How to Stay Healthy & Fit While Traveling – 10 Easy Tips from a Full-time Travel Blogger

I often do Q&A’s on my instagram stories and hands-down the question I get the most (aside from where to shop for the best swimsuits) is how to stay healthy while traveling… without sacrificing the experience!!

As you guys know, I’m a huge foodie, and an even bigger wine-enthusiast, so when it comes to traveling, and wanting to explore new restaurants, bars, and all a destination has to offer, things can get pretty out of control for me real quick. But that’s OK!

Staying fit and in total control of all of your eating and drinking while exploring new places is nearly impossible – I will be the first to admit that staying fit on the road is one of the hardest things to do with continually changing surroundings.

But, I have learned a few tricks. I’ve learned that as long as I am sticking to my general routine and following these easy rules of thumb, and as long as I eat healthy at home, I can keep my health in check, and I’m able to feel at my best, while experiencing the very best of each place I go.

These are the things that I do to stay healthy while traveling 24/7/365, and I hope they’ll help you guys when it comes to staying fit on vacation and keep up your health goals while traveling!

Staying active

When traveling, I try to do something active every day. Sometimes, that’s starting the day off with a resort gym workout or a yoga class (or an app workout – I love Melissa Wood Health), and other days, it’s just making sure I’m walking everywhere, and other days, it’s doing fun things like paddle-boarding, kayaking, or swimming in the ocean. I actually am MORE active when I’m on vacation. I think it’s the best way to start the day.

Treating yourself, but knowing balance

Your body isn’t a temple, it’s an amusement park, enjoy the ride.” – Anthony Bourdain

If you usually follow a super-strict diet at home, don’t be afraid to let loose a little on vacation. Travel is all about the food and drinks. Trust me. You don’t want to miss out on wine & cheese in France, nasi goreng in Bali, Argentinean steak in Buenos Aires, pan con tomate in Barcelona, Vietnamese iced coffee or Brazilian capirinhas. The key to staying healthy on vacation is not cutting food out, it’s just adding some exercise to the mix. And having a healthy diet at home before you go!

I personally don’t eat processed foods at home (anything in a box or a bag, really!!). Of course there are exceptions to this, but on the daily, I am only eating whole, fresh foods. I think that for the most part, since, when I can control what I’m eating, I’m not eating anything processed, it balances out the indulgences. So if I’m eating healthy leading up to a vacation, I feel completely fine indulging once I’m there! 

Some days you may just eat 8 Belgian waffles at your all-inclusive breakfast, followed by a few mimosas. AND THAT’S OKAY. Just make sure you rent a bike or go on a coastal walk for a couple hours to balance it all out.

If you splurge on fruity cocktails and all kinds of booze one night, don’t be afraid opt for water (or just a glass of wine) the next. Balance is so crucial to sustaining health, especially when you’re traveling.

Walk everywhere

I always lose weight almost every time I’m in New York or Europe. Why? Because my steps in those cities easily average 15K+ a day. Even though I’m eating pasta in Italy, or going out with friends every night in New York, walking so much is always keeping me in check.

Choosing to walk – even when it would be easy to get an Uber – is an easy thing you can do on vacation to feel accomplished and fit every day.

And, even if you’re at a resort and not exploring a city, make it a point to walk around as much as you can. My fiance and I call it getting our “resort steps” in, and we’ll always compete over who has more steps at the end of every day (you can track them in the health app on your iPhone!).

Stick to a routine, wherever you are in the world

Whether it’s getting your morning workout or coffee run in, or it’s taking your same supplements and beauty/skincare rituals, I think sticking to a routine on the road is one of the best things you can do for your body and your mind while traveling. The second you feel out of sorts, your body reacts to that, and goes into a kind-of defense mode that prevents it from being at its best. When it comes to living out of a suitcase, the most important thing I can do for myself is to have a routine as much as possible, so I can feel “at home” even when I’m half a world away.

Hydration, hydration, hydration

I carry my BKR with me everywhere (no, literally, everywhere). It’s a water bottle but it’s so cute that it’s my favorite accessory too. And it constantly reminds me to be drinking water.

When it comes to feeling your very best (and fighting jet lag), water is the key.  And let’s face it – in the excitement of exploring a new city, it’s easy to forget to drink as much water as you should, or to opt for wine over water (guilty). But I promise you that if you continuously drink water as soon as you land in a new place, your jet lag is going to be so, so much better.

(Oh and coconuts are always good for a little extra hydration hit, always)

Collagen… every day

One of my daily healthy tips is that I add collagen packets to my coffee every day (you can shop them on Amazon here). They’re super easy to travel with since they come in one-time-use packets, so I always have them in my purse. If you don’t take collagen protein or don’t know what it is – collagen protein is a flavorless protein powder that stimulates the body to produce its own collagen (which declines with age), it’s good for hair, skin, nails and general body health. I swear by it.

Pack healthy snacks!

Don’t rely on airplane food or random quick-marts in your destination for your hunger pangs. Any trip I go on, I always have a ‘snack bag’ full of healthy snacks that I’ll eat on the plane, and then once I’m at my destination to keep hunger at bay in-between meals. This also saves money! Especially if you’re traveling somewhere like Maldives or Bora Bora where a quick snack can suddenly be $100. 

My favorite: These almond butter packets – they’re the perfect size, so handy, and easy to travel with. Plus almond butter is my go-to snack anytime I get hungry but I don’t want a full meal yet. 

Buy them on Amazon here.

A great probiotic

When it comes to staying healthy on the road and not getting sick (especially from food-borne things like Bali belly), I take a probiotic every day. Probiotics help improve your energy, and get the most nutrition out of every single thing you eat. They also keep your digestion balanced and at its highest performance, so it can fight against food-borne illnesses and help you from getting sick abroad! And apparently they’re good at preventing breakouts as well – which is a huge benefit for people who travel a lot. This is a great brand of probiotics. You can shop them on Amazon here!

Other supplements

There are some key supplements to staying healthy while traveling, and I go into all of them in this post here on The 5 Best Essential Supplements for Travel.

Check out these other blog posts:

Nutrition tips that will change your life

Travel beauty essentials

How to prevent getting sick in Bali while traveling

JetsetChristina Q&A

 

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Christina is a leading luxury lifestyle and travel blogger with over 2 million readers. Follow her on instagram @jetsetchristina.

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