Travel Tips

It is no surprise that I travel. A lot. But I do want to clarify one question/comment that I get asked quite frequently. “It must be so nice to get to travel with Mike all the time!” First of all, I do not travel WITH Mike (unless it’s a train ride to or from NYC). I travel separately, typically alone, which really spikes my anxiety. However, extra time with Mike and the opportunity to support him living out his dream makes it all worthwhile. <3 While I do not go on all the road trips, I do travel a good bit. The mobile nature of our lives has allowed me to learn a lot about eating healthy while on-the-go, in turn enabling me to better counsel clients who are in a similar situation.

When it comes to workouts, I can be pretty crafty with a hotel gym. Heck, I can be pretty crafty with a hotel ROOM! I bring my resistance bands with me everywhere I go in case the hotel gym is not well-equipped, or if I am confined to the room for some reason (usually time constraints warranting a brief workout). I have both loop and open-ended bands. If you don’t have these versatile pieces of equipment, I highly recommend purchasing a set!! They are only ~$10 on Amazon, and are WELL worth the investment. Even if making smart dietary decisions, it’s likely that you are consuming more calories on the road than you do at home. That’s just the nature of dining out. To counteract these extra calories, it is extra important that you get your workouts in. You might even consider doing a little extra cardio than normal, depending on how much you plan to splurge! For my MBM Workout Program clients who travel, I ask that they send me a picture of the hotel gym as soon as they arrive. I then modify their workouts for those few days to match the exercise equipment to which they have access. For some clients, this means taking advantage of some equipment to which they do not normally have access (at-home workout clients). For typical gym-goers, this might mean getting creative with the seemingly limited equipment available in a hotel gym (in comparison to a standard full-size gym). Either way, we always make it work!

On the dietary side of things, I first and foremost encourage you to maintain adequate water intake. I always pack a full water bottle when I leave the house. I make sure to finish it before going through security (flying dehydrates you, so I do my best to get ahead of that), then fill it up the second I see a water fountain. If you can stay at a gallon of water per day throughout the course of your trip, that will help you big time!! Another one of my top travel tips is to ALWAYS keep a protein bar with you. I carry one in my purse at all times. Ideally, choose one that does not crumble or melt (depending on your weather conditions). I often carry more than one if I think it’s going to be a situation where I can’t get to real food before I need to eat again (I eat approximately every 3 hours). Other snacks I like to pack are raw, unsalted almonds, rice cakes + hotel packets of peanut butter, jerky (if you like that, I do not), baked cheese…I’m sure there are some that I’m missing! I also try to pack something fresh for my first snack on the road, as raw veggies will be fine from the time you leave the house to the 3-hour mark at which you would eat them. Beyond that, I purchase groceries according to how the hotel room is equipped. Many nowadays do not come with refrigerators and/or microwaves, however they are typically available upon request (free of charge). I almost always purchase some Greek yogurt to keep in the hotel fridge, then add the almonds that I packed to pair for a high-protein snack.

It goes without saying that dining out is another part of traveling. But I have a tonnnn to say about that alone, so I will save that for another blog post! 😊