Traveling is, for the most part, a fitness aficionado’s nightmare. After all, traveling throws you off your exercise routine, and may even make you gain some extra pounds. And, just admit it.
We use traveling as an excuse to binge and skip a week’s worth of workout. Whether you’re traveling locally or to the most beautiful places to visit in Europe, traveling can sometimes make you fat.
But, here’s the thing. There are a lot of ways to stay fit and fab when traveling. From mind-blowing outdoor escapes to calisthenics, we’ve got a heap of tips to help you stay fit and maintain your figure, as you travel either for leisure or business purposes.
1] Avoid airport food
Think delayed flights are annoying? Guess what? These travel hurdles can also expand your gut. As a matter of fact, a couple of hours of waiting in the airport terminal can easily turn into a thousand of excess calories (or even more, depending on your appetite).
As you impatiently wait for your next flight, your stress hormones skyrocket and fire up. It will, then, trigger your carvings for those sugary and high-calorie goodies that you find at the airport’s food stations. Of course, most luscious and temping airport food contains hundreds of calories.
For instance, a serving of Starbucks’s blueberry crumb contains over 800 calories. And, when you pair it up with a quintessential Cinnabon, you’ve got a whopping calorie intake of about 1,500 in two hours or less.
Furthermore, high-sugar and high-carbohydrate treats are least satisfying and terrible, when it comes to reducing your hunger. Even worse, they are pretty efficient in spiking your insulin’s blood levels.
2] In-flight meals are a big no-no
Not only are airline meals unappetizing, but they’re unhealthy and rather heavy as well. For a tastier and healthier alternative, pack your own snack, such as a handful of nuts or raisins, a turkey sandwich of an apple.
3] Stay hydrated at all times
Did you know that the air inside the airplane is almost twice as dry as the famous Sahara Desert? I bet you didn’t know that. But, I’m sure you know that dry air causes fatigue and dehydration, which in turn will give you cravings or another reason to go on an eating spree.
Thankfully, a good liquidation plan can prevent dehydration as well as keep your own appetite in check. Before your scheduled flight, drink at least eight ounce of water. Moreover, drink around 16 ounces of water for every two hours when you’re traveling by air.
4] Healthy food choices
Spend some time carefully reading the menu, every time you dine out at a restaurant. Avoid meals that are fried, sautéed and creamed since they’re loaded with fat and calories. Alternatively, pick meals that are steamed, roasted or boiled. And, don’t forget to ask the chef to prepare your food in a much healthier fashion.
5] Choose the right hotel
Staying in a hotel? Then, make sure to pick a hotel with a gym that offers everything you need for your fitness routine! Besides their equipment, there are also other hotel gyms that offer special exercise programs.
6] Calisthenics (bodyweight exercises)
Stuck on a remote tropical island with no gym facilities? The truth is, you don’t need a whole lot of fitness equipment or gear to stay fit when traveling. Heck, some have even built a ripped, Spartan-like physique without ever running in a treadmill or lifting a barbell.
With calisthenics, you can become as ripped as an athlete or gymnast using only compound bodyweight exercises, like pull-ups and push-ups.
There are a lot of programs and sites where you can learn calisthenics, like MadBarz.
7] Go for a sightseeing run
Wake up early in the morning, and go for a sweat-inducing run in the place you’re visiting. It sheds off the excess calories in your body, and offers an insight to the place you’re visiting. Plus, it can be quite a fascinating sightseeing escapade.
8] Exciting and fun outdoor adventures
Up for some mind-blowing and sweat-inducing thrills? From scuba diving to rock climbing, there are dozens of calorie-burning outdoor escapades that can help you stay fit when you travel.
To make things even better, they release your happy hormones, helping reduce stress. As a result, your cravings for caffeine and sugary food will decrease.
9] Pack some resistance bands
They are portable and super light, meaning you can bring them wherever you travel. And more importantly, they can be used to perform a wide range of exercises, such as overheard tricep extensions, lateral raises, shoulder press and bicep curls.
10] Yoga
Even if it’s not as intense as HIIT or bodybuilding, yoga can still burn hundreds of calories per hour. And, unlike other forms of exercise, you can literally do it wherever you want with little to no equipment. You can even strike some yoga poses as well as meditate on top of a cliff or at the beach.
Got a tip or two that you’d like to share with us? Just feel free to share it with us through the comment section!
