How I Stay Healthy on Vacation
What to Do with Your Fitness and Nutrition When Traveling
We JUST got back from 10 days in Italy!
It was incredible to explore ancient cathedrals, sip wine in the piazzas, and walk the (very steep!) cobblestone streets.
My greatest joy is knowing that all of my hard work at home with my self care contributed to feeling strong and confident in every scenario on our adventure!
My strategy for traveling has never been to try and “keep up” with the routine I do at home.
That’s nearly impossible!Instead, my goal is to maintain my health with a few simple habits.
That way, I feel great enough to enjoy all the fun and adventure while I’m traveling.
That’s nearly impossible!Instead, my goal is to maintain my health with a few simple habits.
That way, I feel great enough to enjoy all the fun and adventure while I’m traveling.
Why This Matters
Summer travel months are here! And for many women, even just a short trip can trigger the all-or-nothing mindset. Learning how to take a break from your regular routine while still maintaining a health and fitness baseline can help stop this mindset in its tracks, once and for all.
FITNESS SIMPLIFIED
Don’t stress about sticking to your regular “at-home” workout routine while traveling.
But doing nothing at all can leave your muscles and joints feeling stiff and sore.So what should you focus on instead?
Fitness Tip to Stay Healthy While Traveling
Move Daily & Keep Your Joints Mobile
On our trip, a full workout was NOT in the cards.
In fact, I intentionally took a break from my regular fitness routine (which is good for your mind, especially if you’re a rigid, box checking kind of gal!)
However, I made sure to NOT do NOTHING at all.
These are the most important things to focus on for your fitness while you travel:
• Walk as much as you can. Exploring on foot is a great way to stay active and see the sights.
• Watch your posture. Long hours sitting on planes, trains, or in the car—plus sleeping in unfamiliar beds—can lead to tight shoulders, neck, and upper back pain.
• Maintain mobility in your major joints. Swollen, stiff joints are common when traveling—moving them through full ranges of motion helps reduce swelling and keep them lubricated.
3 Mobility Exercises for Travel
- Calf Raises & Stretches - Find a thick book and hang your heel off the edge while holding on to the wall. Lift your heel up and down 10 times, then let it hang and press your knee into the wall 10 times.
- Seated Hamstrings Stretch w/ Rotational Reach - Sit on the edge of the bed, extend one leg, and lean forward to stretch your hamstring and calf. Add a posture release by rotating your torso and circling your arm. Do 5 reps per side.
- Standing Hip Flexor Stretch - Plant one foot up on the bed and press your hips forward to feel the stretch on the front of your hip of the “down” leg. Reach your arm up to deepen. Do 5 reps per side.
Extra tip: Spend just 5 minutes in the morning and then again in the evening going through these movements. They work wonders, trust me!
Did You Know...
- Moving your joints through their full ranges of motion and “pumping” your muscles (like with the calf raises) is one of the best ways to reduce swelling.
- Taking 7-10 days off from your regular workouts is not long enough to create any meaningful backtracking with your fitness progress (especially if you stay active everyday as described above).
- The more consistent you are with your at-home routine, the stronger, healthier and more confident you’ll feel when you travel!
NUTRITION SIMPLIFIED
This is my go-to nutrition strategy I used at every single meal while traveling.
Nutrition Tip to Stay Healthy While Traveling
Eat Slowly
We never ate in the same place twice.
And we weren’t cooking our own meals either.
That meant LOTS of (delicious) restaurants!
Honestly, our goal was to “wine and dine our way through the country.”
So how do you enjoy all that amazing food without going overboard?
You eat slowly.
Eating slowly helps you notice when you’re starting to feel full, so you’re less likely to overeat.
Aim to stop when you’re about 80% full (no longer hunger, but not stuffed).
Then put your fork down and push your plate away.
An easy tip to help you eat slowly is to eat crunchy or fiber-rich foods that take longer to chew, like broccoli!
Broccoli Salad
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More ideas to eat slowly:
- Sip on a glass of water throughout your meal.
- Put your fork down while you chew your bite.
- Avoid “quick to chew” foods, like processed carbohydrates.
MINDSET SIMPLIFIED
We have a tendency to swing between two extremes with our habits:
- We’re either fully focused and being ultra-disciplined.
- Or completely un-focused with zero personal discipline.
This is the dreaded all-or-nothing mindset.
But remember that there’s middle ground - maintenance mode.
This is when you dial things down just a bit, but still make intentional choices so you don’t lose the progress you’ve made.
If you can return from vacation feeling as healthy as when you left (maybe a little more jet-lagged, but not behind!), then you’ve achieved maintenance mode.
Mindset Tip to Stay Healthy While Traveling
Aim for Maintenance Mode
THE TAKEAWAY
Traveling doesn’t mean giving up on your health goals. By making a few little changes, you can enjoy your trip without backsliding. The goal is to feel strong, energized, and fully present for your adventure.
- Move Daily & Keep Your Joints Mobile
- Eat Slowly
- Aim for Maintenance Mode
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Self Care Simplified podcast
Ep 334 I Walked 66 Miles Without Foot Pain: Here’s How
Ep 425 Consistency Struggles? The Surprising Mindset Change You Need
Ep 259 How To Avoid Overindulgence on Vacation (While Still Having Fun!)
SPECIAL RESOURCE
These amazing neck & shoulder stretches will instantly relieve your tension and painful knots. Your posture muscles will LOVE you after this simple 8 minute seated routine. This is GREAT for traveling or at work!
Seated Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief
Until next week... Be strong
