Three Simple Steps to Look and Feel Fabulous While Traveling
Long flights at any and all times of day across multiple time zones hijack your body, so you can’t tell if you’re hungry or tired or maybe both. Then you land in a new place, and it’s exciting AF. You’re surrounded by delicious foods like authentic Italian pasta, freshly baked croissants, and freely flowing wine, so the glasses are never empty. You want to eat ALL food, drink ALL the cocktails, and do ALL the things because it’s your first time in [insert fun destination of choice]. And the point of travel is to indulge, right?
Yes… but what if you travel for work? How do you keep your body looking like a snack when surrounded by delightful snacks? In my time ping-ponging around the world, I’ve learned a lot about how to keep my body as healthy as possible while enjoying the experience. I’ve dialed the knowledge I’ve gained down to three core things I like to call the Health Holy Trinity of Travel. And now I’m sharing them with you!
First… a few disclaimers.
Healthy habits start at home. If you struggle to maintain a workout routine or consistent diet in one place, it’s not gonna happen for you while traveling. Luckily, the tips I’m sharing today are as helpful at home as they are on the road.
Your body is dynamic, especially if you’re a woman! Bloating is unavoidable while traveling… and that’s okay. On an eight-hour flight to Brazil, I looked down to see my tummy poofing out like I was three months preggo. I cupped my belly with my hands and laughed. My thoughts were filled with awe rather than disgust. How cool is it that my body can expand and contract and do all this weird shit? And it just knows how to do it? That’s impressive. I wasn’t happy with how tight my pants were feeling but talking shit to my body wasn’t gonna change anything and certainly wasn’t going to make me feel better. We’re not here to whine about our body’s natural processes.
I’m not a dietitian, nutritionist, personal trainer, fitness expert, etc, and whatnot. I’m sharing with you things I’ve figured out based on my own body and my own experiences. I think they could be helpful for you, too! See what resonates and give it a try.
Healthy Holy Trinity of Travel
Sleep
I’ve often been asked about my tips and tricks for beating jet lag. Sadly, everyone who asks is disappointed by my answer: “I sleep when I’m tired, and I don’t care if it’s two in the afternoon or two in the morning.” Sorry, not sorry.
Good health starts with sleep, imho. We all know the average adult needs seven to eight hours of sleep, like how we all know the sky is blue and the books are always better than movie adaptations (there are very few exceptions to this). Yet, we still like to think we got a hall pass from the sleep gods, and four to six hours is plenty of shut-eye.
This used to be me.
During my first few months of working in aviation, after flying all day, my pilots and I arrived at a beautiful resort on St. John’s at ten p.m. We had to leave the following day at nine a.m. Only eleven hours on the ground and eight of those should have been for sleep, but that’s not what I did. I stayed up late lounging in the plush bathrobe, then woke up at the crack ass of dawn to do yoga, swim at the beach, swim in the pool, walk around the property with the local cats, and eat breakfast. By the time my flight landed, I could barely keep my eyes open despite chugging four lattes.
Lack of sleep does way more than make you tired. If you hate being so bloated your pant size doubles, then you need to go the fuck to sleep. Research has shown sleep deprivation can make your body release pro-inflammatory chemicals and increase cortisol levels, aka the stress hormone. And it can totally screw with your metabolism. Ever wonder why when you’re running on low Z’s you crave mac n’ cheese, fistfuls of dark chocolate almonds, and fluffy croissants when you usually eat salads with grilled chicken, handfuls of blackberries, and sugar snap peas? Without adequate rest, things your body does daily, like breathing and pumping blood around, are harder, so it needs more energy to do its job. This makes you hungrier, and the hormones that tell you you’re full feel super lazy from the lack of sleep. Science-y stuff aside, you want to eat a lot more than usual and nothing is stopping you.
You may think, “I’ll do a little extra at the hotel gym to balance it out.” The hell you will because craptastic sleep makes running on a treadmill or tossing a barbell around sound terrible. If you do make it to the gym, your muscles won’t be in the mood to lift heavy shit.
Sleep is my priority when I travel, especially if I’m experiencing significant time zone changes.
Hydration
Being in an airplane is like being encapsulated in a desert. For every hour spent inflight, your body is saying buh-bye to about eight ounces of water. That means you need to drink even more water than the daily recommended amount when traveling. I’m an absolute savage about hydration. I usually down at least a liter of water for every two hours of flight. I also add electrolytes to my water. On some long hauls, I’ve drank as much as four liters. You may be thinking, “Damn. This girl must pee a lot.” I do, and I have no shame about it. Some flight attendants seem to take pride in not using the lav on their flights, like denying their bodies the opportunity to perform a basic function means they’re superior at their job. Listen, if holding your whizz makes you feel good about yourself, do you, boo! It’s just not for me. I feel icky if I don’t drink a lot of water, and I feel icky if I don’t pee, so I do both. That’s my thing.
To help me in my hydration endeavors, I limit or avoid dehydrating bevvies. For me, this is anything with caffeine or alcohol. I love my coffee so much. It’s a core part of my personality and a frequent feature of my IG stories. If you know me from Instagram, you may be shocked that I only drink maybe three coffees daily, and two of the three are usually decaf. (Spoiler alert! Not everything you see on social media is what you think it is). I used to drink full diesel coffee from dusk until dawn. As a new flight attendant, I found myself drinking more and more lattes from the Nespresso machine at my fingertips. I started to feel blech, so I looked at my daily habits to find the culprit. I started with implementing latte limits, and oh my shit, did it work! I had more energy, slept better, and felt way less puffy. The best effect of cutting down on caffeine was the most unanticipated. The caffeine I did drink did what I wanted it to: give me a delightful burst of hyper-focused energy.
Try switching out your Americano for a bottle of Fiji and see how it makes you feel.
Protein
When traveling, I look for the most protein I can get with every meal. To be clear, I’m not trying to avoid carbs or fats. They’re easily accessible, so it takes no effort to eat them. However, protein is more challenging and essential to feeling great, especially if you’re active and like to lift weights (that’s me!). Not to mention, protein does all sorts of incredible and essential things for your body, like helping your immune system and repairing and building muscle. To get enough, I have to be creative when traveling.
On a trip to the Galapagos, I smiled happily, looking out the large windows of the resort restaurant at the sea lions sunbathing on the beach of San Cristobal. The view was beautiful, but I smiled because I was stoked the waiter took my somewhat unusual egg order without any pushback.
“Why did you order eggs that way?” My pilot’s face was scrunched up like I’d ordered only the eggshells to eat.
“Yeah.” The other pilot jumped in. “You ordered five eggs! That’s a lot.” His eyes did a quick (but not inconspicuous) up and down of my frame.
I took a deep breath to gear up for my explanation. “Yes, it’s five eggs, but not five whole eggs.” I turned to the first pilot. “I ordered three eggs as whites only and two whole eggs because I want the protein from all the eggs but not all the fat.”
I’m not always able to manipulate restaurant menus to prioritize protein. In Athens, when I asked if I could add chicken to salads, I was repeatedly told, “We can take away ingredients, but we can’t add.” That rule made no sense to me, but I always travel with a few tricks in my suitcase. Protein powder is a safety net if I can’t get it from real food.
If you’ve slept, tamed your thirst, and eaten real good…
Once the Health Holy Trinity is on lock, then I consider adding in workouts. Sometimes, though, I still feel tired even with solid sleep, good hydration, and healthy meals. But I know a body in motion stays in motion. If I don’t feel I have the pep in my step to rep out some squats, I’ll do actual steps instead. I used to dismiss walking as a workout with utter disgust and disdain. To me, a workout meant pushing my body to its limits every time to be faster, go farther, and lift heavier. It wasn't a workout if I wasn’t a sweaty, exhausted mess and slightly in pain by the end. Then I left the cult (aka I stopped doing CrossFit) and realized there are other ways to move your body that don’t hurt. Walking is the most kickass way to do that, particularly while traveling. You explore, meet locals, and get a workout. Don’t be a dipshit like I was. Go for a walk!
Rules are made to be broken
Putting in a little extra effort to keep my body feeling healthy makes travel a more enjoyable experience for me. When I’m about to leap off an Italian cliff into the Tyrrhenian Sea, I don’t want to think, “Oh my God, do I look fat in my bikini right now?” I also don’t want to get home feeling I need a juice cleanse or detox or some other ineffective, heavily marketed, quick weight loss tactic. With moderation, I never feel like I’m missing out. That being said, you gotta know when to say, “Fuck it.”
Some days, a mood will strike me. I want to eat half a baguette smothered in copious amounts of French butter and some cheese, followed by entrecôte and frites, all washed down with the most delicate yet delightful rosé. And while I’m at it, I’ll take the chocolate mousse and an espresso martini (or five, but who’s counting). I go all out and enjoy the hell out of it. The following day, I wake up a little puffier and a little (maybe a lot) hungover. But I don’t beat myself up. I don’t limit what I eat that day or assign workouts as punishment. I drink a lot of water, eat as much protein as possible, go for a walk, and then go to bed early that night.
I go right back to my Holy Trinity and feeling great. And that’s the beauty of the Holy Trinity! It’s so simple and easy that you can do it anytime.
So when are you getting started?
