Travel is not Healthy
Several years ago, my doctor told me that my lifestyle at the time was going to kill me. He was brutally honest and absolutely right. My health was suffering from paying attention to everything in my life except myself.
And it’s something we can probably all relate to. I was not taking the time to eat right, for instance. My diet included whatever I could grab and eat while moving. I ate at the wrong times of day and the wrong things. Basically, everything your doctor tells you not to do as it relates to eating, I did. It was simply not healthy.
And I did that for good reason. I was constantly in between this or that. I had moved and didn’t bother to take the time to unpack my kitchen gear.
Travel Makes it Worse
Traveling doesn’t make things any easier. Eating out or eating in airports does not encourage healthy eating either. A mentor and close friend who traveled far more than I told me the best strategy was to eat whenever you can, even when you weren’t hungry, because you didn’t know when you might be able to eat again. He was right, or so I thought at the time. And any good doctor will tell you this is not the way to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Salad, unfortunately, does not come in a convenient easy-to-get-through-TSA form. Hamburgers do. And generally, the food options available late at night when you’ve just arrived from flight delays or a long day on the road are fairly deplorable in terms of nutritional value.
Stress only compounds the problem. Our bodies process food differently when we stress and not in a healthy way.
A Few Healthy Choices Can Make a Difference
Determined to prove my doctor wrong, I set out to find a way to maintain my schedule and lifestyle without destroying myself. I set out to become healthy despite my professional demands. Here are a few things my nutritionist shared with me:
- eat slowly and only what you feel you really need,
- avoid the easy and tempting high-carb options like muffins and donuts – the spike and drop in blood sugar will not help you stay focused for long periods of time,
- always carry protein bars for when you’re feeling hungry,
- try to get a balanced first meal of the day to help your body maintain normal metabolism.
What are your tips for staying healthy while traveling? Email us at jetsettershomestead (at) gmail (dot) com
I like your approach to staying healthier while traveling. I try to drink as much water as possible… to save money, to stay healthier, and to ensure I stay hydrated after being on an airplane for so long. I always bring workout clothes with me while traveling, with the best intentions… but that’s usually the first thing to get eliminated so I can sleep in or fit everything into a packed schedule.
“A hydrated body is a happy body,” as a trainer once told me. Water is also good for curbing hunger which can lead to eating too much. It is also critical during flights which always seem to be dehydrating. And we should all go easy on the salt for the same reason.