I travel a lot and my idea of going on the road in the past included taking a break from my workouts and cardio. It also included a cheat meal that lasted for the length of my trip. This cheat meal usually carried over for a couple of days upon my return home as well.
I decided to plan out how to live healthy on the road. I make sure that I have time to get my workouts in, which may mean leaving later in the day to get my workout in at home or arriving earlier and getting it done when I arrive. I do the same thing upon my return. It takes Self Control to wake up 1 to 2 hours early if that happens to be the only time that you can fit it in. In my case, it’s not a matter of finding the time when I go certain places. I work out with a number of other people in different cities and in some of those cases they work out early in the morning. Morning work out do make me feel so much better for the rest of the day. I use the hotel facilities or I find a local gym. As far as cardio goes, I like to find cool places to run. I love trail running and will find out what is close by. Mountains, lakes, fields, whatever. If, I am in a city, I might just run the city streets. Nice scenery or a new place can actually be inspiring. Take advantage of your surroundings. Get out and do some site seeing. Don’t be that person who goes into a city and doesn’t see anything except a meeting room, an office, a restaurant and bar. That’s what I use to do and it is much more enjoyable now. I can go back to some of the same cities and still run in the same places, because they are so cool. My two favorite places to run are at Red Rocks outside of Denver and in Vermont where I vacation for one week out of the year.
As far my nutrition goes. If I am driving, it’s easy. I bring a cooler and some food and my food processor. The food that I bring includes Oatmeal, Eggs, Bananas, something that was premade like Almond Coconut Chicken. I will also bring a snack like home made Fruit and Nut bars. Sweet potatoes (already cooked). I will also include protein powder or protein gels. In a lot of cases I will stay in places like a Towneplace Suites, because they have a kitchen and I can cook there. I’ll also go to a Wholefoods or another store that has organic foods, once I get into town and pick up something that I can cook in my room.
If I fly, I will bring a shaker bottle and protein powder packs or protein gel packs. Flying can make it tough to get a meal that meets my nutritional guidelines. Eating every 3 hours means that I will have to plan ahead and have something close by that is easy to make.
I do go out for some of my meals and I do get a little picky with how things are prepared. I do try to have one cheat meal on the road. Other than that, most restaurants will try to help you out when you order. If you ever worked in a restaurant, than you will know some of the things that they will add to your food. Order a steak and typically they will put a big chunk of steak butter on it. Check out this video on ordering in a restaurant.
Thinking ahead and preparing for your trip will be a big help. Don’t let travel be an excuse to blow off works out and eat like crap. Turn it into a challenge and pat yourself on the back when follow through with everything that you promise yourself that you will do. Don’t forget to S.W.I.M.
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