How to Stay Fit and Eat Right While Traveling

As someone who seems to always be on the road, balancing business meetings, flight schedules and hotel check-ins can feel like you’re running a never-ending marathon. It feels like staying fit while traveling is nothing more than a dream and trying to add eating well and working out to your already busy schedule is a lot more than you can handle. But now we’re here to put an end to this broken cycle.

Whether you’re a frequent flyer or someone who has to squeeze in their whole life in a suitcase, you need to know it is possible to keep a healthy workout and diet routine with a little bit of planning. Remember you don’t need a fancy gym, a full kitchen, or hours of free time. You just need some smart strategies and dedication. Here’s a complete guide of a workout routine and a healthy diet for business travelers, so without further ado lets get started.

Sample Diet Plan for travelers

Here’s an easy, convincing sample diet to help you with eating well while traveling:

• Breakfast: Oatmeal with a handful of nuts, seeds, and fresh fruits
• Morning snack: Greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey and almonds
• Lunch: Grilled chicken salad with vegetables and olive oil dressing
• Afternoon Snack: A handful of mixed nuts or an apple with peanut butter
• Dinner: Grilled salmon (or chicken) with steamed vegetables and quinoa or brown rice
• Evening snack: Dark chocolate or a protein bar

Sample Workout Routine for Travelers

Here’s a simple, quick, and effective workout routine for frequent travelers which can be easily done at home or your hotel room:

• Warm-Up (5 minutes)
  • Jumping jacks
  • High-stepping
  • Arm circles
  • Leg swings
• Workout (Repeat 3 times)
  • 20 squats
  • 15 push-ups
  • 20 lunges (10 each leg)
  • 30-second plank
  • 15 triceps dips (use a chair)
  • 20 slow mountain climbers
• Cool down (3 minutes)
  • Stretch arms, legs, and back, you could do child’s pose or cobra’s stretch (Want to know everything about stretching? This article is for you: Introduction to Types of Stretching and Mobility Exercises)

What are the struggles of a full-time traveler

Before diving into solutions, first lets identify the problems! When you’re always on the go, there are a bunch of obstacles standing between you and the healthy lifestyle you dream to live!

1. Irregular Schedules: Constantly being on the road seems to make it hard for you to schedule anything in your life. Early flights, spending most of your time away from home and shifting time zones mean sticking to a strict workout routine or diet can be nearly impossible.
2. Having a hard time eating healthy food: Airports, hotels, and work meals aren’t exactly the healthy, nutritious option you’ve been looking for. As an all-time traveler it’s easy to fall into the fast food trap when you’re starving and there is no other convenient option available.
3. Hard access to workout equipment: You can’t move your dumbbells, mat, weights and etc. with you wherever you go. On the other hand not every hotel comes with a gym or a decent, equipped space to exercise. Even if there’s a gym, you might be too wiped out from meetings to use it.
4. Less motivation: Constantly traveling is exhausting. It takes away all your energy and motivation to live a healthy life style or keep a workout schedule.

The most practical tips for eating well while traveling

You need to make smart decisions if you’re planning on eating well while traveling. Here’s a list of useful tips to keep in mind:

• Don’t let the hunger win!

Its hard to make wise decisions when hunger strikes. So, you need to be prepared to win the battle! Always pack healthy snacks like nuts, dried fruits, protein bars, and low-sugar granola. According to a study published by nutrients, healthier diets are higher in plant-based foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, seeds, and nuts and lower in animal-based foods, particularly fatty and processed meats [1]. This type of dietary pattern can reduce risks of NCDs ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer. So try to pick whole foods like nuts or seeds over processed snacks to keep yourself fueled longer and stabilize your blood sugar. This will stop you from overeating later.

• Make better decisions when looking at a menu

When traveling for building, many work dinners are unavoidable. However, there are ways to choose better options out of a menu. It’s better to choose grilled over fried, ask for sauces and dressings on the side, and choose dishes that are rich in vegetables and lean protein instead of blindly going for the junk food. Research from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that eating protein-rich meals helps maintain muscle mass and reduce hunger, making it easier to stay in shape even with limited workout time [2].

• Drink enough water

Traveling dehydrates you more than you can imagine so it is important to drink enough water throughout the day. Try to keep a reusable water bottle with you and aim to drink at least 2-3 liters of water daily. This will increase your energy and help your body function properly.

Simple Workout Strategies for Frequent Travelers

Here’s a bunch of travel workout tips to keep in mind:

• Try bodyweight exercises for travel

Bodyweight exercises are the best choice when you don’t have any access to workout equipment. You can simply do a quick hotel room workout with bodyweight exercises. Movements like push-ups, squats, lunges, and planks require no equipment and only take a few minutes out of your day. According to a study published in the Journal of Kinesiology and Exercise Sciences bodyweight exercises combined with a healthy diet leads to significant improvements in muscle strength and endurance, flexibility, agility and cardiovascular endurance [3].

• Take your resistance bands with you

Resistance bands are the most convenient options to take on your trips and they cam make a huge difference. They can be used for travel workout routines and you can perform exercises like bicep curls, shoulder presses, and leg workouts.

• Use High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) method

When you’re short on time HIIT is the best choice. In just 15-20 minutes, you can get your heart rate up and burn a lot of calories. According to a study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning research, HIIT workouts can burn 25-30% more calories than other forms of exercise in the same amount of time. So, even if you only have 15 minutes between meetings, you can still squeeze in a workout session [4].

Conclusion

Traveling doesn’t have to be physically draining. You just need to learn how to make better choices. So, before packing for your next big trip take a look at this article! Remember to take healthy snacks like seeds, fruits and nuts instead of processed foods, take your water bottle and have a healthy convenient diet in mind. Set aside 15 minutes of your day for a daily workout routine while traveling. Also, don’t forget that staying healthy is the key to a successful and well-established life, so take good care of your body.

FAQ

References

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071223/
[2] https://ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S0002-9165(23)27427-4/fulltext
[3] https://jkes.eu/article/135091/en
[4] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25162652/