• Hotel Fitness Center: When I book a hotel, I make sure it has a good fitness center. Even the crappier ones have at least a treadmill and some free weights. Get creative. My favorite way to work out, whether I’m traveling or at home, is with online workout videos from FitnessBlender. I just bring my cell phone with me and play the video that way. You can even do it in your room without even going to the gym.

• Walk, Walk, Walk:This is easier to do if you’re in a walk-able city or town, but look for ways to incorporate more walking into your days. For example the more water you drink, the more you’ll have to walk to the bathroom. Skip the elevator and use the stairs instead. I like pacing around the airport going into different terminals before I have to board.

• Keep the Blood Flowing: Sitting down for long periods of time can impair your circulation. To keep your blood flowing, which keeps your fat burn at its peak, get up and move around if you’ve been sitting more than 90 minutes at a time. Walk around a little, stretch, and try legs up wall! You lie on your back with your sit-bones as close to the wall as is comfortable for you. Extend your legs up the wall, so that the backs of your legs are resting fully against it. It relieves tired leg muscles, get the blood flowing, calms the nervous system and mind, helps regulate blood pressure, move stuck fluids, and even helps to improve your digestion. Doing yoga is also good to get things flowing. Use a towel as a yoga mat in your hotel room.

Stay Hydrated
This is especially important when your travel includes an airplane. Cabins have much less moisture in the air than we are used to, so we’re more prone to dehydration. Once you get to the point of dehydration, you may experience symptoms like headaches, muscle cramps, fatigue, and reduced concentration. Water and organic herbal teas are great ways to keep you going.

If you are prone to upset stomachs or nausea, bring along some ginger or chamomile tea. When traveling by car, bring lots of bottles of water and/or coconut water. I love adding drops of essential oils in mine for some natural and yummy flavor (orange is my favorite). Seltzer water is good too, add a squirt of lime or lemon juice for some Vitamin C. Blender bottles are awesome for getting liquids into your system, but also can double for a snack too. On a plane, when the drink cart rolls by, skip the dehydrating coffee and alcohol and sugary sodas and juices, and ask for a water.

Another plane tip: The air inside the plane cabin can do a number on your skin, causing it to become dry, flaky, and itchy. You can hydrate your skin from the inside by drinking plenty of water and also from the outside by applying a moisturizer to your face, hands, and any exposed skin.

Bring Your Own
Unless you are bringing along your own personal chef, when you get hungry you’ll probably have to remind yourself not to give in to the temptations of vending machines, fast food joints, and the piles of pastries around the breakfast buffet. Though it does take some time, some up-front prep work, bringing your own snacks/food with you when you travel can lead to a much healthier trip and much less regrets when you get back home.

Here are some of my favorite BYO tips:

• Trail Mix. My favorite go-to snack while traveling. I bring a Ziploc filled with a variety of mixes of nuts and seeds and dried fruit…sometimes shredded coconut too (delish!) Lots of protein and fiber and some sugar from the fruit to give you a nice burst of energy. Mix and match different things, I like cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, pistachios, sunflower seeds, raisins, and golden berries. Top with a sprinkle of sea salt. I love to make my own granola too, you can buy it pre-made at the grocery store, but making it yourself lets you pick what goes in it! Here’s an awesome recipe.

• Quinoa Salad. Awesome airplane, car, or hotel friendly meal. They will fill you up without being heavy, and include enough protein and nutrients to keep you full and energized for hours. Start with some cooked quinoa, then add your favorite veggies like carrots, bell peppers, or cucumbers, some ghee or olive oil, and either apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. I love bringing an avocado to add on top too (open it when you’re ready to eat it so it doesn’t turn brown). Pack it into a Ziploc bag with a plastic spoon so you can toss it when you’re done.

• Chia Pudding. This is a fabulous snack or breakfast to have whether you’re traveling, at the office, or just hanging out at home. It takes next to no time to prep, and has lots of beneficial health benefits too. There are lots of ways to mix it up and add different mix-ins and flavorings too. Here is my favorite recipe!

• Flax Seed Crackers. These crackers are the perfect thing to tide you over until your next meal when you’re away from home. In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups of ground flaxseed with 3/4 – 1 cup of water (start with less and add more as needed to make a workable dough), 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon onion powder until an even dough forms. Spread it evenly onto a parchment lined baking sheet so it’s about 1/8-1/4″ thick. Gently cut the dough into squares with a pizza cutter or butter knife. Bake 20-30 minutes in a 400 degree oven until crisp and edges are browned but not burnt. Let cool completely before bagging up. I like putting almond butter on mine! Rice cakes, crackers, or homemade granola bars are a good substitute to bring along too.

• Breakfast Alternatives. Eating a healthy breakfast can be tricky on the road. If you’re staying at a hotel, breakfast buffets are filled with tempting sugary pastries, giant waffle-makers, super processed and empty carb filled cereals, and toast. Those might keep you full short term, but they won’t for long. Plus all of that sugar is bound to zap your energy.

I love bringing a Ziploc with some gluten-free oatmeal and add my mix-ins to it, or grab a banana from that buffet and add some almond butter to it (I buy these, great for travel), or I make my own smoothie! It’s totally possible in a hotel. I bring my Shake ‘n Take mini blender (also great to keep at your desk at work) and request a fridge get sent to my room. On my drive in, I pick up some almond milk and store it there. I add to it a pre-packed from home Ziploc of protein powder, cacao powder, flax/chia seeds, and grass-fed gelatin, and a banana. Blend it up and I’m all set for hours!

• Plan for Temptation. If you know where you are traveling to there will be temptation of foods you could easily devour but know you shouldn’t and would feel bad about eating it afterwards, plan ahead. Bring your own healthy treats to have at the time of temptation. For me, whenever I travel for work and sit in long meetings, they always put candy out on the table to keep people happy. Instead of eating that, I pull out something like my raw chocolate brownie bites or a homemade chocolate bar and eat those instead.

Not exactly BYO but in the same category of temptation, if you go to a bar or restaurant and want to enjoy yourself with some alcoholic drinks, look for healthier options. I have 2 “signature go-to’s” I order when I’m out that are low in calories and won’t dehydrate you as much as other drinks. The first is a any flavored vodka with soda water (grape is my favorite, but bonus points if they have organic vodka). The second is rum with soda water and a splash of pineapple juice.

• Pre-Sliced Produce. It’s important to keep dosing your body with nutrients to keep your immune system in top notch shape. When I’m looking for a healthy, fresh snack, I pull out bags of my pre-sliced (at home) produce. I cut things like carrots, jicama, celery, bell peppers, and cucumbers into strips and eat either plain or with a dip – depending on my travel situation. For fruits, bananas are easy to pack, but I also like to pre-slice apples, pears, or bring baggies of berries (raspberries are my favorite).

• Salad/Oatmeal Mix-Ins. When you find yourself out to eat staring at a menu of questionable choices, stick with a salad. Ask for a plate piled high with lettuce and veggies, topped with some type of lean protein (like fish or chicken or beans). Request dressing on the side, and stick to oil-based options, like oil/vinegar or a vinaigrette. I love bringing a baggie with some yummy Omega-3-filled toppings to sprinkle over it at the table, like hemp, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, slivered almonds, or craisins.

• Pre-Packaged Snacks. If you don’t have time or want to make snacks to travel with, there are lots of healthy pre-packaged snacks you can pick up at the grocery store or order online to bring with you. Some of my favorites are Macrogreens bars, Green Superfood Bars, Active Greens Bars, NuGo Organic Bars, Spirulina Energy Bars, Lara Bars, toasted coconut chips, granola, plantain chips, and a favorite of my husband’s: beef jerky.

Keep Your Immune System Strong
There are a few different ways I do this while traveling. Better to go at it from all angles right?! The first thing I do is pack and take a probiotic. This is the type I take: (Bio Kult. It’s good to mix it up and rotate between a few good brands since they all carry different strands. Did you know 80% of our immune system is located in our gut? That’s why probiotics are so important to take! Plus as a bonus, they’ll help to keep you ‘regular.’

Another way I keep my immune system strong when I’m away from home is using essential oils. They are one of nature’s best kept secrets! Rather than blast-spraying my hotel room or wiping down my airplane tray/seat belt with endocrine-disrupting disinfecting chemicals, I turn to oils.

High quality essential oils are a very effective and very safe way to keep your air and surfaces clean. I use the blend of oils called OnGuard by a high-quality brand as my primary go-to for killing germs/bacteria, as they are antimicrobial and work as disinfectants. I put some on my hands and rub them together, on the bottoms of my feet, and some in a spray bottles with water and spray all surfaces. I also use lemon essential oil for a vitamin C boost (put a drop in my water). Lavender is also a good one to bring to help you stay calm and peaceful despite the stress of traveling.

Don’t forget: wash your hands with soap often (not Purell!).

Sleep Well at Night
Having solid sleep sessions at night will help keep you healthy in so many ways. People who get 7 hours of sleep a night or less were almost 3x as likely to get sick as people who get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. Trouble remembering what time your meetings start in the morning? Or what is on your agenda for fun things to do tomorrow? Studies have shown that while we sleep, our brains process and consolidate our thoughts and memories from the day. If you don’t get enough sleep, it seems like those memories might not get stored correctly and can be lost.

I find that using lavender essential oil on my pillow and a sound machine to help block out outside noise helps me a lot. Sleep masks are also good. If you don’t have a sound machine or don’t want to pack one, there are lots of free apps (Android: Relax Melodies Meditation, Lightning Bug, Chroma Doze, White Noise; iPhone: White Noise, iRelax Melodies, aSleep).

Be Flexible
So I just gave you a LOT of tips. It’s really hard to do them all perfectly, and that’s OK! Things don’t always go the way we want them to when we’re traveling anyway. From delayed or canceled flights to mix-ups at the hotel to bad food experiences…you get the point. Don’t forget about the 80/20 rule — it’s especially important while traveling. If you’re starving and feel shaky and agitated (“h-angry”) because you haven’t eaten, but there’s no back up snacks in your bag and all you see is vending machines, sometimes it’s better to go ahead and eat anyways so you’re not miserable. Along the same lines, though you may not have time for your full exercise routine, even doing 15–20 minutes of activity will often make a big difference in how you feel that day.

I hope these tips help you to stay sane and healthy during your next trip! Now I’d like to hear from you. What are your top tips for staying healthy while traveling?