I am far from a full-on health nut or the world's best exerciser. However, I strongly believe there are invaluable personal and professional benefits to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, even when on the road. Success here requires close attention to nutrition, exercise, and sleep.?
Coming off my first work week on the road of 2023, I'd like to share some techniques I’ve found helpful over the years. I would be interested to hear?yours as well.
- Assuming I’m not traveling every week back to back, if I’m concerned about weight gain, I try to log my food in an app like
MyFitnessPal
the week before. This helps me achieve a calorie deficit before going on the road where I almost inevitably run a surplus. I also pay close attention to macros, but I won’t go into detail there as everyone has different needs.?
- Pack, order, or pick up some healthy snacks to enjoy for breakfast and commit to at least trying to eat a salad or something else light at lunch. This sets me up for a mostly guilt free calorie splurge for dinners out. A related tip for getting snacks/breakfast is ordering them online via a delivery app like Instacart. They will deliver to the hotel front desk and don’t charge anymore than it would be for home delivery, so if you have an annual membership, then it’s basically free.?
- If consuming alcohol, try to only do so a max of two consecutive days. Moderation in the amount consumed is always important too. My primary reason for discipline here is I find my sleep quality diminishes otherwise and it’s already challenged enough while on the road. There are of course many other health reasons to be mindful here too.?
- Consider booking a hotel within a comfortable (but not too comfortable) walking/running distance from an area where you know you’ll be spending some time. I personally look for one in close enough proximity to where I’ll be having at least one dinner meeting. I then plan to drive to dinner, taxi back to the hotel (or walk if I missed my workout earlier), and run to get my car in the morning. This also allows me to have an extra glass of wine at dinner without worrying about driving. Sometimes it’s also beneficial for getting to know the area better and discovering new opportunities.?
- Take a quick gander at the hotel gym when checking into your hotel. Visualizing what the space looks like helps me plan an efficient workout which I find especially important when traveling due to mornings generally being a bit more hectic than at home. Previewing the gym also makes it feel like I’ve committed on a deeper level to working out no matter what. I guess it’s probably something along the lines of “seeing is believing”.?
- Don’t easily talk yourself into skipping your workout because you didn’t sleep well. If you normally exercise, completely skipping it will likely only make it more difficult to sleep the next night. I lower my workout expectations if I don't sleep well, but still try to get at least 20min of something in.?
- Counting sheep and visualizing them hopping over the moon sometimes helps calm my racing mind. I hear this is because occupying the different parts of your brain responsible for counting and visualizing leaves your brain without capacity for much else.
- If I wake up 1-2hrs earlier than desired and feel wide awake, then I generally get up rather than try to go back to sleep. I use this time to get a head start on my day with the hopes that it’ll allow me to take a guilt free 20-40min afternoon nap or wrap up early for an earlier night's sleep.
- I’ve recently started experimenting with an app called
Sleepiest
. There are a bunch of features, but the one I’ve enjoyed the most so far is listening to the 20-30min bedtime stories. I can’t fully endorse it yet, but it seems like this sleep routine usually reserved for children may actually be very relevant for adults as well. #
Thank you for taking the time to read these work travel health tips. I genuinely would love to hear some of your techniques. What works for you? I admittedly still struggle the most with sleep, so please don’t hesitate to share any tips you’ve found helpful.
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1 年Thank you Barclay. Coming toward the end of my first ‘23 travel as well, I always find that an advanced hydration strategy is immensely helpful. For whatever reason, it seems that stress while away from familiar surroundings advances dehydration. Liquid IV works well for me. In addition, it is common that environmental factors different from the norm can cause sinus inflammation and irritation from foreign pollen and other local factors so using a saline sinus flush helps to eliminate this. Since sleep cycles always suffer, finding an extra hour per night than normal sleep is worth the effort and if not possible, ending travel with a minimum of 2 days low activity rest prior to returning to normal work schedules is almost mandatory. Many of us live on the edge of healthy living habits, especially in high level leadership and business start-up situations, so adjustments are always necessary while traveling…..thanks again, that’s my 2 cents????????