Don’t let anyone tell you that you can keep your healthy lifestyle when traveling. While it may be easier to stick to healthy habits at home, you can have a healthy routine even when you are on the road with many more temptations. Here are tenways we stay healthy when traveling.
- Make wise food choices. When at home, we usually eat two meals a day. One of those meals can be a nutrient-dense smoothie. We try to follow this same plan when traveling unless we are on a cruise where three meals a day are provided. Usually our hotel provides a free breakfast, so we eat heartily at this meal. Fresh fruit, fresh juices, good fiber, yogurt, green smoothies, and eggs or omelets. We also grab fresh fruit and nuts for snacks later on.
Look at this spread we had at our Marriott hotel in Cusco, Peru called Palacio Del Inka. We drank fresh beetroot juice every morning. I also grabbed a green smoothie when available, and fresh papaya or orange juice. They offered four fresh juices. And also look at the honey fresh from the honeycomb. I’d never seen this before. I was amazed at the chia seeds, nuts, greens, and variety of fruits offered at this breakfast buffet. It’s all about making wise choices.
When on a cruise, we eat a little less at breakfast to make room for lunch. There are plenty of fresh soups, lean proteins, and salads to choose from. Avoid heavy carbs, and drink water to save calories.
For dinner, we chose grass-fed steak, chicken, wild-caught salmon, shrimp, crab, and fish. Avoid eating bread at every meal. When I know the bread is made from whole grains, I limit myself to eating it at one meal.
- Limit buffets to one medium-sized plate. I don’t like buffets because they tempt you to eat more than you should. We eat on a salad plate for dinner, and we do the same thing at a buffet. Even though our cruises are all-inclusive, my husband and I will split a dessert, appetizer, or even an entrée. Eat for good health—not to get your money’s worth!
- Keep moving. We exercise daily at home, but we also usually exercise even more when traveling—especially when we are eating three meals a day. If we don’t, we might roll home! Your body needs movement every day. We generally clock 5-7 miles when sightseeing or in a cruise port. This is what keeps our lymphatic system pumping and our circulation going strong. This exercise is good for every system in your body and also helps to burn those extra calories we eat while on vacation.
On our last trip to South America, we did three bike trips of about 15 miles each. Bike trips on level ground are great ways to exercise and see an area, even if you have knee issues. Many cities have dedicated bike paths that are perfectly safe. We rode down the main street in Old Santiago, Chile on a bike path in the middle of the street with protective barriers. Bike trips are a great way to see an area up close.
- Make sleep a priority. This is one mistake most people make when traveling. I know I’ve done it and paid a price. Years ago, we’d go on mission trips where we’d neglect our sleep. By about the 5th day, everyone on the trip was starting to get sick. When you fly overseas or long distances and miss a night’s sleep, you need to allow time to recover. We set aside time to make up for the missed sleep. When traveling, we tend to be in bed by 9-10 rather than 10-11. When you miss a night’s sleep, your natural killer cells go down by 70 percent. If you continue to burn the candle at both ends, your immune system will continue to struggle.
- Stay properly hydrated. Mission work and traveling are exciting—so exciting you can forget to hydrate. It’s amazing how many people get kidney stones, constipation, and other issues while traveling that are directly related to hydration. While vacationing, your body still needs proper hydration. And you need to increase hydration when flying, when in higher altitude, and when warmer temperatures. So get up every morning and start your day with 1-2 glasses of water. Make sure your total daily intake is at least your body weight in ounces divided by 2. If you weigh 150 pounds, you’ll need at least 75 ounces of hydrating fluids each day. Caffeinated drinks and alcohol don’t count towards this goal as they are both dehydrating.
- Limit or refrain from alcohol. And speaking of the importance of hydration, alcohol is not your friend here. Too much alcohol can ruin an otherwise good vacation. The recommendation of a limit of 1 drink for women and 2 drinks for men and absolutely no drinks for some, still stands even when on vacation.
It never ceases to amaze me how people can start drinking in the morning with a mimosa for breakfast, a beer or two for lunch, cocktails in the afternoon, a few glasses of wine at dinner, and drinks when dancing after dinner. Never forget that alcohol is a risk factor for cancer and many other diseases. It is a neurotoxin to the brain, overtaxes the liver, adds calories to your day, and can raise your blood sugar. This is all in addition to the dangers caused by your behavior. This is what happens to many people on cruises and all-inclusive vacations. Don’t try to get your money’s worth because it will cost you in health costs either immediately or down the road.
- Eat with your blood sugar in mind. Start your day with protein, fiber, healthy fats, and foods with low carbohydrates. Protein and fats help to balance blood sugar and keep it stable. Fiber slows down the absorption of glucose in the blood. Of course, we know that all of us will cheat more on vacation than we do at home. But we must have limits and not go hog-wild—especially when it comes to desserts and high-carbs. A dessert must be eaten with a balanced meal and not by itself to avoid blood sugar spikes. Viking Cruises makes fresh sorbet and gelato each day. That was our dessert of choice, and they had 1-2 flavors daily that were sugar-free.
- Make smoothies on the road. Although this can be done on an all-inclusive cruise or vacation by using their ingredients, we usually forgo the daily smoothie we make when on a cruise ship or all-inclusive resort. Because we get so many nutrients in that smoothie, we simply ask the cruise ship to make us one with specified ingredients, or we look for the same ingredients such as yogurt, fiber, fruit, protein, and greens to eat in other ways. However, when not on an all-inclusive, we make a smoothie on the road with a portable stir stick. We did this in Aruba by bringing smoothie packets of protein, fiber, and cacao. Then we buy coconut milk or almond milk and fresh organic greens, and get the banana and blueberries from our breakfast buffet. When traveling by car, we simply bring our Vitamix with us and make a smoothie daily from ingredients we buy at our destination.
- Wash hands constantly. The CDC is right about this. We touch germs with our hands and then touch our face and mouth, and shazam—we get sick. The more we wash our hands, the better. When walking around a cruise ship, we often have to hold onto the handrails. Think about how many people have touched those handrails. When we get to the dining room, we wash our hands again before we eat.
- Manage your stress. But there’s no stress on vacation–right? Think again. Traveling these days can bring its own stress, especially when you’re flying overseas and into different countries. I’ve done an entire video on this called “Twelve Tips for Reducing Stress While Traveling,” that you’ll want to watch. Sometimes we drive harder on sightseeing vacations than we do at home. A sea day never looked so good. It’s great to have an occasional day where you have minimal plans and can kick back and rest.
If you’ve ever come home from a vacation exhausted, you know what I’m talking about. You need a vacation to recover from your vacation. I hear ya—been there and done that. Pace yourself and implement these ten ways and I promise, you’ll do better.
What are some ways you manage stress while traveling?
View this video on YouTube:
Ten Ways to Stay Healthy When Traveling
Related video:
Twelve Tips for Reducing Stress While Traveling
For Your Health,
Ginny
Ginny Dent Brant is a speaker and writer who grew up in the halls of power in Washington, DC. She has battled cancer, ministered around the world, and served on the front lines of American culture as a counselor, educator, wellness advocate, and adjunct professor. Brant’s award-winning book, Finding True Freedom: From the White House to the World, was endorsed by Chuck Colson and featured in many TV and media interviews. Unleash Your God-Given Healing: Eight Steps to Prevent and Survive Cancer was released in May 2020 after her journey with cancer and was recently awarded the First Place Golden Scrolls Award for Memoirs, a finalist in Serious Writers Book of the Decade, and Second Place in both Selah Awards for Memoirs and Director’s Choice Award for Nonfiction at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference. It recently received the Christian Authors Network’s (CAN) Gold Award for Excellence in Marketing for reaching 62.5 million people with a message of cancer prevention and survival. It was written with commentary from an oncologist and was featured on CBN’s Healthy Living Show, Atlanta Live, and CTN’s Homekeepers along with over 75 media outlets. Learn more and cancer and wellness prevention blog and book information at www.ginnybrant.com.
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**** This content is strictly the opinion of Ginny Brant and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Neither Ginny Brant nor the publisher of this content takes responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement, or lifestyle program. ****
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