Staying healthy while traveling

I’m out of town in New Orleans for a work trip this week. Normally a trip to NOLA is a call for celebration, but with no family and no friends on this trip I’m just not feelin’ it. I used to travel for work all the time and my interest in it played out a long time ago. I would way rather be at home sleeping in my own bed. Although, I do have to admit it is nice to have a king size all to myself.

Or at least I think that now. After I lay in it for two hours without being able to fall asleep I’ll probably change my mind.

Last week someone asked what I eat and how do I manage what my family eats on this plan. I thought that was a great question, and I promise that I’ll get to it, but today I want to write about how I plan to eat healthy while I’m out of town.

To start, I brought food with me. Oh yes I did. I packed non-perishables in my overnight bag right next to my hairdryer.

I got some of those Healthy Choice steamer meals that you just add water and heat up in the microwave, pre-measured cereal, some meal bars and some snack bars for during the day. I had planned to use the microwave in the breakfast room, but when I got here I had a microwave and a mini-frig in my room. Score!

But guess what I forgot… A spoon.

But you know what they say, “necessity is the mother of invention.” Or hunger. I took a styrfoam cup and pulled most of the top off and then used it as a scoop. It worked, not perfectly, but it worked.

My other suggestion is to plan ahead and know where you are going to eat. That way you can look up the restaurant on the internet and get nutritional information (if they provide it, thanks a lot Logan’s Roadhouse for waiting until the government forces you to do it instead of providing it as a service to your customers). If you can’t plan ahead it really helps to have an app on your phone to look up information. I use Live Strong.

And if none of that works? Well then, just do the best you can and cut yourself some slack. There are always going to be times when we can’t plan everything down to the last detail. Those times we just have to do the best we can with the information we have available. If later you find out you had something that was way more calories then you thought then don’t be too hard on yourself and know that you will do better next time.

Another tip is to be sure to take your shoes or packable exercise equipment (like bands) with you. Most hotels have fitness centers and you can always use the treadmill. Or if all else fails, go to your trusty laptop and stream something from Netflix or check out YouTube for exercise videos. And be sure to pack your shoes first or you might forget them. Not that I would do that. (I totally did that. Thankfully we are walking back and forth to the convention center and it is about a mile both ways.)

What about y’all? Any tips or tricks for staying healthy while traveling?

P.S. If I don’t make it to your blog this week, I’m sorry. I don’t know how much of time will be absorbed with this conference.