I love being on-the-go and exploring the world! I am blessed to say that my job as the Runtastic Fitness Coach allows me to travel quite frequently and most recently I was just in Japan leading a LIVE Workout Party! Additionally, I live in Austria and my family and close friends live in California! So I also make time to go and visit them about 2x per year for a summer getaway and during Christmas time. Let’s just say that I travel a lot, for both business and pleasure and it’s really important for me to stay fit on vacation. And…it’s not as hard as you may think.

As you guys know, working out and eating healthy are a HUGE part of my life! My main goal has been (and always will be) to live a life of balance. I want to explore the world and see and experience as much as I can, but I want to maintain my level of fitness, keep a fairly lean and tight figure and BE HEALTHY too. And let’s just say that a lot of countries I have been to don’t have the healthiest cuisine.

Occasionally I get some crap from people who tell me, “What? You work out on vacation? But it’s vacation, you don’t need to stay fit on vacation!” But see for me, fitness and healthy living is a part of who I am as a person – not just a part of who I am when I am at home in my “comfort zone.” I have learned that no matter where I am in this world, it’s important to have fun but put my health and fitness first. That’s how I do it!

So, here are some tips I have put together for you and I like to call it “The Fit Traveler’s Guide” (just putting it out in the universe that I someday hope to put out an extended e-book version #manifest #biggoal)

How to stay fit on vacation…

• Don’t eat on the plane:  I have no evidence of this, but I am fully convinced that airplane food has additives in it that make you constipated. And if you want to stay fit on vacation, we gotta keep things moving. There’s no need to eat chicken and pasta and bread and dessert on a plane when you’re just sitting and not moving. Drink LOTS of water and (if you want a snack) bring snacks with you: cucumber, celery, bell pepper, berries, apples and hard-boiled eggs are some of my favorites.
• CHUG, CHUG, CHUG: …water! I mentioned it in tip #1, but it deserves it’s own number. Drink PLENTY of water all the time. Among many things, this will help prevent water retention from those not-so-healthy indulgences. Remember, if you’re traveling in Europe, they charge for water at restaurants. Don’t let that limit your water intake, keep a water bottle with you at all times. Additionally in Europe, they often charge you 50 cents (in Euros) to use some of the public toilets — so make sure you have some change with you all the time in case you need to use the restroom. Staying hydrated should be a (DUH!) daily habit, but oftentimes we can forget some of those habits when we were traveling. That’s okay – but let this be a reminder for next time.

• Don’t skip your workouts: I don’t even skip workouts when I am traveling abroad. I have found that the easiest way to get rid of jet lag is to just keep on movin’. Getting right into the swing of things upon arrival (including my daily workout) really helps me get rid of any tired or lazy feelings from being on the plane or in a different time zone. OF COURSE, everyone is different and it doesn’t mean you need to do burpees in your hotel room first thing (even though I am guilty of that, too)…but get in some yoga, stretching or light bodyweight training. Just something! The longer you wait, the less energized you feel and the less likely you are to get in your workouts.

• Taste the local cuisine, but don’t pig out: Of course I ate rice and noodles in Japan (I don’t normally eat very many grains on a regular basis) but I didn’t overdo it. This prevents me from getting extremely bloated from eating foods I am not used to and also allows me to appreciate what I am eating and tasting in another country. You don’t HAVE to eat out at a restaurant every single meal. I always make sure my hotel room has a mini fridge so I can go to the grocery store and stalk up on fruits, veggies, nuts and other things I can have as snacks or meals throughout the day.

Plus, you can easily do a google search for a healthy restaurant that perhaps is outside of the touristy areas. In fact, even in Japan we found an AMAZING vegan restaurant. I was so excited, I had to post it on my Snapchat –> LifeLikeLunden

• Walk or bike everywhere that you can: Try to sight see as much as possible on foot! Yup, that means you can’t forget to pack your running/walking shoes. I love signing up for walking or biking tours because you can see all the awesome sights and get in a workout without really thinking about it. When we were recently in Croatia for a company trip, we did this killer sightseeing bike tour that was nearly 40km and a tough terrain! Loved it! If you don’t want to be on a tour, then grab a map and go for a walk or rent a bike and take your own sightseeing biking tour.

Do you have any tips for staying fit while on vacation you want to share with me? Send me a tweet to @LifeLikeLunden and we can have a little chat 🙂