10 Top Tips for Keeping Fit when Traveling ...

By Neecey

Keeping fit while traveling can be a difficult, if not an impossible task to manage. Especially if you are traveling for work, the demands of a busy schedule, rushing around from place to place, can leave you with absolutely no time to keep up your regular exercise program. Staying in shape relies on one major factor-consistency. Consistency in what you eat and consistency in your fitness program will ensure that you keep fit and healthy all the time. But what happens when you are on the move all the time? Traveling for pleasure is also a difficult time to keep up the fitness regime. A glass of wine and a nice juicy burger seems much more attractive than trying to find yourself a safe and appropriate place to exercise in a foreign city. Here are 10 Top Tips for Keeping Fit When Traveling:

1 Keep Moving

Just because you are on holiday or on a business trip, there’s is no excuse to cut exercise out of your daily routine. 15 minutes walking every day an easy way of keeping fit. Find out from your hotel concierge or bed and breakfast owner, where they suggest a safe walking route may be, and go for a quick jog or brisk walk before that glass of wine gets poured and the pasta comes out. Walk everywhere or cycle where you can, instead of taking the bus or a taxi. Many countries have excellent cycle routes and in fact, most European locals cycle throughout the year to and from work, the pub, everywhere. Some bicycles are free to use, just find out where.

2 Portion Size

Even though the food in the country that you are in may unfamiliar, you may need to really hold yourself back from overloading your plate. Just because you are not eating at home, doesn’t mean the extra helpings will have some place else to go, other than your hips. Staying in shape means being realistic and realizing that even though you may have fallen head over heels in love with the country’s cuisine, washing down10 helpings of bratwurst with10 Weiss beers every day will catch up with you sooner than you think.

3 Water

Water is an integral part of keeping one’s healthy eating plan together every day. Drinking plenty of water will stop you from becoming dehydrated and kill fake hunger pangs and keep you feeling energetic and roaring to go. If you are spending a lot of time on airplanes and then in centrally heated offices, your skin is going to take a lot of strain and become very dry very quickly. Always have a bottle of water with you and especially if you are exploring your destination by foot, you don’t want to be stuck somewhere if you have to wait for hours until you can get water again.

4 Snacks

Skipping meals is another huge problem when trying to maintain your healthy eating and keeping fit. Try, where ever possible, to pack a few snacks, fruit, nuts or a sandwich, if you know that you are going to be on the move all day and more than likely not have time to stop and find somewhere that you can grab a bite to eat. If you are on a busy schedule, you always think you will have the time to stop somewhere along the way or pick up something on your way to your next meeting, but most of the time, it never happens. Plan ahead; get your hotel or accommodation to help you by preparing something for you in advance.

5 Pilates

If you are a regular Pilates attendee, ask your Pilates instructor to work out a quick full body program that you will be able to do anywhere, without having to drag loads of mats, balls or equipment with you. A good instructor will be able to tailor make a program for you that can be done in the comfort of your hotel room, using a towel, a band and a few quick moves. That will save you the hassle of perhaps getting lost in a foreign city while looking for somewhere to have a quick jog.

6 Gym

When booking your business or holiday accommodation, find out if they have a gym on the premises. Many of the up market hotels have a spa and a fully kitted out gym as a standard addition, and you will not have to travel anywhere to fit your exercise regime into your day and keeping fit will be easier than ever, because apart from completely different scenery, you can still keep some of your daily routine intact.

7 Eat in

When you are travelling, it can be extremely difficult, especially for business, to choose the restaurant you would like to eat in, or what you are eating at all. Essentially on a business trip you are most of the time, somebody’s guest, and meal choices might be limited. Try where possible to have at least one meal of the day that you prepare yourself, find out from your accommodation where you can pick up some fresh produce, fruit and vegetables and prepare yourself a salad or a fruit salad or get a health food shop to deliver something to you that has been freshly prepared.

8 Stay Committed

If you are on an extended trip away from your home, stay focused and committed to staying in shape. Try and remember all the hard work that you have put in before you left home and even though you may not be able to continue the high pace of your workouts away from home, try and implement a steady maintenance work out for keeping fit. Take the stairs, avoid the lift, get your taxi to drop you off a few blocks from the office or your hotel and walk the rest of the way. If you are committed, you will find it easier to maintain your focus.

9 Budget for Healthy Meals

When travelling in foreign countries, with an aggressive exchange rate and a worldwide recession, it can be easy to slide into the cheap, fast food habit. Good, healthy food always costs more, no matter where in the world you are. Work out your budget before hand and increase your quota for the food you eat. If you do slip up and guzzle back buckets full of homemade Italian pasta and washed it down with excellent red wine and well desert, just make sure that you stick to a healthy diet for the days that follow.

10 Plan Ahead

Staying consistent in keeping fit doesn’t just happen on its own; it takes dedication, the correct frame of mind and above all, planning. Just as you plan your travel schedule, your business meetings and what you are going to wear, you should be planning your meals and time for slotting in a bit of exercise. The days that you exercise are the days that you will eat better, and if you use the excuse that you don’t have the time you are not committed, make the time. If you can make the time to have that beer, you have to time to exercise.

It is normal for everyone’s day to day routines to turn upside down when traveling and be replaced by different time zones, good company, business meetings and lots of socializing. Part of keeping fit is what you eat and preparing it from fresh; when you travel you may not have your own kitchen or even a fridge. If a large part of staying active is your daily session at the gym and it is something that you won’t have access to while you are away, that will also have an effect on how you keep fit. Taking a little time to plan everything beforehand will help you stay in touch with your regime. What are your Top Tips for Keeping Fit When Traveling?

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