We all travel for a variety of reasons, and this can include business trips as well as vacations. But does travel have to leave you exhausted, with an illness, out of shape, and having gained a ton of weight?
Of course not, if you do a few simple things. This week’s topic is all about not just surviving, but actually thriving while on the road. In the podcast, PK and I discussed some simple and effective approaches to making travel more successful with respect to health and fitness. Here are a few of the major concepts:
- Plan ahead with regard to packing, food, schedules, and other contingencies but maintain a flexible attitude if at all possible. Realize there will be things that come up on any trip that are unexpected and uncontrollable. Go with the flow and make some lemonade.
- If you’ve been living a TLB existence, and are metabolically fat-adapted (or currently in a ketogenic state), you can always do a short fast when on the plane or in the airport as an alternative to low-quality foods. Pack a few snacks that work for your personal dietary needs such as nuts, jerky, cheese, etc. just in case you need a bite. Be prepared to navigate restaurants and social situations and realize you can at least choose the lesser of evils if your desired foods don’t exist. Your metabolism is flexible and you can tolerate a few modifications or deviations just fine.
- With training, be prepared to be creative, and seize a fitness opportunity where it presents itself, such as a few trips up the stairs, some calisthenics in your hotel room, or just a bit more walking. You can easily maintain your conditioning for as much as several weeks even if a gym isn’t available.
- Recognize that your sleeping environment will probably be different than the one you have at home. Try to get your room dark, cool, and quiet if at all possible but realize your sleep, and thus your recovery abilities, may not be quite as good as usual when traveling. When it feels necessary, skip a workout and snag a nap instead. Being fresh helps you to be more productive in meetings, enjoy vacations more, and avoid breakdown or illness.
- Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a little training or sleep, eat a few treats, or just chill a bit. We can only do, be, absorb, and attend to so much; and this includes fun as much as work. Your life of Ultimate Wellness makes your more durable when traveling, and helps you to get right back to your healthy habits and routines when you get home.
Simple stuff, really. We all know these things intrinsically. I just wanted to share these concepts because they come up so often in my work with coaching and consulting clients. With a little strategizing and a bit of spontaneity, we can make travel more enjoyable and less stressful. Cheers!