consciously flipped the story. I refused to let self-criticism be associated with this wonderful trip. I stepped into the kind of person I wanted to be on this trip.
2. Chose an ACTIVE Vacation
It helps to choose an active vacation in the first place. An easy way to do this is to simply walk a lot at the place you travel to. In our case, our days were spent skiing, of course. This helped to counteract the evening indulgences.
3. Drank Lots of Water
I made it a point to stay well-hydrated. This is important because hydration increases satiety (gives you a sense of fullness, so you’re less likely to overeat) and improves your energy level.
4. Ate Plenty of Fiber
There were lots of unhealthy foods available, but there were also some healthy options. While I did enjoy some delicious (not exactly healthy) foods and drinks, I also made it a point to fill up on the healthy stuff. Particularly fiber-rich foods, such as vegetables and fruit. Just like with water, the fiber helps with satiety and sustained energy.
5. Used Workout Facilities
We spent a couple nights in hotels near airports, and we rented a house the rest of the time. In the hotels, it was easy for my husband and I to do a quick workout in the mornings, using the hotel facilities. He would bike or swim. I would use the treadmill and do a couple strength exercises. It was a great way to start the day.
While staying at the house, however, it was more difficult. We ended up paying $20/day to use a nearby athletic facility. There was a time when that would have been crazy-talk. (“Who would pay that?!”) But we don’t see it that way anymore. Taking care of your body is an investment. Just like food expenses are typically higher when on vacation, accessing a gym may be too. For us, it was worth it to start our day this way. It gave us a sense of accomplishment and improved our mood. It enhanced our trip.
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How About You?
I’d love to hear about things that help you stay on-track while traveling. Leave a comment below!
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This post was originally published on 2/22/22.
