When you live life on-the-go, it becomes quite difficult to keep up with the other things in your life, whether that be your relationships, your favorite TV shows, or your home.
However, even if you do live constantly on the run, there are some things that you shouldn’t sacrifice, such as your mental and physical health, although this is most often much easier said than done. A lack of facilities, or a lack of awareness about the options available, often leads us to forgo things that are too important to our overall well being, such as our diet, our exercise habits, our mental focus, etc.
To prevent this from happening, and to ensure you stay fit and healthy even when on-the-go, use these tips and tricks.
Walk As Much as Possible
One really easy way to keep up with your fitness when you’re on the go is to force yourself to walk places. This is really easy if you spend most of your time running around a bigger city where driving and public transportation can be slow and uncomfortable.
Plan to walk to meetings and other events wherever possible, even if it takes you a little longer to do so; the added physical activity will go a long way towards improving your overall health.
If you still need to drive to places, another thing you can do is park further away to wherever you’re going. Again, this means it might take you a bit longer to get places, but it’s worth it for the exercise.
You can also always choose to take the stairs when you enter buildings, which will give you a nice bit of fitness while also getting you to where you need to go.
For those who simply can’t do this, then try to plan a walk into your day in some other way. For example, if you’re traveling for work in a new city, find a park you can stroll through in the afternoon. This will not only give you the chance to see the city outside of whatever work functions you are attending, but it will also give you some much-needed exercise as well as some time away from work and other stressors.
No matter which route you choose, you may want to consider using some sort of fitness technology, whether it be wearable tech like the Fitbit or the Apple Health app, to track your steps and help you set goals. You can also configure these tools to give you updates and reminders so that your health and fitness stay on your mind even when you’re on-the-go,.
National Gym Memberships
If walking in the park or to meetings doesn’t interest you, or isn’t possible, then consider signing up for a national gym, such as Planet Fitness or the YMCA. This way, when you travel to a new city, or when you’re out and about in your own city, you don’t need to worry about making it back to “your” gym; you can simply find the one that is closest to you, or that is most convenient, and get your workout in when it makes the most sense for you.
This is especially useful for those who travel and stay in hotels, as hotel gyms tend to close early and often have rather limited facilities.
Pack Food
When we’re on-the-go, or traveling, one of the first things we overlook is our diet. Eating, while critical to life, is often considered to be a nuisance, a time waster, and when we take this perspective, we opt for junk food and other quick options that are usually high in sugar or fat or both.
However, fighting the urge to eat poorly can be difficult when you’re on-the-run because you often don’t have any other options. And for most of us, if it come down to eating a greasy cheeseburger or going hungry, we will choose the greasy hamburger.
Prevent this by making sure you’re always prepared with some sort of healthy snack, whether that be a piece of fruit, nuts, granola, cereal, yogurt, etc. You could also go one step further and meal prep on one day of the week so that you always have something healthy and nutritious to take with you.
These options are easy to carry with you and they are actually good for you. They will help tide you over while you’re on the go and fight the temptation that comes from all the fast food that’s out there, making it easier for you to carry out a healthy lifestyle.
Take Breaks
Living life on-the-go, takes up a lot of your time, as you most likely know. And while this can be good as it will make your days move by more quickly, if you don’t take some time during the day to rest your mind and body, you will burn out, and this can have catastrophic consequences on not only your ability to do your job but also on your mental and physical health.
As a result, make sure to carve some time out during your day to stop and regroup. Find a coffee shop where you can sit and sip an espresso, or a park bench you can hang out and listen to some music for fifteen minutes, or a quiet bookstore, and build these stops into your day so that you can have a little time for yourself while leading your busy life.
This will help make your day feel less stressful, and this is ideal, as the negative impacts of stress on your health can be quite severe.
Meditate During Short Breaks
To take things a step further, consider building some meditation into these breaks. Meditation has been scientifically proven to help reduce stress, and it has also been shown to help rewire your brain so that it’s better able to deal with the ups and downs of a busy lifestyle.
Never tried mediation before? Don’t worry. It’s pretty easy. At it’s simplest, all you need to do is sit down somewhere and try to calm your mind and concentrate on one thing, such as a mantra or an image, for a period of ten to fifteen minutes, and allow the thoughts that come up in your mind to pass by without engaging with them.
There are also tons of resources out there, such as guided meditation apps, that will walk you through everything you need to know about meditation and help you find a practice that not only works for you but that you can easily build into the rest of your busy day.
Drink Plenty of Fluids and Limit Alcohol
By living an active, busy lifestyle, you run the risk of dehydrating yourself, which can slow you down at best and put you in the hospital at worst. \
One thing to remember, though, is that to stay hydrated you need to drink more than just water, especially if you’re sweating a lot. This is because when you sweat you’re losing water but also important electrolytes that are necessary for your body to function correctly. So, when you get low, consider drinking something that has some sodium, sugar, and the other minerals your body needs to stay at its best.
And lastly, a life on-the-go, can often lead you to many different watering holes, either for pleasure or as a part of your job. A few drinks here and there isn’t the end of the world, but it’s no secret that alcohol is bad for you.
Make sure you’re alternating water in between each drinks, and don’t overdo it. If you’re in social settings where drinking is normal, opt for a club soda and lime instead. Most people won’t care that you’re holding back, but this way you can choose the healthy approach without being in people’s face about it.
Stay Healthy No Matter Where You Are
In truth, staying healthy while on-the-go can be a challenge. But it’s also difficult even when you’re stationed in one spot, which is why it’s so important to develop healthy habits. These will go with you no matter where you are and, if they’re ingrained in your daily routine, will make it easier for you to prioritize your health and make the choices you need to make to ensure your caring for yourself even as you run around and tend to your busy life
