Tips for Staying On Track While Traveling

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I’m going to preface today’s post with this. I am NOT a fitness expert or a nutritionist or any sort of reliable source. However, I’ve been getting a few questions about my health and fitness journey . over the past few weeks and have enjoyed documenting the experience. And part of that for me has been maintaining some level of “fitness” and staying on track while traveling. So, I thought I’d share a few of the tips that have worked for me!

Since starting this new process a little over six weeks ago, I’ve been on a Bachelorette weekend, attended a funeral out of town, gone for a long wedding weekend and spent the night with a girlfriend. I say all of this to say that sometimes when traveling, it’s easy to fall off your routine and slip into the madness of cheese fries, sugary drinks, late nights and zero morning workouts. All of which are OK by the way. However, if you’re looking to stay on track, even if just a little, these are the things that have helped me power through trips away from home and my routine.

Tip #1: Do your research

For all of the traveling I’ve done and for some of the trips I have coming up, research has been key. I do a quick google maps search to see if there are any gyms near our hotel or airbnb. I like to look into the cost of getting a day or week pass at the gyms and if there is a gym located at the hotel or on the property for our airbnb, I try to find out which equipment they have so I can pre-plan out my workouts. I’ll do some research on the types of things I can do on the provided equipment and then build out 30-minute sessions to knock out while I’m traveling. I also like to do a little extra research on the restaurants nearby.  This isn’t a huge deal for me – you can almost always get a salad or meat/veggie combination regardless of the restaurant but I like to see if there are any smoothie or juice places nearby or a grocery store so I can pick up a healthy snack every now and then.

Tip #2: Pack some snacks…and maybe a blender.

I’ll warn you. This makes me feel like a total mommy – in a good way. But I swear by packing snacks for every trip. I love sweets and will 100% resort to eating Twizzlers at the airport if I don’t have anything else. I pack some cashews and almonds, crystal light packets and single serve almond butter in my bookbag/carry on bag. I also make a protein smoothie for most of my breakfast meals or a post-workout snack so I’ve been packing my little nutribullet, Tupperware with protein powder, individual peanut butter packs and disposable cups/straws. It’s sort of annoying but totally worth it!

Tip #3: Get an accountability partner.

Whether the person you’re traveling with shares the same goals (i.e. let’s get in a workout every morning or let’s avoid the pizza buffet) or have a friend you can keep up with while you’re away, having someone to hold you accountable is really helpful while you’re away from your routine. When I travel with Brandon, we both have the same priorities for sticking with our workout and diet plans (for the most part). However, when traveling with my parents…they could care less. So every morning B and I would send a text to just check in with each other after we finished a workout or had a really yummy, healthy meal and that helped me stay on track.

Tip #4. It’s okay to splurge and have fun.

This is the most important one. Have fun! It’s okay to have a treat or a few drinks or miss a workout. When I first started, I was terrified that one drink or missed workout or bit of candy would knock away all of my progress. Guess what? It doesn’t. Now, a ton of those back to back might. So, I try to make sure I’m following some sort of routine/plan at least 80-90% of the time. And then the rest is open for me to enjoy. I’ve found that I feel a little more challenged to stay on track diet wise when traveling but getting in workouts is so fun to me, I don’t want to miss them. But either way, I’m not going to stress out over a margarita or a handful of laffy taffy’s and I’m definitely gonna beat myself up over french fries.

SPORTS BRA: C/O LULULEMON | LEGGINGS: C/O LULULEMON | JACKET: C/O LULULEMON | SNEAKERS: NIKE

Photos by Shelby Gordon