Ask The Expert: Healthy and Fit Travelling Tips
Ask The Expert is a health & fitness advice column. If you have a question for one of our Fitness Goop experts, please email [email protected]. This question was asked by Jennifer from Vancouver B.C, Canada.
My work requires that I travel and spend time away from home. I am finding it very difficult staying healthy while travelling from one city to another. I am feeling fatigued, having a hard time making good food choices and having a hard time working out without my own gym. What advice can you give for avoiding getting sick and keeping fit while travelling?”
Hi Jennifer, first of all congratulations on your commitment to stay healthy while away from home. Now to answer your question, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends several helpful tips for protecting yourself from the flu (and from other illnesses, if you are travelling abroad). Another option would be to travel with a “travel health kit,” which would be useful in case you do get ill while travelling. A travel health kit could include pain/fever medicine and an alcohol-based antibacterial hand gel.
I also recommend you try and eat lots of antioxidant-rich foods to boost your immune system before your trip, as well during your time away from home. Fitness Goop has written about some very popular remedies to try to prevent illness such as vitamin C and Echinacea. Another great source for boosting your metabolism is Why Not Give A Boost to Your Metabolism.
Now to help keep you fit while travelling. Even though it may be hard to stick to a normal fitness routine when travelling this does not mean you have to abandon your exercise goals completely. If you find yourself travelling use these helpful tips to ensure you’ll stay active:
1. Pack your gym gear. Make sure to put your workout clothing and fitness gear in your luggage. This will make it easier for you to stay committed to your fitness goals because having your gear with you acts as a visual reminder to workout. (Fitness Gear: Jump rope, resistance bands, yoga mat)
2. Inquire about guest passes at a nearby gym or yoga studio. Gyms will often provide drop-in or weekly guest passes at no charge! Also, most Yoga, Pilates, and Barre studios have a drop-in rate if you only want to take a few classes.
3. Bring a workout program with you. It is always smart to prepare for the worst circumstances while travelling i.e. no gym or poor weather conditions – if you bring your own workout all you will need is some space indoors. Hotel rooms can be the perfect back up option to jump rope, do a resistance band workout, follow a fitness/yoga download on your laptop or iPad, or use one of our printable workouts. A great resource for yoga videos and streaming downloads is My Yoga Online.
Finally, drink 17 ounces of water when you wake up to boost your metabolism 25% for 90 minutes (according to a recent German study), eat foods bright in color, add yogurt to your breakfast or snacks, and minimize alcohol consumption (especially when you fly).
Hopefully with these tips, you will be able to try to prevent illness and stay fit if you are travelling!
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Source: Flickr user todd morris
