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Summer Travel Survival Course  Sticking
to your fitness routine while on the roadby Tom Bonanti Sticking with your fitness plan can be a challenge while on the road, but you can do it! Many of my clients have been on the road lately. For some, the summer is a time for much needed vacations and cruises. For others, business travel, as much as 50 – 75 days on the road, is cutting more and more into their lifestyle. Aggravation over flight delays, missed connections and lost baggage are but a few of the stresses of modern travel. Combine these with crappy fast food, poor sleep and missed workouts, and you have a recipe for disaster. Whether you’re travelling for business or pleasure, don’t throw in the towel yet! Simply adjust your mindset and realize that you can stay fit and trim and keep that hard earned muscle. First, learn to take control of your nutrition. Think ahead and check out restaurants online, and find places that have healthy menus that are within your budget. When dining out, often the low-fat or vegetarian meal is a good choice. Stay away from breads and appetizers, and stick with soup or a salad before your main course. Take the skin off chicken and scrape those salty, fatty sauces to the side. Skip the dessert! As a footnote, don’t be afraid to throw caution to the wind on occasion and splurge at a fancy restaurant for a night or two, especially if your boyfriend is paying. You only live once, and one sumptuous meal and a bottle of fine vino or a few cocktails won’t set you back that far! Speaking of sauce, try to set a limit of two drinks per day. Alcohol not only makes you hungrier, it’s also loaded with calories. There are seven calories in every gram of alcohol. Less than two ounces of alcohol a day can have a significant effect on raising your blood pressure. You don’t need any more pressure than you already have! Secondly, you need to exercise on the road. Call ahead of time to find out if your hotel or guest house has a fitness center or pool. If you’re staying at a facility sans gym and pool, then find out if there is a health club nearby. You may have to pay $10 - $50 several days worth of passes, but it will be the wisest travel expense you’ll make. It’ll also give you an opportunity to try out your workout in a new locale with different equipment and scenery to inspire you to new heights. Set a special goal that you can hit while on the road with your workouts. For example, it could be a cardiovascular-based goal like seeing how many laps you can perform in the hotel pool. Or, if you have no gym available and confined to your room, see how many crunches or push-ups you can do in a one minute period. Remember, fitness is more than just counting calories and hitting the gym a few hours a week. It’s a lifestyle that requires sacrifice and planning, but have fun with it and be adventurous as well!
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