Current situation: living across the pond in London proper for most of the month of September. Health game: Staying mooooostly on point, despite the massive attack (musical pun for you fellow fans out there!) on clean eating by way of incredible dining and wining in one of my favorite cities.  Let’s face it, weekends and vacations do a number on our health, and it can be incredibly difficult to reel ourselves back to reality. Many people, myself included, can testify that the “occasional indulgence” or exception accidentally become the norm. It’s so much harder to get back on track than to stay mostly consistent with our lifestyle.

I’m speaking from personal experience of course; in all honesty my will power waffles and wavers entirely for a fancy pants meal, bottomless brunching, and/or an amazing bottle of wine. What’s a girl to do? Never dine out? Skip traveling? Forget it! That sounds like zero amounts of fun. I have major wanderlust and frequently travel both nationally and internationally. When I’m home, I’m fortunate to have a lovely network of friends who enjoy fine dining. Instead of saying no to enjoying life and friendships, I’ve learned some much needed tips and tricks of the health trade to make traveling and weekends much healthier; in fact, there’s no need to allow weekends, holidays, and trips to sabotage our clean eating efforts.

GUIDE TO WEEKEND + TRAVEL PROOFING YOUR HEALTH GAME

1) Plan your location ahead of time: 

Weekend Crew: if you are the one inviting friends to an event, find a place with as many healthy options as possible. I love hosting and planning events, so always select places that let me load up on my greens and have good vegetarian options and big salads. If you’re the invited,  consult the Oracle aka google and look up the menu in advanced so you can better plan what you’ll eat. This helps you stick with your resolve to eat clean.

Wanderlusting Boo’s: make sure your hotel is near markets, healthy restaurants or grocery stores that give you a wider variety of healthy food options. Sounds like a lot of extra effort? It’s really not; you have to look up locations anyway, so it’s worth googling “organic market near ____”

→ TIP: book a place on VRBO or Airbnb that has a kitchen. If you make the majority of your meals, you cut costs AND you stay in control of your health game.

 

2) Fill up on green smoothies and juices throughout the day and before dining out.

Weekend crew: before you dine out, make a green smoothie or green juice and draaaaank! Not only will you be fuller, but your body won’t be prone randomly eating everything in sight because you gave it NUTRIENTS. Nutrients stave off cravings, which are usually the body’s way of telling us it needs better or more fuel for energy.

Wanderlusting Boo’s: most cities have cold pressed green juices or juice cafes; if you can’t find any, make sure you load up on green fibers at the start of every meal and carry around veggies as a snack to much on; make it a goal to eat healthy and then indulge, so that way your body is getting precious nutrients and fiber. I always bring my blender with me to make green smoothies. Part of what makes us feel like crap when we travel is we eat out. A lot. Like, all the freaking time. Most restaurants cook everything and know the majority of customers won’t be excited about kale, but they’ll go gaga for pasta. Guess what’s on the menu? Yup. Pasta. Guess what your body can’t function too terribly well on? Sadly, pasta. Eat the damn delicious pasta, but give your body what it needs first.

3) Workouts: don’t leave home without them. 

Weekend crew: eat the frog. Bite the bullet. Just do it. Get you workout crossed off the list right away…you’ll feel so proud of yourself, you’ll pat yourself on the back. A mere hour or two out of your weekend will make you feel SO DAMN GOOD. Butdoyouevenliftbrah?

Wanderlusting boo’s: whenever I travel, I find a yoga studio or fitness center and get a mini-multi class pass. A workout is an hour or so of my time…it’s not too hard to fit in. It’s just not very much fun; it feels like the opposite of vacation, right? But we take our lifestyle with us wherever we go! A vacation last a little while, but good health choices last even longer. I will also readily admit that when I’m on a shorter vacation, I spend less time working out than I normally do. Another perfect option to working out while traveling is to run. No equipment needed! It’s also an amazing way to take in wherever you’re visiting.

→ TIP: There are a plethora of workout apps out there or even DVD’s you can bring with you. I like the Cody App (nope, not sponsered to say this ALTHOUGH….I should be). Lastly, you can pack jump ropes for a great HIIT workout thats easy to bring with you wherever you go. Can’t find a yoga studio or app you like? 5 Sun Salutations A + B counts in the Ashtanga world as a full practice. You get a good workout in and stay flexible.

 

4) Stay rested.

TUCK YO’SELF IN! Here’s a super boring tip brought to you by childhood bedtime rituals everywhere! When we are rested, our bodies look, feel, and function so well. Unless you’re like, 20 years old, in which case, almost everyone hates you and is jealous of your youth and vitality, try to maintain a fairly balances schedule of fun and rest. The plus: you’ll have the energy you need to really soak up every moment of fun, and you will stave off illnesses.

Oh, and most importantly, make memories from ordinary days. Have an amazing time, and be extra loving and patient to the people you’re spending your time with. Mental health is as precious—if not more so—than physical health. Weekends and trips are about rejuvenating the mind and soul. Make sure to take time for you, and do the things that make you come alive! Much love!