Tuesday, May 6, 2025
When summer arrives, whether you’re on break from school or still working, it can be hard to keep your health and fitness goals on track. Traveling for work or taking vacations can make adhering to your goals even harder. Although relaxing and unwinding is beneficial for overall health, staying on track with your diet and exercise goals is important. Taking extensive periods off from physical activity and healthy eating habits can lead to weight gain and loss of muscle. Even more importantly, it can make it significantly harder to get back on track.
Here are some tips to help you stay on track while traveling:
Plan ahead. As you’re packing for your vacation or work trip, plan to bring clothes and shoes you can work out in. If you know your schedule for the trip before you leave, plan for getting in a workout. It can be as simple as setting your alarm 30 minutes early so you can exercise before your day starts or making sure the hotel has a gym.
Set a goal. Set your goals for the trip before you leave. For instance, if you’re going to the beach for a week, you could set a goal to exercise for three days. It’s important to keep the goal realistic. If you’re traveling with friends or family, invite them to participate with you to hold you accountable.
Make it a trip highlight. If you’re traveling for pleasure, get online and look up local state parks or other landmarks you can visit that might offer a way to incorporate fitness into your trip. Your destination may include famous parks with excellent hiking opportunities, or even local parks that feature paved walking trails you can use to get in a good run.
Learn how to eat out. Sometimes eating out is inevitable, especially when you’re traveling. Finding healthy options can be challenging. One easy tip for eating out is to build your meal around a protein source such as chicken, beef, or fish.
Stay hydrated. If you can, wherever you go, always bring a water bottle. Simply having it with you will be a reminder to drink water.