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A lot of women find it difficult to stick to a diet or exercise routine while they travel. Some find that traveling releases inhibitions that result in some weight gain or even fatigue from lack of proper nutrition and exercise. This doesn’t have to be your story.
Here are some helpful tips on how to stay fit on vacation!
How to Stay Fit on Vacation
Written by: Nina Thomas
Try local produce
Trying new foods is an important part of traveling. That doesn’t mean you have to sample every carbohydrate dish and dessert. Instead, sample some of the local produce. Try a new fruit or vegetable that you’ve never heard of or one that doesn’t grow in your home town so you can get it fresh from the source.
Avoid buffets
If you’re going on a cruise or staying at a resort, there are lots of buffet options. There are also plenty of sit down restaurants which will help you with portion control. While you’re waiting for courses, your body has time to digest and you’ll be able to discern when you’re full so you don’t need to overeat. Grazing a buffet is a great way to consume unnecessary calories.
Download a fitness App
Keeping track of your calorie consumption can help you avoid pitfalls. If you’re waiting in line at the airport or a museum, you can quickly enter some of the calories you’ve consumed which can keep you aware of how much you’re actually eating. There’s a reason why a lot of restaurants are putting calorie counts on their menus because the more information you have about what you’re actually eating, the better choices you can make.
Opt for walking
It might be faster to take the metro or hail a taxi, but try walking or even power-walking instead. After all, walking is one of the best ways to get a feel for a city or town! Wear a step counter and make sure you’re getting in a good amount of steps. If not, go for a nighttime walk or try the stairs at your hotel or B&B to make sure you’re getting in enough activity.
Include a variety of activities in your itinerary
When planning your trip, make sure you have at least one or two days that include physical activities. Look for a guide and take a walking tour of the city or visit a local park and walk around. If the weather is cold, see if there is ice skating or skiing. If the weather is warm and you’re by the water, sign up for water sports like snorkeling or paddle boarding. No matter the weather, look for ways you can keep moving.
Save room for what you really want
If you’re going somewhere with renowned pastries or to-die-for fudge, prepare your day accordingly. Eat light and healthy throughout the day in preparation for those things that you’ve been dying to try. If you pick and choose what’s really important to you, you won’t feel guilty about really digging into those two scoops of Gelato or Julia Child-style meringue pie.
Bring your own snacks
Pack nuts, seeds or nutritious bars to have with you at the airport or when you’re sightseeing. Avoiding hunger helps you not overeat, and also helps you avoid the vending machines. The airport is full of junk food kiosks, so if you have your own snacks you’ll be less tempted to indulge.
Do you have any tips on how to stay fit on vacation? Post them in the comments!
For more travel fitness tips, please read:
- 3 Quick and Efficient Hotel Room Workouts
- 5 Smartphone Apps for Travel Fitness
- How to Stay Active While Traveling
- Jump Start Your Travel Fitness Routine with these Fast Workouts
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Author Bio: Traveling mostly as a couple with her husband, she is constantly looking for a beautiful view and a good adventure such as horseback riding in the Ecuadorian Andes, hiking on top of Mount Etna in Sicily, and sheep-gazing in the Cotswolds. Her favorite travel tips are “do as the locals do” and purchase packing cubes. For more practical travel tips and ideas from a Central Ohio Girl, check out Traveling with Nina or follow her on Twitter.
Hey, thanks for great thought and I will definitely think your tips while travelling. It was just fantastic. I liked your fitness app. I also have some related ideas on this topic. You can just try it. When booking hotels choose only those with fitness centres and/or guest passes to nearby gyms. If you can roll out of bed and roll into a gym minutes later, you’ll have given yourself the best insurance that you’ll fit fitness into each day. Plus, working out every morning will increase your motivation to eat more healthfully throughout the day. Why take a taxi when you can enjoy a leisurely walk in the cool evening air to and from the restaurant? Plus, “walking after a meal is a wonderful way to help keep blood sugar levels down.
Great advice Maegen! These are some great tips to incorporate a little more fitness into your travels!
I find it interesting that most of these tips revolve around “watching what you eat” as opposed to setting up a schedule for exercise. 🙂 It’s true though: sticking to a rigid schedule while on a trip / vacation is rather daunting and can cause undue stress! Walking is still the best form of exercise for any vacation.
Although, I have to point out: I just came back from a trip where we did loads of walking, but I ended up with more of a problem with my back (I have scoliosis). It would become painful after tons of walking, and even standing was a problem. I thought it might be due to my bag, even though I was only carrying a purse-sized shoulder bag. I think it might have helped to do some more back exercises before my trip to prepare me, or even some during the trip just to work out those kinks? What do you think? Do you have any such problems or suggestions for them? 🙂
Hi Dominique, good observations! We do have various other travel fitness tips here: https://travelfashiongirl.com/category/beauty/travel-fitness/
I’ve had increasing back pain over the years and I’ve found a combination of things to help:
– I no longer use a purse – instead, I use this cute backpack but I’m careful not to weigh it down: http://amzn.to/1Luw2Pn I find a backpack instead of a shoulder bag puts less pressure on one side of my body and having less weight evenly distributed is more comfortable
– I no longer use a duffel bag or backpack. I now use this light wheeled suitcase instead. http://amzn.to/1LuwehR Carrying heavy things on my back or shoulder for prolonged periods destroyed me (purse included)
– I try to use comfortable shoes when possible. I’m loving these cute and stylish sandals by Naot: http://amzn.to/1RjZy7e
– I’ve started working out to strengthen my body and get healthy. After just one month of working with a personal trainer my back pain decreased and after two months I hardly noticed it at all. The pain only returns if I spend long periods of time sitting down, walking with bad footwear, or if I don’t workout for several days.
I hope these tips help you!
I just wrote a blogpost about staying fit on European river cruises and made some of the same recommendations but should have added the dreaded buffet effect! It’s also all too hard to start eating dessert and having wine at lunch and dinner and then get home and wonder why all of your clothes shrunk!
It’s wy too easy to over-eat when your travel itinerary revolves around meal times and plates aren’t pre-portioned. I felt that way on my honeymoon!
I recently stayed at a Westin that encourages fitness on the road incl. rental of clean gear incl. shoes/socks for $5 US – saves packing it & you may ne more inclined to use it.
https://m.starwoodhotels.com/westin/about/index.html?categoryId=brand.moveWell
That’s a great tip! Thank you Crystal 🙂
Good tips,I will keep these in mind while traveling 🙂
Thanks Anamika!