How To Stay Healthy While On Vacation

Let’s chat health and fitness while traveling.

No one wants to hear those words looped together but maintaining a healthy routine is essential while traveling.

To provide some background on me, I’m not a fitness junkie, nor a super healthy eater or have one of those awesome “don’t have to do anything but still have a fit body” like you see in social media. I’m a Latina and that comes with curves. I’m a foodie, dessert is my weakness, and I’m 4’11’ (149 cm), so any weight I pack, shows faster than taller people.

Prior to my #GirltakesMundo adventure whenever I went on vacation, I always seemed to lose weight, as I love walking and always opt to walk then use other forms of transportation while exploring new cities. During my sabbatical, I easily average 6 -12 miles a day.

Despite walking, I made some obvious mistakes in the beginning of my #GirltakesMundo sabbatical in 2017, which had me feeling bloated, seeing the weight gain and all around not comfortable in my skin such as…

5 HEALTH MISTAKES You Make WHILE TRAVELING

• Drinking beer – I rarely drink beer but since it’s cheaper I was opting for this.
• Eating after a night out – A habit I try not to have when I go out at home.
• Drinking less water – At home, water is primarily what I drink.
• Having a bad diet –  Eating more carbs and not enough veggies.
• Not working out – Being on the road and not finding ways to move your body can really take a toll while on holiday.

In an effort to feel good in said skin and create a healthy balance while traveling, I implement some changes that were game changer during my #GirltakesMundo adventure. See below & keep these in mind when traveling yourself.

7 Tips for Traveling & Staying Healthy

Breakfast – They do say it’s the most important meal of the day after all. Breakfast helps maintain your metabolism and prevent you from eating junk food while checking out sites. My breakfast usually consists of a fruit and yogurt or orange juice. Average cost for this in Europe is around $1.50 euros ($1.67 dollars).

Salad A Day – I’ve started to incorporate eating one salad a day to help ensure I’m eating veggies and greens.

Vegetarian Meal – Eating less meat is never a bad thing so making at least one of your meals vegetarian I found to help while traveling. (UPDATE: Since this post, I have actually gone full vegetarian and have begun to incorporate more plant based meals into my day to day diet. It has helped tremendously while traveling despite this sometimes being hard while vacationing in certain parts of the world.)

Limit Sweets – Easier said then done but limiting sugar is healthy even outside of your travels. Still treat yourself from time to time while on vacation and do consider portion control.

Limit Carbs – Some carbs are good and they give you the energy to burn calories but you just have to be more mindful of the type of carb and how much of the bad carbs you eat. Some carbs can also tire you out which means less energy to want to maximize the time you are visiting places.

No Beer – Instead of going for the cheaper beer option, stick to ordering liquor such as vodka water, wine or champagne which has less calories. This helps as beer tends to bloat you more.

Workout Sessions – Incorporate short workouts (20-30 min) throughout your trip.

• Hit a gym – many gyms offer day passes.
• Go to a park – some parks have outdoor gym equipment
• Train in your room
• Better yet, train in tourist sights #forthegram

Apps like the “Nike Training” app provides tons of workouts which you can filter based off time, equipment and intensity. Apps like this have really changed the game on how I tackle travelling and staying fit, especially while traveling.

Follow this routine while traveling, this helps this Latina continue to control and maintain her health during this #GirltakesMundo adventure and at home.

Have your own stay fit tips? Share them in the comments below.