Travel Tuesday: Fitness + Wellness
Hopefully by now you’ve noticed that I’m pretty into staying healthy. Now, don’t get me wrong - I love my broccoli with a side of Cheetos, and I will just as soon sit in bed watching Netflix as get up early for yoga. But I’ve noticed that I feel so, so much better when I make my health a priority.I also happen to travel quite a bit. I spend around 15 weeks a year on the road for my job (with 8 of them consecutive in the fall), and it can be hard to keep my routine going with a schedule like that. Especially when I don’t get to eat lunch until 2 pm, and there are plentiful cookies before evening events. So, here’s what I’ve found useful:Bring your normal exercise routine with you. This could be as simple as doing a YouTube workout in your hotel room, or bringing a pair of sneakers with you to take a walk. There are also a lot of exercise chains where you can use your membership in multiple locations. If you're resourceful and flexible there are a lot of fun ways to work out on the road - here are a few of my tried-and-true favorites:
- I love Cassey Ho’s PIIT/Blogilates videos. There are a lot of workout videos available on the "Videos" section of the Blogilates website, and many of them can be done with no equipment.
- ClassPass can be used in any of their metro locations. My membership is based in Nashville but I've also used it in Atlanta, San Diego, and the Chicagoland area. I have the 5 class per month package but you can tailor your package based on how many classes you plan to take. The only catch is that you can visit a brand of studio a limited number of times per month, so this is great for someone who loves to try new places. If you sign up using my link, we'll both get a $30 credit toward our memberships through their referral program - and then if you refer people with your own link you'll get credits too!!
- Studios like CorePower often have membership passes that you can use at any studio.
- CorePower: Black Tag membership
- Hot Yoga Plus (TN studio): Preferred Plus membership - this gives you access to all of their locations in TN plus some other perks
- If you travel to one place for an extended amount of time, find a few workout studios you want to try and take advantage of any new client specials they have. Lots of places have unlimited week/2 week/month memberships at a very discounted rate for new members. Here are a few examples I've noticed just here in Nashville.
- Hot Yoga of East Nashville - 10 classes for $20
- Neighborhood Barre - 2 classes for $15
- The Dailey Method - Visiting Music City 3 pack: 3 classes for $45
- KrankFIT - 2 classes for $15
- Pure Barre - 1 month unlimited for $100
- Shakti Power Flow - All community classes are $5 drop-in classes
- CycleBar - First class free
- Inner Light Yoga - 2 weeks unlimited for $40
- CorePower Yoga - First week free
It's also a great idea to search Groupon for the area you'll be traveling since you can get some amazing deals there!
Embrace your surroundings. When I go to Chicago, which is a much more walkable city than Nashville that I know well, you will rarely catch me in a car or public transit. I embrace the chance to walk everywhere there, especially when I’m there during fair weather months! For example, on my last trip up there I tried two new workout studios in River North (Studio Three and CorePower which were both amazing), and I was staying in The Loop. It was a little over a mile walk to each of these studios, but what a great chance to enjoy the sunshine and get some steps in after sitting in the car and the airport a lot that week!
Remember, the food will always be there. If you’ve been here before you also know I am a food hoarder. I am fortunate to be in a situation where I don’t need to worry about where my next meal will come from...but you would never know that based on how I act around free food. This also stems from knowing I need to eat regularly to keep my migraines at bay, but that often means I’m chowing down on way more cookies than I should. Stock up on healthy options at the beginning of your trip to combat this. I love going to Whole Foods and grabbing some apples and minimally processed bars to have on hand. And say no to the cookies (or french fries, or pizza) whenever you’re not REALLY feeling it - chances are they won’t be as good as you imagined!What do you do to stay healthy and fit on the road? Anything I missed?