I’m not a good judge to say this but I can’t think about anything that will take your mind off any sort of problems other than travel. Knowing new places and cultures getting lost and then find out that you just walked on circles for the last 30 minutes?
I can’t emphasize this enough how I believe it is important not just for our mind but also for our body know different cultures and places.
I don’t travel as often as I wish however I try to do go away at least 4-5 times a year to explore new places. Now imagine If every time I go away I decide to eat everything I want and drink everything I want? Probably would not affect me much but I would still be far away from my goals. If you spend 10 days eating and drinking like you are used to and not exercising you will definitely gain fat (read fat not weight, a lot of people lose weight and gain fat and others gain both)

I will try to give you a few easy tips that won’t change your trip plans, won’t make you worried about your diet and will help you have a great holiday!
I’ve already told you that I love exercicing and call me crazy but that won’t change when I’m on holidays, If I know I will spend most of the day laying on the beach, I will most likely go for a run in the morning and get this out of the way. I try to get a few push ups in, abs and squats on my hotel room and then I can start my day fresh and feeling absolutely amazing!

If my holidays are out in the cold and I will be freezing, I won’t go for a run as I will walk quite a lot visiting places which you would be surprise by the amount of walking you do when you travel (try to track your steps with an app – fitbit or mapmyrun ).
Now that was the exercising part…let’s talk about FOOD. Ohh the cuisine in another countries are just very tempting and it is a shame you resist them, correct? CORRECT! You will never know when you will be able to try that food again or go back to that place, so DO try!!
TIP: You don’t have to eat every ice cream on the menu, ask for a small scoop and try to split that throughout your trip, don’t eat all flavours in one day or even share a big scoop with your mate.

MOST IMPORTANT ONE: Be prepared for the airport wait! I might be a lot more prepared than most people are as I’m terrified of being hungry and not having something I like around , so no matter what time is my flight I always pack a meal and a snack (either rice cakes with peanut butter, or a protein bar, or nuts).

If you have breakfast included in your hotel and think like me – Oh My God, I have to stock up for the day , let’s eat everything! that is also ok, but just have your other meal later on when you start to feel hungry again, don’t do a 800kcal meal for breakfast and do another 800kcal 3x after that.

If you are going to a restaurant that serves bread before your meal maybe have one if it is worthy you know? Don’t waste your time (carbs) with stale and mushy breads.

If you are going to have a beer remember beer is not bad but try to have a lean source of protein with it and avoid potatoes, rice and pasta when drinking them. However, If you are drinking in moderation, having 2 glasses of wine and a bottle of beer , just have your meal as normal.

(In relation to alcohol consumption I will do a whole new post next week explaining the best and worst choices, so don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter on the bottom of my website to stay tuned)

Technology also helps: If you have a Gmail account you can login and save all the places you want to go on your phone in your MAPS app and use your gps with your phone on airplane mode (save battery!). You can save restaurants, museums, churches, night clubs, anything! This will save you time trying to find information and If you are a man and don’t like to ask for directions this is even better! Even though I have it on my map I love asking people directions! Just to be sure and talk a little bit!
What I like to do is search for restaurants on tripadvisor and save on my google maps app , so I know where to go and I don’t waste time trying to find a restaurant when I’m starving! (which happens a lot even though I have 10 restaurants marked I’m so undecided about which one to go…)

These are just a few tips I came up with that really help me stay on track while travelling. But If you have any questions , please feel free to email me at julia@masottinutrition.com.