Shape’s Top 25 Stay-Fit Travel Tips

by Martha Edwards on

In addition to travel, I’m also passionate about healthy living and that’s why this article caught my eye. It’s a list of Shape Magazine’s Top 25 Healthy Travel Tips. There’s some good ones in there, including my favourites:

  • Be a picky eater: When I was in Australia recently, I took a lot of long bus trips, which included stopovers at greasy spoon-esque diners. Now, I’m not a food snob, and can usually find something I like. But I gave up after the ‘chicken’ I ate at Matilda’s Roadhouse in Kybong clearly wasn’t chicken — or edible, for that matter. Seriously, it’s better to go hungry than to end up sick on the bus.
  • Take a brisk walk around the airport before your flight: This is especially important if you’re going on a long flight. I usually do some yoga moves before a long flight. Yeah, I get funny looks, but so what!
  • Check with your gym: Chances are they have a deal with other gyms in other cities that will allow you to workout wherever you go.
  • Bring the workout with you: You don’t have to carry dumbbells around in your suitcase, but a few resistance bands will work wonders on the road — if you find the motivation to use them, that is.
  • Buy new workout clothes: If you plan on shopping at your destination, be sure to make an extra purchase: workout clothes. If you’re like me, you’ll want to try them on– and out — right away.

Snack Healthy on Road Trips

by Adrienne Wilson on

Thanks to our sister site, That’s Fit for being health conscious enough to supply the blogosphere and us here with some tips on how to snack healthy on road trips. I’m especially grateful considering I’m on the road at present and always looking for a word of advice on the topic. I’ve watched trips turn to “hell” for some people who input all the wrong goods into their bodies, sit on their butts, lounge in beach chairs and it ain’t pretty. Snacking is one of the easiest ways to kill time on those long drives and also an easy way to gain weight, but if you plan well in advance and think outside the box, or your vehicle your chances of fighting weight gain or just that nasty fatty feeling can be reduced.

For starters if you’ve ever taken the oh-so-scenic Route 66 or any parts of America’s great Midwest you can kiss most healthy pit stops bye-bye. I remember craving some edamame, sushi and a green tea smoothie with boba (specific, I know) on one long drive through Missouri somewhere. There were stretches of nothing followed by more nothing and then the great golden arches (McDonald’s) appeared, but the semi-healthy Japanese fare my stomach desired was never to be found. Tired, hungry and defeated, I gave into chicken mcnuggets. Planning ahead and packing your car with granola, water, trail mix, dried fruit, and fresh fruit that can survive the trip are good starters. The About.com article which That’s Fit references, suggests eating only salads and grilled foods from fast food joints. Also, all those rest stops we all tend to speed past – utilize them. Take a moment to let the car cool, step out the vehicle and do some stretching or light exercise. It may slow you down in the short-run, but in the long-run your body will probably feel 10x better. Let me not babble about it, go see for yourself.

Do you have any secrets for snacking healthy? Maybe a recipe for the road?