by Leah Munday

For the month of October, we launched our women’s health awareness campaign, What’s Your Game Plan? We encouraged women to have a game plan to defend against breast, cervical and colon cancer by taking 4 easy steps: know your body, check your family history, get screened and help fight cancer early, and make healthy choices. As October comes to an end, we hope you will keep your game plan in mind - at home and away!

To make healthy choices while travelling, a game plan is a great idea. Who better to give us tips on doing this than Leah Munday, owner of OTfit as well as health and wellness contributor to Vancouver-based TripStyler.com – a travel lifestyle website providing daily trip style tips to aspiring jetsetters.

At Trip Styler, we choose to write a regular column about staying healthy on the road, because we believe in taking care of ourselves every day, whether at home or away. Healthy living isn’t just about exercise, it’s about making healthy lifestyle choices and treating yourself, others, and the environment well. Physical activity, balanced nutrition, and healthy thoughts/feelings are key components to living well.

You may already have, or be in the process of, adopting healthy lifestyle habits. Unfortunately, travelling has the potential to hinder our best efforts. On holiday, it’s tempting to toss aside our good habits with the rest of our daily routine. Your vacation destination may have a state of the art gym, or be within minutes of incredible walking paths, but without a game plan, there’s a good chance your sneakers won’t be laced up—or even packed, for that matter!

Here are some tips to help you prepare for a vacation which returns you home feeling refreshed and rejuvenated:

Do
Do something physically active every day. Pace, intensity or activity type, it’s all up to you, just do what appeals most to you and get moving! It will lift your mood, reduce your stress and improve your sleep to name just a few of the many benefits.

List
Before setting off on your next trip, make a list of activities you could do at your destination. The goal is to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate activity each day you are away, and then pack/plan accordingly. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Walk whenever you can. You will need more than flip flops, so pack your sneakers!
- Purchase a pedometer before you go and be conscious of gathering the recommended number of daily steps (10,000) over the course of your day (no need to do anything more).
- Choose excursions which involve physical activity.

Be Mindful
Be mindful of what you consume:
- Drink 8-10 glasses of water per day. Bring a water bottle and don’t forget to empty it before security!
- Pack snacks. I recommend packing nutritional bars with approximately 200 calories, fewer than 25 grams of sugar and at least 10 grams of protein. My favourite bar at the moment is Vega’s Whole Food Energy Bar. These are perfect for snacking on between meals.
- Eat a balanced breakfast (in a pinch, nutrition bars can be handy here too).
- When facing a buffet (think all-inclusive resorts and cruises), choose a smaller plate and fill half your plate with vegetables, a quarter with grain products and a quarter with meat or alternatives.

Time Out
Take time out to calm your mind. Emotional and spiritual wellness are very personal matters, but travelling can present some amazing opportunities for reflection and renewal. Wherever you find renewal, try going there for at least 20 minutes each day you are away. These 20 minutes will have a huge impact on every other hour of your trip, including your sleep. Consider bringing a journal to record some of your thoughts and reflections.

If your next trip involves a game plan that includes physical activity, healthy eating and mindfulness, you will be better equipped to handle the daily challenges waiting to greet you when the trip is over. Keep these habits up when you get home and your overall health will soar!

Looking for more great advice to stay healthy while jetsetting? Check out our interview with Trish Friesen, Editor-In-Chief of TripStyler.com!