Travel Archives - 12 Minute Athlete

How to Work Out in a Hotel Room

One of the most common excuses people have for skipping their workouts is because they’re traveling or away from home.

And yes, there’s no doubt that being away from your regular routine can mess with your motivation levels. Yet as I like to mention often, you can always get in a good workout—no matter where you are or how little equipment you have available.

True, it may not be the same type of workout you’d do if you had access to a pull up bar, sandbag, and a bunch of different kettlebells. But I will always be a firm believer that something is better than nothing—and that it is possible to get in a kickass workout, even if you’re in a hotel room.

MindBodyGreen recently published an article I wrote on exercises you can literally do anywhere, including a hotel room. If you missed it, make sure to check it out here!

And here’s my best advice on how to work out in a hotel room:

7 Health and Fitness Items I Never Travel Without

Aside from health and fitness, one of my biggest passions in life is traveling. I spent two years after college living in Amsterdam (and traveling whenever possible), and still travel whenever I can for both work and play.

And while I used to never know how to work out or eat healthy while traveling, over the years I’ve slowly learned from mistakes and adopted habits that allow me to keep fit and healthy even when I’m out of my regular routine.

Aside from working out every single day (aside from a rest day, of course) and walking almost everywhere, I’ve also figured out several travel-friendly things I can bring with me when I’m away from home so that I never get stuck eating unhealthy food all day long or making excuses that I can’t work out.

Here are 7 health and fitness items I never travel without:

Food Logging: What I Eat in a Day (Travel Version)

These past couple of weeks, I was traveling around Europe, visiting Amsterdam (where I used to live), Cinque Terre, Italy, Cannes, and Nice, France.

While I’ve posted a food log of a typical day’s food intake before, I thought it might be interesting for some of you that travel often to see an example of what I might eat when away from home.

Keep in mind that though I do try and eat healthy as often as possible, I thoroughly believe in following the 80/20 rule in order to stay sane, especially while doing something extra special like visiting another country.

Because while it’s great to choose healthy choices whenever possible (lots of salads, veggies, protein-filled breakfasts, etc.), it really just isn’t always possible to eat 100% healthy when you’re away from your usual routine. But you know what? That’s perfectly OK. Life is meant to be enjoyed, and there’s zero point on missing out on delicious food when you’re someplace new or extra special.

In the long run, you’ll regret not eating the croissant, the fresh pesto pasta, the macaroon (or whatever the local specialty is) more than you’ll ever regret eating it.

Because as long as you’re still active, make it a priority to work out consistently, and try and walk as much as possible, you probably won’t even put on much extra body fat (unless, of course, it’s over a long period of time). Life is meant to be enjoyed, after all.

Eating Healthy While Traveling: It’s Not As Hard As You Think

Over the holidays this year, I traveled for pretty much three and a half weeks straight with only a day or two in between each trip.

And although I love to travel, every time I take a trip I quickly become aware of how much harder it is to maintain my healthy eating habits and keep up my regular workouts than it is when I’m in my normal routine at home.

In fact, traveling is one of the main reasons people give for not sticking to their normal healthy eating or fitness habits.

And while I’ll certainly admit it’s harder to eat healthy while you’re on the road, it’s not impossible. Here’s how to keep eating healthy even when you’re traveling, working a lot, or just don’t have access to your normal healthy foods:

Pack food to take with you

Whenever I travel, no matter where I’m going, I bring an embarrassing amount of food with me.

That picture at the beginning of this article? Those were just some of the food items I brought on my recent trip to Las Vegas for a blogging conference. In no particular order of importance, the items are:

Bodyweight Training: How to Get in Incredible Shape With Zero Equipment

Most people think that the only way to get the fit, strong body they want is to work out with machines or heavy weights.

But most people are wrong.

Because here’s the thing: the popularity of training equipment mostly comes down to marketing. Fitness companies need to have something to sell you, so they sell you on machines, fancy gadgets, and complicated systems.

Sure, weights and a few pieces of uncomplicated equipment like plyometric boxes, kettlebells and medicine balls can be useful tools to propel you to the fitness level you want. But the truth is that you don’t need any of these to get into incredible shape.

Because the simplest and most effective way to develop strength, gain endurance and lose fat is to train using nothing more than your own body.

Read more

Free eBook: HIIT on the Go Travel Workouts You Can Do Anywhere

I don’t know about you…

But I used to find it nearly impossible to stay in shape when I traveled.

I’d bring my workout gear with good intentions of actually using it, but it would inevitably never actually make it out of the bottom of my suitcase.

And while the 12 Minute Athlete workouts are perfect for traveling, sometimes you just don’t have access to any workout equipment—or even an internet connection to check out the newest workout on the site.

That’s why I created HIIT on the Go: 10 Quick and Insanely Effective Workouts You Can Do Anywhere.

Because traveling doesn’t have to mean getting out of shape.

Work out anywhere, anytime

HIIT on the Go is a resource filled with incredibly effective, insanely awesome workouts that you can do while traveling—whether all you have is a crappy cramped gym, a nearby park, or even just a tiny hotel room.

Get HIIT on the Go (40 pages), and you’ll get:

Why the 12 Minute Athlete Workouts are Perfect for Traveling

It’s happens to everyone…

You keep a perfect workout schedule when you’re at home, never missing a day. But then one day, you go on vacation or travel for work and bam—all your hard work falls apart.

Because while you might pack your workout clothes with good intention to use the hotel gym, they never actually make it out of the bottom of your suitcase.

And before you know it, you’ve stopped exercising at all, completely abandoning your usual health routine. You start eating all the local foods, drink a little more than usual, and rather than walking, splurge and get a cab (it is vacation after all).

Soon enough, your pants start fitting tighter, your energy levels drop, and your motivation goes way down—you’re back to square one. And worst of all, it’s not so easy to get back to being healthy when you get home.

But that’s where the 12 Minute Athlete workouts come in.

Here’s why they’re the best way to motivate yourself to work out when you’re traveling:

How to Keep Fit When All You Have is a Hotel Room

It’s no secret that most people use traveling as an excuse to not work out.

They assume that just because they don’t have access to a gym or fancy exercise equipment, there’s no point in even trying to keep fit.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Because despite what you may think, you can actually get a really good workout when you’re traveling—even if all you have is a hotel room as your gym.

And best of all, you won’t have to spend an hour a day of your vacation exercising—or shell out $20 for a day pass at an expensive gym.

All you need is a hotel room—and determination

I used to always use traveling as an excuse not to exercise—even on long European vacations filled with French pastries and German beer.

And even though I’d end up walking a ton every time I traveled, I never did a single push up or lifted even one weight. As a result, I’d end up losing much of the hard work I’d put in before my trip… and have to start from the beginning when I got back home.

So a few years ago, I changed my stance on exercise while traveling, and now I work out just as I would normally, albeit with a little less equipment or space.

Healthy On-the-Go Snacks You Can Take With You Anywhere

Are you food obsessed?

Don’t feel bad answering yes (most people are, to some degree).

I am, and I’m not afraid to admit it. I think about food constantly. Just ask my husband — I’ll be finishing breakfast, lunch, or a mid-afternoon snack when I’ll suddenly ask him, “so, what should we have for dinner?”

I can attribute this food obsession to three things:

1. Low blood sugar.

Being hypoglycemic means I need food often.

In fact, if I don’t eat every two to four hours, I get dizzy, light headed, and CRANKY. Anyone who knows me knows that if I say I’m hungry, I need food right now.

2. Being vegetarian.

Especially as a kid, there weren’t many options available to vegetarians outside of making your own meals.

At restaurants, all I’d often be able to eat was salad and bread. At friends’ houses, the parents would often try to shove meat down my throat, disbelieving that a child could make her own decision about what she puts into her body.

As a result, I developed a slight (or maybe not so slight) anxiety about getting enough substantial food.