How to Stay Healthy on the Road

I was home for fewer than 24 hours before traipsing across the country and I have a lot of crap to do to catch up with both my home and work lives. 

So rather than catch up on said work, I am going to do a quick blog to record this moment of my life and the energy I spend trying to be healthy. I hope I stick with these practices, it has been months so I am thinking they should be habits, no?

A couple of shoutouts first:

1) To Amanda for sending me a link to greensmoothiegirl. 
2) To my co-worker Jude who has made needing to eat healthy a group event
3) To my friend Tiff for mocking the sprout sandwich I pinned.  And other yummy treats on my pinterest boards.

Here are my current practices, I would love for feedback if you think these are bad things:

1) NO SUGAR.  Seriously.  If I pick up a bag of almonds and it has sugar, corn syrup, or aspartame, I skip it.  This is the top one because I notice that after awhile, I no longer crave it.  One bite and all the memories of desserts on the road come flooding into my brain and I can. Not. Resist.  So sadly and tragically, no sugar.

2) No refined flour.  This one is almost moot because hardly any flour-based products are sugar free.  However, pasta and other non-complex flour items are on my no-no list.

3) Get Naked at Starbucks.   Naked Juice makes some incredible smoothies that are comprised of healthy ingredients, they have a variety of flavors at almost every Starbucks.   I probably eat 2 green smoothies a day while traveling, sometimes I get stuck with the fruit-only ones which are highly tasty.  They are $4.31 each, but if you compare that with an average breakfast, lunch, or dinner price, that is pretty steenking cheap.  I should buy stock in Naked Juice.  PS Berry Veggie is gross, all other flavors are rockin.

4)  Take the stairs.  Everywhere.  If there are one hundred stairs in the subway right next to an extremely steep escalator, I take them anyway.  There are so few opportunities to take stairs that you should do it when you can.  I sometimes request a high floor in a hotel if I know I have a few extra minutes to get out the door and back in at night and then I take the stairs.  Not convenient for 6 hour hotel stays.  Alternatively this section could be entitled "Dance as long as you can" but not everyone likes dancing and it may disturb you to know I dance in the bathroom, in front of the TV, and out with colleagues a few times a year if possible.  It is way more fun than stairs.

5) Preparation for potential exercise.  I always pack a sports bra and an extra pair of workout underwear.  Then if an opportunity presents itself, I put in a DVD or youtube vids and get jiggy with zumba or Tracy. I have found that packing tennis shoes takes up space and then makes me regret that I couldn't commit to leaving my room.  But in my room if I say "okay just five minutes" then even while exhausted I can come up with something in my stockinged feet.

6) Drink herbal tea  Hardly any hotels carry them in the room so if I do find one, I raid the supply and take it with me.  I like a peppermint for the morning and a chamomile for evening.  These energize and relax me alternatively and fill me up with necessary liquids.  Plus I can hang out at the coffee/dessert crowd and feel like I am partaking without filling my body with sugars and well, you already know I don't do coffee.


5) Scout out room service healthy options immediately.  When I get into my hotel room, I look at all the options and tell myself how unhealthy they are and then pick something relatively harmless.  Then, if I do get a temptation to eat, I have already selected the healthiest item and don't slip back to a bad choice.  Most hotels have some kind of yogurt thing or a tomato salad.  I don't usually order them, but it is a safe guard to pick right away and then be prepared if you give in to the call of the brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

These may seem like simple things or maybe stuff you have always done, but I have struggled with weight gain and I finally, finally have brought myself to a place where not only do I not gain, but I often lose a pound or two if I am away for a long time.

If I had better self-control I would add one more thing to my repetoire:

Eat alone.  When I eat alone, I eat less and I pick healthier items.  However, since the purpose of life is to be good and right and to simultaneously find joy, I would find eating alone sad and a waste of an opportunity so I sacrifice a few extra calories in order to spend time with people I enjoy. 


Don't worry, if you ever want to join me on one of my trips, you will find there are plenty of yummy foods out there that are not on my taboo list.