The past few weeks have been very busy, both in work and life in general, so I apologize for the delay between blog posts. Last week, I found myself in Indianapolis for a client meeting (got to love working in PR) and it sparked the question, how do you remain healthy while traveling?
It’s very tempting to get caught up in the social scene – before you know it, you’ve downed half a pizza, beers, donuts, home-style Midwest barbeque – you name it.
For this reason, I thought I’d share some tips that worked for me during my brief two day stint. And if any others come to mind, please feel free to share your tricks in the Comments section.
Tough travel situations faced, in chronological order:
Airplane snacks – Peanuts, pretzels or cookies, the flight attendant asked me. Don’t splurge on free plane snacks. Go for the lightest option, which was a package of peanuts coming in at 70 calories.
Bars – I am not a big fan of alcohol, so it was easy for me to resist ordering an afternoon arrival beer. However, I do enjoy my glass of wine, but opted to skip out on this and order a glass of water instead. I still had a great conversation with the company on hand, sans alcohol. I figured I’d save my calories for some other treats.
Pizza parlors – For dinner, my client treated us to the finest pizza in town, Barbeaux Pizza. I wasn’t going to order a salad, since for one I LOVE pizza and it was truly a once in a lifetime experience (how many other times will I get to experience Indy pizza?). I had three slices and while I had room for more, I had to stop since I knew this was already breaking the healthy lifestyle habits I’ve formed.
Breakfast (DONUTS!) – In the hotel the next morning in Indy, I ordered a Greek yogurt with a skinny latte on the side. I felt satisfied and knew this would resist the urge to reach for the donut box that would be at the client meeting that morning. This is when self-control is key. I knew I had pizza the night before, so I had to compensate for that by not reaching for the honey glazed donuts.
Barbeque buffets – The client provided us with lunch in the form of barbeque. I opted for the pulled BBQ chicken (as opposed to the brisket) and filled up on green beans as the side, with only a spoonful of corn casserole. Load up on lean meats and veggies, and beware of your portion size for the unhealthier items.
But perhaps the best (and most obvious) piece of advice when traveling is this: always make time for exercise. Whether it’s a few laps in the hotel pool, using the fitness center in the hotel basement, or simply going for an outdoor scenic run, it’s important to get your exercise in to compensate for the good eats you’ll be getting in.
Here’s a photo of my morning workout in the hotel. I ran three miles using the hotel treadmill, and then completed a 30 minute ab circuit from the Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide’s free week of workouts (done right in my hotel room!).
Rookie Running Life 