Healthy On The Road :: Every Day Is A New Day

[trip style = any]

Word of the day: Moderation

Whether it's the holiday season {aka now} or you're on holiday, the temptation to indulge for a week, 10 days or a month of cookies, chocolates, cheese and cocktails is ever-present. Calorie overload!

If I haven't been diligent in my plan to eat everything in moderation for the first two days of party season or a getaway, sometimes I seem to give up and INTO these naughty Cs. I feel so deep into a caloric catastrophe it's like there's no point in "flying back to the land of wellness." So I stay and wallow in candy highs and lows. Calories win, I lose.

Yet, we always have a choice to leave the sugar shack. A-l-w-a-y-s. Just because you gave into temptation for a few days, doesn't mean there's no way out. Think of it as a blip on life's screen.

Every day is a new day. Don't wait until New Year's to get back on the healthy horse. SO WHAT if your diet consisted of candy cane ice cream, Cracker Jacks and Champagne cocktails for three days straight!

The holidays don't have to be a nutritional bust. Focus on healthy eating 85% of the week, and let yourself have a few treats in the remaining 15%, and while at parties get up close and personal with veggie plates, soda with lime and mandarin oranges.

{Leah normally pens HOTR---published the first Wednesday of every month---but this week I subbed in to write this health-focused holiday helper.}

More Healthy On The Road Eat In Technicolor The 15 Minute 54321 Workout {you can do anywhere!} Keeping Fit In Hotel Hallways The 20-min Exercise Itinerary Healthy DIY Plane Snacks Hotel Room Exercises {You can do in your underwear}

[photo by @tripstyler, shot in Vancouver and Arizona]

Healthy On The Road :: 54321

[trip style = any]

When she’s not training clients or being trained by her dog Zuzu, Leah writes Healthy On The Road, published the first Wednesday of every month.

At HOTR, we often rave about the beauty of a travel-friendly circuit routine. The sky's the limit in terms of what this can involve, but since nobody wants to travel with 10 pound weights in their suitcase, most travelers seem to prefer heart-pumping, equipment-free varieties. After all, your body weight is an extremely effective strength training tool.

The internet is full of travel workout ideas, but let’s be honest, the options can be overwhelming, akin to shopping in a mega mall {no thanks}. Thanks to the wonders of Pinterest {follow tripstyler here}, we've come across a short and sweet, high-impact routine lasting ONLY 15 minutes {above}, which be done in your hotel gym, or the privacy of your room.

We give the 5-4-3-2-1 Workout a muscle-toning Healthy On The Road thumbs-up! Find the printable version via fitfabcities website here.

More Healthy On The Road Keeping Fit In Hotel Hallways Exercises For The Rhythms Of Life Give The Pool A Chance – A Workout In The Water The 20-min Exercise Itinerary Healthy DIY Plane Snacks Hotel Room Exercises {You can do in your underwear}

[photo by fitfabcities.com]

Healthy On The Road :: Hotel Hallway Exercises

[trip style = any]

{Editor's Note: This month I was talking with Leah, Trip Styler's Healthy On The Road'er about the many ways to stay fit while traveling, and inspired by bootcamp-style workouts using any space for exercise, we both agreed that beyond using the gym, pool or running outdoors, the hotel hallway is a great venue for a routine.}

Your hotel hallway: one more way to stay healthy on the road, one more reason to leave your excuses at home! At HOTR we've suggested how to stay fit without leaving your hotel room, now we challenge you to expand your territory---into the hallway! Crazy? Not really, read on...

How

• Circuit training can be challenging in a hotel room. In the hallway, you can more easily incorporate exercises such as lunges, squat pliés, moving jumping jacks, crab walks/bear crawls, leap frogs and of course the trusty band {just be sure to secure it on YOUR door handle!}
• Pick at least three exercises and perform each for 30 secs to 1 min {repeat 3 to 5 times}
• Brave this new frontier with a partner, and take turns leading a new exercise
• Incorporate the stairways into your circuit {e.g. power walk every level of your hotel and the flights of stairs in between (more challenge: go up the stairs by 2)---no elevator allowed!}

Reasons To Try The Hallway

• More space to move faster {the higher your heart rate…the better/more efficient your workout}
• Rarely filled with people
• Great for circuit training
• Opportunity to perform continuous reps

Beware of

• Making your neighbours feel lazy
• Raising unnecessary alarm when spotted lunging down the hallway
• Crab walking into the cleaning cart

So, if you can muster up the courage to take the step over the threshold, you may just discover a few more ways to stay HOTR.

{When she’s not training clients or being trained by her dog Zuzu, Leah writesHealthy on the Road, published the first Wednesday of every month.}

More Healthy On The Road Exercises For The Rhythms Of Life 5 Reasons To Go Summer Hiking Back At It Give The Pool A Chance – A Workout In The Water The 20-min Exercise Itinerary Healthy DIY Plane Snacks Hotel Room Exercises {You can do in your underwear}

[photo by @tripstyler]

Healthy On The Road :: 4 Immune Boosters

[trip style = any]

{When she’s not training clients or being trained by her dog Zuzu, Leah writes Healthy on the Road, published the first Thursday of every month.}

Our bodies have a sneaky way of lowering their defenses the moment they know their owner’s don’t need to report to work, school or any regular duty on Monday morning.

When I was a kid, my parents couldn’t even tell me we were going on holiday until we were well on our way. Planning and packing was all done behind my back---a ruse they were forced to perfect after one too many departures were ruined by my over-excited stomach.

Occasionally, my body still "finds the time" to get sick on vacation, yet the logistics of secret trip planning are a bit much to ask of my husband, so I strive to abide by these immune-boosting tips:

1/ Get Active Incorporate at least 30 minutes of physical activity, of any type, leading up to and during your vacation. You will sleep better and feel stronger.

2/ Drink Water & Lots Of It H2O; drink it before, during and after your vacation. Be sure to have your refillable water bottle with you at all times {for our FAVE foldable and reusable "Vapur" water bottle, see 2011 Cool Christmas Finds}. The only time that bottle should be empty is when you’re traveling through airport security! {Trip Styler Tip :: Pack a couple sachets of the powdered vitamin supplement, Emergen-C, to mix into your water bottle during travel for an added boost.}

3/ Catch Enough ZZZZZs Pace your trip prep by getting enough sleep leading up to your departure. Avoid the stress and immune suppression associated with last-minute packing---aim to be packed at least one day before you leave.

4/ Load Up On Fruits And Veggies “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” -True and wise words from Michael Pollen's book “In the Defense of Food.” Strive to first fill your plate with fresh fruit and veg. Not only is this the most natural and healthy way to get your immune-boosting vitamins, but it will help prevent vacation weight gain.

————————————————– New here or faithful TS reader? Get daily trip style tips delivered right to your inbox or RSS reader, AND interact with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! —————————————————

More Healthy On the Road… Give The Pool A Chance - A Workout In The Water Lifestyle Choices Make Any Trip Style Healthy The 20-min Exercise Itinerary Healthy DIY Plane Snacks Hotel Room Exercises {You can do in your underwear}

[photos sourced online]

Healthy On The Road :: Anthony's Tips

{Editor’s Note: When she’s not training clients or being trained by her dog Zuzu, Leah writes Healthy on the Road, published the first Thursday of every month.} 

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with one of the most sought-after fitness professionals in Western Canada---Anthony Findlay, founder and owner of Level 10 Fitness. Anthony’s accomplished resume is far too big to summarize here {check out his bio---you’ll be impressed}, but suffice to say, he’s a BIG deal in the health, fitness and high-performance sports world.

Despite his demanding schedule, Anthony lives a balanced life where traveling with his wife {with or without their kids} is a priority. Fortunately, Anthony is no stranger to keeping fit and healthy while traveling; he's responsible for keeping two national sports teams in top form, both at home and away.

I asked Anthony to share his tips for staying healthy on the road:

Be Regular Anthony explained that travelers often start their trip off on the right foot and with the best intentions. Shortly after arriving at their destination, they might visit the gym or even go for a run, but for many, that’s where it ends. Away from the regular schedule, workouts are often the first thing to slip away. Anthony emphasizes that “the beauty of travel is being able to take advantage of whatever is at your disposal.” It can be the perfect opportunity to try new things and add some variety to your fitness routine. Keep up your regular routine, but just mix up the activity. He suggests getting outdoors, planning workouts and adlibbing on others, stating that people are often surprised by what awaits them at their destination. He provided a recent example from his own trip to the island of Kauai. He and his wife had heard the hiking was good, but what they discovered far exceeded their expectations. Before they knew it, their surfing vacation turned into a trekking vacation, and they loved every moment of it! Note: Anthony pointed out that runners and walkers have an advantage while traveling; not only is their form of exercise very transportable, it enables them to see and experience a local area in a way that most travelers don’t.

Bring It If you dig into the Trip Styler archives, you'll find a great piece on the value of throwing a tennis ball into your travel bag. Anthony adds that even if the only thing you get around to doing on your vacation is some stretching at the end of the day, follow it up with a tennis ball massage to work out points of tension. Anthony also suggests throwing a golf ball {great for rolling out your feet after a big day of walking and exploring}, tubing and/or exercises bands into your bag. He shared a recent experience from Las Lenas ski resort in Argentina where he was thankful to have some tools on hand: the Canadian Snowboard Cross team were staying at this relatively remote resort for two weeks. When not competing, they needed to keep up their strength and conditioning program, but lo and behold, the resort had no gym or training facility on site---time to get creative! Using hallways, bathroom stalls, tennis balls, tubing, bands---whatever Anthony could turn into a training tool---they managed to keep their training program together prior to hitting the hill!

Research & Look Ahead Surprises are great, especially if you’re a “go with the flow” kind of person, but there’s also something to be said for having an idea of what lies ahead and gearing up to perform your fitness routine accordingly. Anthony provided a great illustration of this using the Manly Beach area of Sydney, Australia as an example. Having never been there myself, his description of a possible workout had me wanting to pack my gym bag and jump on a plane ASAP. In a nutshell, he said that every beach in the area has a pool at the edge, so an awesome workout would involve a run/swim circuit, where you run from beach to beach, jumping in for some laps at each pool: Shelley to Manly to Freshwater to Curl Curl to Dee Why. Sounds like the gladiator meets beach god/goddess workout, love it! {Note: ladies, you probably need to wear your sport bikini to pull this off!}

What You Need To Stay Healthy Do you have any dietary restrictions or allergies? Remember, many parts of the world aren't equipped with options like we have here. Asking for gluten-free food in some places will get you nothing more than a confused reaction. If this is your situation, then you might need to be prepared with supplements etc., or put some more thought into your destination and the options available there.

Celebrating Right Anthony says that all too often people arrive at incredible destinations and celebrate too quickly. Indulging in food, drink and late nights can be a fun part of travel, but if you’re on a trip style = active & adventure ski trip at Chamonix Mont-Blanc in France, you'll want to be in top form to get the most out of the experience. Anthony added that many people forget about the effects elevation has on everything from rest and recovery to food and fluid requirements. One of his tips for pacing yourself with alcoholic bevs: have a glass of water for every drink.

Seasonality Anthony suggests that many travelers don’t pay enough attention to the time of year they're planning to visit their destination. For example, someone heading to Southeast Asia with visions of beaches and snorkeling may not realize they're visiting in the rainy season {summer and early fall}. This is critical information when he travels with his outdoor athletes---a lesson he learned while in South Korea with the Canadian Snowboard team, where temperatures dropped to -20/-30 degrees Celsius. For lean athletes spending hours on the hill, this is cold and planning around gear, training and recovery times etc., becomes crucial.

More Healthy On the Road… The INSANITY Workout Hydrate! Summer Paddling Healthy Road Trip Choices Make Any Trip Style Healthy The 20-min Exercise Itinerary Active, Relax, Repeat Healthy DIY Plane Snacks Hotel Room Exercises {You can do in your underwear}

[photo: anthony]