As a frequent traveler, I know very well the importance of maintaining healthy habits while away from home. Luckily, it’s getting easier to make healthy choices while traveling, considering the increase in health food stores and improved options at airports and restaurants. With the holiday travel season fast approaching, here’s a quick list of ideas to keep you in tip-top shape while on the road.
Healthy Travel Tips:
#1 Plan before you leave
Prior to departure, do research online for local health food stores and healthy restaurants near your travel destination. Knowing you will have access to quality and convenient food options increases the likelihood of making health-supporting decisions. I like to find a Whole Foods (or other local health food store) for groceries and snacks, and dine at farm-to-table restaurants to support local growers and enjoy unique regional cuisine.
Healthy Travel Tips:
#2 Pack Smart
If you leave home without the proper gear, it’s hard to maintain a healthy regime. Set yourself up for success by packing smart. Some items I typically include in my suitcase:
Workout clothes and sneakers
Supplements (see #7)
Non-toxic body care products
Uplifting reading material or downloaded podcasts to enjoy during downtime
BPA-free, reusable water bottle
WO China Healing Oil, effective for sore throats, wounds and gastrointestinal distress
Healthy Travel Tips:
#3 Prepare snacks full of quality fat and protein
During transit, make sure you’re stocked with snacks to keep hunger at bay and avoid eating toxic foods (link to toxic foods article) from airports, gas stations, and fast food restaurants. Although there are sometimes healthy snacks available for purchase, it’s easy and more cost-effective to bring your own.
In my snack pack you may find:
Raw, grass-fed cheese
Hard-boiled, pastured eggs
Raw, organic nuts and seeds
Organic kale chips
Grass-fed beef jerky or EPIC bars
Whey protein (to mix with water for a simple shake)
TIP: For carry-on airplane items, security permits a small cooler containing snacks (include an ice pack) and frozen liquid to be brought on-board.
Healthy Travel Tips:
#4 Hydrate with pure water
Pre-flight, purchase bottled water to take on the plane. I choose mineral water when available, and sometimes sprinkle in a pinch of high-quality salt for electrolyte balance. If you’re driving, bring along a reusable BPA-free water bottle, filled with pure water to avoid purchasing plastic bottles from gas stations. BPA is the main component of polycarbonate, the plastic often used to make water bottles, and is linked to the increased risk of some cancers, infertility, hormone dysregulation, obesity, diabetes, and more. Not to mention the toll our reliance on plastic takes on the planet. Avoid plastic when you can (a huge modern challenge!), and use glass or stain-less steel containers for beverages and food.
Healthy Travel Tips:
#5 Make the best possible choices at restaurants
When eating out, make the best healthiest selection wherever you go. That means doing your best to avoid toxic foods like sugar, grains, vegetable oils, and grain-fed animal protein, following core principles of my Cellular Healing Diet. Don’t stress, however; and simply do the best you can. Begin by scanning the menu for healthy protein and vegetable options. For example, if you’re eating at an Italian restaurant, this could mean ordering a large salad with plenty of veggies, extra olive oil, and a side of meatballs. At a Mexican restaurant, perhaps order chicken fajitas (hold the tortilla!), sauteed onions and peppers, and extra guacamole. At an Asian restaurant you could try the sashimi platter, seaweed salad (no sugar!), and a side of fresh grated daikon. American eatery? Order the burger with no bun served over a green salad with extra veggies and olive oil.
Keep it simple and focus on:
Quality protein (choose grass-fed and organic when possible)
Lots of non-starchy veggies (i.e. leafy greens) that contain filling soluble fiber
Stick with lemon water to drink
Choose bottled water to avoid the toxins in tap water
Healthy Travel Tips:
#6 Practice intermittent fasting
I practice intermittent fasting on a daily basis. It keeps the body in great shape, the mind sharp, regulates hunger, burns fat, slows aging by increasing growth hormone, improves energy and stamina, and decreases food cravings. It’s the single most powerful thing I do on a daily basis to increase my health. I intentionally skip breakfast and drink organic coffee with MCT oil or heavy cream, and usually eat only a light meal or snack during the day containing fat and protein, such as spoonfuls of coconut oil and/or butter oil, nuts, and a whey protein shake. I end the day with a satisfying dinner, normally including grass-fed meat, sautéed veggies, raw cheese slices, and perhaps some grass-fed whipped cream for dessert. Fasting simplifies travel since I don’t need to be concerned with planning breakfast or maintaining a regular eating schedule.
Healthy Travel Tips:
#7 Take your supplements
When traveling, your body can easily get thrown off due to jet lag, sleeping in a different environment, less than optimal food choices, etc. Therefore, it’s extra important to support your body while on the road.
Some ideas:
Support your immune system with Beta-Glucan. It provides an outstanding boost to immunity, especially important when traveling if your system is weakened from illness.
Counteract radiation with TMI. This product helps to counteract radiation from airline travel with iodine. Take 3-4 capsules prior to boarding the plane.
Support the methylation cycle, the essential biochemical process that supports all levels of metal and physical health, with MORS.
If you’re traveling to a sunny destination, soak up the sun! Most Americans are deficient in Vitamin D, crucial to protection against many serious diseases, especially those who live in colder climates. Maintain adequate levels by taking a high quality supplement, such as DV3.
Keep your gut healthy and strong while eating foreign foods with Prescript-Assist. This probiotic contains unique soil-based organisms that help balance good and bad gut bacteria to decrease your chance of suffering with digestive challenges. The product doesn’t need to be refrigerated, so it’s perfect for travel.
Help your body to eliminate toxins with BIND, super-activated carbon capsules which bind to organic and inorganic toxins, chemicals, mycotoxins, and heavy metals and safely remove them from your system to prevent re-intoxication. Take 2-4 capsules before bed.
Healthy Travel Tips:
#8 Rest
You already know that quality sleep is important for optimal health, but getting good shut-eye can be a challenge when away from home. To support sleep, bring along ear plugs, an eye mask, a support pillow, and consider taking magnesium, melatonin, and/or BIND before bed. Incorporate deep breathing, prayer, uplifting reading material, and mediation into your nighttime ritual. Also, keep your sleeping space cool (62 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit), block out ALL light so that the room is pitch black, and turn off electronics (put your phone on “airplane mode”).
Healthy Travel Tips:
#9 Burst train
Staying fit on the go is easy by implementing burst training. Burst training (aka High Interval Intensity Training) is exercise performed in short, intense “bursts” interspersed with brief periods of recovery. It is much quicker and more effective than the old method of pounding the pavement or logging hours on the elliptical. The best part? It can be done practically anywhere, so no excuses! If you’re staying in a hotel, you can run up and down flights of stairs in intervals, do push-ups, crunches and lunges in your room, or use the fitness center to do sprints on the treadmill. Burst training is more effective for fat burning than other types of exercise, and avoids the negative effects that excessive cardio has on the body. Remember to keep your body loose with daily stretching, especially if you’re on a plane or in the car for long periods of time in transit.
Healthy Travel Tips:
#10 Have fun!
Whether traveling for work or pleasure, delight in it. The world is full of amazing people and places, so wherever you are appreciate what each destination offers. Relax, taste a unique region-specific food, chat up some locals, learn a new language, and try things you can’t do at home. Good health is promoted through physical and mental harmony. Enjoy the ride.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
Grain-Free Zucchini Muffins
