Staying fit and healthy on a business trip can be the hardest part of your stay. Avoiding fatigue, eating well and missing home are things that are nearly impossible to avoid.
You’re travelling at odd hours, jet lag can send even the most seasoned traveller completely loopy. You’re going to bed in one time zone and waking up in another, expected to be on the ball for the day ahead.
You might not be eating enough or at the right times, or perhaps you’re eating too much. If every business meeting is over a three-course dinner or lunch, are you strong enough to choose the salad and skip dessert? Do you go for the muesli at breakfast instead of the full fry up?
How will you ever find the time to have a workout whilst you travel?
So how do you stay healthy on each and every business trip? How do you stay awake, eat healthy, work out and generally keep yourself feeling good? Here are some tips to help you get started.
1. Watch what you eat
This is a pretty hard thing to do. You’ll probably be eating out at nice restaurants, either treating your customers or being treated by suppliers to a nice meal.
On the other hand, you may be rushing from airport to hotel with only enough time to run into KFC or McDonalds to grab some saturated fat.
You don’t necessarily need to hold back. Just plan better. If you’re having a big dinner, have a smaller lunch, if you’ve had a burger one meal, have a salad for the next.
2. Drink water
Being hydrated on every leg of your journey is vital and water is always the best hydrator. It also removes toxins from the body, keeps you cool and keeps your skin in fresh condition.
Water can also help you lose weight and stops you getting tired. With so many benefits why aren’t we all drinking lots of water, all the time?
Simply because it’s dull. Yes, it’s the least tasty of all possible options but try your hardest to consume as much as you can.
3. Work out
Whenever you possibly can, make time for a workout. With such a compact and tight schedule this is going to be one of the harder things to achieve. When you’re tired, the last thing you want to do is work out.
Healthy eating and regular exercise are the key to a healthy lifestyle. Just because you’re on a business trip it doesn’t mean this isn’t true.
4. Stay in furnished apartments
Why stay in a cramped hotel when corporate housing can offer you all the luxuries of home?
How much easier is it to eat healthier if you’re able to prepare meals in your very own kitchen?
How much easier is it to work out if you’re in an apartment with its own in-house gym?
How much easier is it to relax when you have your own lounge and don’t have to sit on the bed?
5. Limit alcohol
Although alcohol has become far less prevalent in the workplace in recent years, during a business trip this seems to all go out of the window! It’s as if a foreign city means holiday!
Alcohol dehydrates you which makes you feel sluggish and fatigued. You’ve also got the increased possibility that you’ll say something you wished you hadn’t!
You don’t have to abstain completely. Set a drink limit at the start of the evening and stick to it.
6. Stay in touch
A healthy mind can lead to a healthy body, staying in touch with loved ones is incredibly important to our mental well being.
The options in modern life for connecting with your family are endless. Make time for them every day and ensure you can video call, especially if you have children to talk to.
Don’t forget to take pictures with you too, as well as other things to hang around your apartment to make it feel more like home.
7. Walk
The chances are, when you reach your accommodation, you’ll still need to travel to get from meeting to meeting. Renting a city centre apartment and walking or biking from one destination to the next could mean that you’re getting all of your exercise in without even having to try.
City centres are generally pretty compact and walking is often the quickest way to get from A to B anyway. It’s also the best way to really get to know a city, finding out where the cool restaurants and popular coffee shops are.
