‘Tis the season to travel. Planes, trains, and automobiles may be taking you places this summer, but that doesn’t mean they have to take your healthy lifestyle and throw it out the window.
Stuck in an airport? Automatically think that travel days are “goners” for eating well and exercising? Make the most out of your long waits, layovers, delays, and discomforts with these unconventional travel tips.
Pack Your (Lunch) Bag. The best food in the airport is the food you bring with you. For day-of travel, pack your sack with non-liquid based foods. Salmon and roasted veggies tossed in olive oil. Burger patties, sweet potato wedges, and asparagus spears. Homemade chicken salad, cashews, and an apple. Traveling home from your destination, stop by Whole Foods or another clean-eating restaurant spot on the way to the airport to find grub that’s healthy (and more budget-friendly) then you find at the airport.
Always Prepare. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, especially when layovers, missed flights, and changing schedules happen. Keep easy travel snacks with you at all times: coconut butter packets, almond butter packets, nitrate-free jerky, canned wild salmon and tuna packets, additive-free protein powder and a shaker bottle, Kale Krunch, apples or oranges, carrots and celery, plantain chips, raw nuts and seeds, Bulletproof collagen protein bars, RX Bars, and more.
Handle Your Poop Problems. Traveler’s constipation does exist (#TheStruggleIsReal). Your bod is thrown off from schedule changes, poor hydration, and the change in cabin pressure. Arm your digestion and elimination to work like a champ with these tactics:
- Drink Up. Make a conscious effort to drink water the days before travel and throughout your travel day to keep things running smoothly
- Probiotic Power. Carry a quality probiotic supplement in your bag to ensure you are armed with good bacteria.
- Chew Your Food. As simple as it sounds, being “on the go” often times means eating fast, which is not optimal for digestion. Chew your food. Rest and digest.
- Enzyme Supplements. The second line of defense for digesting your food after you’ve minded thorough chewing, water, and probiotics. Enzymes supplements give your body the extra oomph to break down your food and send it on its merry way through the digestive process.
Get Your Sweat On. For years I’ve been saying there need to be gyms in airports. Until that happens, bring your workout to a long travel day. Instead of using the downtime between flights sitting and working on your computer or reading (you can do this on the plane), move a bit. Stretch your legs, walk around, or even break out your jump rope or do a bodyweight WOD. Here are a few ideas:
- 7-minutes Max Burpees
- 20-minute AMRAP 20 Push-ups, 20 Sit-ups, 20 Air-squats
- 21-15-9-15-21: Squat Jumps + Sprawls
- Tabata x 8-minutes: Hollow Body Holds & Push-ups (alternate between the two movements, 20-seconds on, 10-seconds off)
Roll Out. Don’t let stiff muscles happen to you. Use the downtime on the plane and sitting around to roll out. Pack a lacrosse ball or band in your carry on and take advantage of the opportunity to mobilize.
Boost Your Brain. How many times have you said, “I don’t have the time to ______ (read, write, learn, listen)”? Now you do. Use your travel day to boost your self-development with a book, audible book, podcast, or a good ol’ pen and paper brainstorming session to grow some brain muscle.
Om. I can’t help it – I always fall asleep on airplanes. I have a philosophy that there is a lack of oxygen higher up in the air that knocks me out like a sleeping baby. Sometimes you just need to chill out. If you are a go-go-go person like I am, naps, Zen, and even sleep are sometimes neglected. Consider your travel day a restoration day.
Need more travel tips?
