travel

Holiday Travel Tips | Life Healthfully Lived It’s almost here! Christmas is almost here! I am super excited to celebrate Christmas with my family and take some time to just relax and enjoy the season. While this is the most wonderful time of year, it can quickly become the most stressful time of year. Baking, buying and wrapping presents, going to concerts/programs/pageants, watching all the Christmas movies, planning the big dinner…. It can all add up to a pretty hectic month.

On top of all that, you’re probably going to be doing some kind of traveling this week. Whether it’s a few minutes, hours, or a day away, traveling can take a toll. Plus, being out of your normal routine and in a new place can sometimes put your whole body out of whack.

Traveling and Christmas doesn’t mean you have to throw all of your regular healthy habits out the window. In fact, this is the best time to keep up with your normal routine so that you can enjoy your holiday without feeling crummy.

Here are a few things that you can do to make sure you have the happiest, and healthiest, Christmas season!

Plan Your Food

Traveling is not the time to just wing it when it comes to your food. You wouldn’t show up to the airport without a ticket and hope there was a plane with an open seat just happening to go to your destination. Don’t leave your eating up to chance either! Holiday Travel Tips | Life Healthfully Lived

Plan out a few healthy snacks to bring along with you. Things like fruit, nuts, seeds, hard boiled eggs, and cut up vegetables all make really good portable snacks. You never know if you’re going to be stranded somewhere where the best option for food is the local gas station. If you need a few ideas for some good snacks, check out these homemade ones on my recipe page!

Hydrate Like Crazy

This is really a reminder for me because I am horrible at drinking enough water regularly. I just get so busy doing things and then by the time dinner rolls around, I realize that I have had one glass of water all day. Hydration is important no matter what, but traveling really makes it a priority. Get a reusable water bottle before you leave home and make sure that you are always refilling it. You can set reminders on your phone or download an app to let you know that it’s time to have some more water. Holiday Travel Tips | Life Healthfully Lived

Also, remember that things like fruit, vegetables, and hot tea all count towards your water intake. Just don’t let them totally replace glasses of water throughout the day.

Keep Moving

Yes, the place you’re traveling to this Christmas might not have a gym or your favorite Crossfit class, but that doesn’t mean you should totally give up on exercise. I’m not saying that you have to run a marathon every day of your break, but putting some activity in your day will keep your body, and you, at your best. Holiday Travel Tips | Life Healthfully Lived

Take a walk with a family member. Go sledding with the kids in your family. Cross country ski with friends who are also home on break. Heck, go build a snowman or have a snowball fight. All of these will keep your body in motion and help you feel your best

Be Ready For An Emergency

Of course, you don’t want to have to worry about an emergency while you’re celebrating Christmas, but sometimes things happen. Whether you suddenly spike a fever, have an allergic reaction, or injure yourself in that snowball fight I told you to have (you can totally blame me for that one), things happen. If you are away from home and your doctor, it can be difficult to find the best care. Holiday Travel Tips | Life Healthfully Lived

That’s where Amino comes in. They make finding a doctor in your area super easy and convenient. All you have to do is answer a few questions about your condition or what you are looking for, enter your insurance information and they will match you with the right doctors for your needs. This can be really helpful if you don’t know the area and need medical attention. It’s also good for when you get back home and want to find the perfect doctor in your area. Even better? It’s totally free.

Enjoy It All

Above everything else, enjoy your Christmas. It only comes once a year and most of us are so stressed about getting everything done that we don’t even take the time to slow down and enjoy the holiday. The best thing for your health this time of year is to really enjoy this time of year. Laugh with your family and friends, spend time with your loved ones, celebrate the love that was sent down to us this season, and don’t worry about the last present that needs to be wrapped or the batch of cookies you accidently burned. If you follow just one tip on this list, let it be this one! It will do you the most good. Holiday Travel Tips | Life Healthfully Lived

I hope this helps you out as you get ready for your holiday traveling and make sure to check back here on Wednesday because I’m going to have a few last minute recipes for you to whip up!

Happy Monday before Christmas friends!

Summer is the season of trips. Day trips, road trips, long trips, short trips. We like to travel during these three months out of the year and who could blame us? The weather is great, people have more leisure time, and there are so many fun things to do! There is a downside to all this travel though. People don’t tend to eat their best on their vacations. Between loading up on all the snack foods at gas station stops and the decadent meals out, you might find it hard to stay healthy. It can be frustrating to be doing so well and then all of the sudden feel like you’ve taken five steps backwards after a two week vacation. It doesn’t have to end up like that though, and I thought that I would share some of my traveling tips with you to help you stay on target with eating well.

Plan Ahead. This is my best tip when it comes to traveling healthy. It seems like kind of a no brainer, like you shouldn’t even consider it a tip. But you would be surprised how so many people plan every single detail of their trip and totally forget to plan anything food wise. Not having even a basic eating plan for your vacation can have you grabbing whatever food you can find, more often than not something void of any nutrition. By just taking a few minutes to plan out where you can eat, what you might eat, and snacks here and there, you can save yourself (and your health) a lot of frustration. You don’t have to be super specific, just make a basic plan of where you can get your meals or what food will be available to you.

Pack Snacks. What good is a road trip without any snacks? While I know the typical car fare is candy, chips, and soda, try packing your own healthy snacks. Make your own trail mix, or granola bars, roast some chickpeas, cut up some fruit or vegetables, air pop some popcorn, or make your own tortilla chips. Portion out these snacks so that you have some for the trip there and the trip back. Snacks are also good to bring on day trips to help tide you over between meals. Another bonus, you won’t waste a ton of money at the gas station by loading up on junk food!

Pre-check Restaurants. The internet is a wonderful thing when it comes to trying to eat well while out and about. Most restaurants put their menu online so you can go check it out before you even get there. If you go out to eat while on your vacation, check the menu first and pick what you are going to have before hand. That way when you get there you don’t have to be tempted by any of their less than healthy meals and can order right away. If there doesn’t seem to be anything you feel comfortable eating, try making your own meal out of sides or call the restaurant and see if they would be willing to help accommodate one of their meals to your needs. Many times restaurants are happy to help their patrons, especially if you take care of it in advance. Never be afraid to ask!

Prepare Your Own Meals. If you’re really good at planning ahead and are going on a short trip, you can even make your own meals. Try dishes that will hold up with travel and won’t spoil easily like salads with beans or whole grains. Invest in a cooler and you can load it up with portioned meals for your trip. Or you can check the area where you will be staying and see if there are any extended stay hotels. These hotels generally have a small kitchen area where you can make your own meals. Then when you get there you can find the local grocery store and make your own meals. This is also a good way to save some money because buying and making your own food, even for just a few of your meals on vacation, is cheaper than eating out the whole time.

Pick Up Some Water. This is another tip that seems pretty simple, but make sure you stay hydrated. Travel tends to dehydrate the body, especially if you’re flying, and with all your vacation activities it’s easy to forget to drink some water. Invest in a good water bottle and make sure that you’re drinking and refilling it throughout the day.

In the end, try not to stress out too much about food on your trip. Yes, it is important to try and plan ahead and do what you can to make sure that you’re eating well. But it isn’t the end of the world if a few things slip through the cracks. Do the best that you can with what you have and make sure that instead of stressing over food you’re enjoying your time off! With a little bit of preparation, you can make your next trip both fun and healthy!