Summer Travel & How to be Healthy

Summer Traveling offers  all sorts of adventures in new sights, new foods, and new treats and then the not so new weight gain.  As we travel, we venture into new areas of the world and find new foods, wonderful fruits, vegetables, local delights that tempt us and rightfully so!  How do we enjoy both and come out healthy at the end of Summer?

Traveling affords many occasions for working out. Keep moving, that is the key to the Summer Travel Dilemma.   Think about it:  Hotel corridors, city streets (use your common sense in a new city), and parks, fitness centers, walking trails and jogging in place offer alternative places for walking.   Don’t just sit there!

Sitting for long periods in not good for your circulation and adds to that “fatigued feeling “ we often experience.  Moderate exercise keeps your spirits up along with your weight down. Remember 30 minutes at a minimum for adults and 60 minutes a day for children will keep you feeling refreshed and ready to take on your travels.

Travel by airplane brings new opportunities!  At the airports, with the need for early arrival, there is usually a long wait period between arrival at the airport and the plane departing.  Once I have cleared security, I find my gate, then walk up and down the concourse in that area.   Since I have a rolling travel bag along with a large (really large) purse I use for traveling, I attach the purse to the handle of the rolling bag and off I go!  Never leave a bag sitting unattended at an airport!  Getting in a 30 to 45 minutes of walking, pulling the rolling bag with purse is a good bit of exercise.

Once on the airplane, I make several trips up and down the aisles to get some exercise while in the air.  I also do some stretching while seated.   I remove my shoes, then lift my toes towards the ceiling while my heels are on the floor.  Bringing my knees up toward my chest, while keeping my toes on the floor, is good too.  Rolling my shoulders forward and back, then stretching my arms forward and up also helps.  You can repeat these several times during your flight to add to your circulation.   Drink lots of water and avoid caffeine while flying as caffeine adds to the dryness you already experience on a plane.  NWA, North West Airlines, has several good exercises to follow on their site.