TIPS FOR STAYING FIT WHILE TRAVELING

Quite often I’ve found my butt on an airplane, something I look forward to with the same enthusiasm as a dental appointment, traveling to and from various personal appearances. Since I do spokesmodel work for different companies, they fl y me around to fi tness, bodybuilding, and nutrition expositions to sign photos, answer workout/meal plan questions, and basically represent them to industry members and the general public. Usually these conventions are spaced apart throughout the year so they’re a nice break in my routine. Sometimes, though, they come in a schedule-shattering, cross-country cluster from Atlanta to Los Angeles. How do you stay in shape during such a hectic travel schedule? I’m sure this thought has entered the minds of more than a few of you frequent fl yers out there. It might also have passed right through them once you realized solving the dilemma requires a little bit of thought and planning. Fortunately, I can share my personal experiences in the form of a few tips to help you stay fi t while on the go. 

1. Prepare a Carry-On Meal for Your Travel Day

If you’re looking for lots of sodium, sugar, and saturated fat, airline food might be the way to go. I think the buttery sauce on the “sautéed chicken nasty” they almost served me one time could actually have equaled my daily allotment of fat grams. Add to that the salted peanuts coupled with the high glycemic piece of cake, and I’d be nicely bloated by landing time. Thanks to a little preplanning, however, I now bring plastic containers with a grilled chicken breast and mixed vegetables to keep me from resorting to airline cuisine.

On one fl ight I even heard an envious passenger a couple of rows behind me breathe a sigh of regret as he said to his seatmate, “That looks a heck of a lot better than what we got.” If you’re not into cooking, as I’m usually not, you can also simply pick up a healthful meal, like a chicken or turkey breast salad on pita, to go from the drive-through window of many popular fastfood restaurants. You’ll notice just about all the major franchises are now catering to fi tness folk with special high-protein, low-fat food options.

Bringing my own food on the plane has two benefi ts. First, it helps me stick to my nutrition plan. Second, it helps me mentally stay in control of the situation and keeps me focused right from the start that this trip doesn’t have to interfere with my fi tness program.

2. Make Sure Your Hotel Has a Gym

This one is very important. The fi rst thing I do when I get my itinerary is to call the hotel to make sure it has some sort of workout facility. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Just a lifecycle, elliptical trainer, or treadmill for my morning cardio and a multistation universal gym for some basic weight training suits me fi ne for short trips. I get to stay in the exercise mode while getting a break from my normal routine. Surprisingly, I sometimes return home in better shape, tighter and more defi ned, than when I left. Because I have a tendency to overtrain a bit, I guess this abbreviated travel routine gives my body a needed rest and my muscles a chance to fi ll out.

If your hotel doesn’t have a gym, like some of the no-frills ones I’ve been put in, you still have a couple of other training options. Number 1, check out local gyms, some of which usually have deals open to fi tness-oriented hotel guests. Ask someone at the front desk for details. Number 2, use your room. Remember, exercises using your own body weight, like push-ups and stomach crunches, can help you stay pumped and get blood fl owing to those working muscles. Of course, for cardiovascular activity there’s always walking and jogging. These are also great ways to see the area where you’re staying, a feat that’s otherwise diffi cult for me considering I’m stuck inside convention halls most of the day.

I’d also like to recommend that no matter what exercise you’re planning, make it a priority. Try to do a good portion of it fi rst thing in the morning to ensure you get it in. Too many times the days tend to get away from us when we’re traveling, and if we put off working out until the later hours, it often gets left out completely.

3. Eating Healthy While Traveling Is No More Diffi cult than Eating Poorly

If even the fast-food places offer low-fat, low-calorie food options, there’s no excuse for straying from your nutrition plan while you’re away. As I always say, eating well takes no more time than eating badly. It just requires that you take a moment to think about what you’re putting in your mouth. Stay in control by practicing some discipline, and you’ll thank yourself for it when you get home.

4. Don’t Forget Your Supplements

We’ve already established that traveling doesn’t have to translate into a vacation or deviation from our fi tness lifestyles. So if you’re currently using any supplements, there’s no reason not to bring them with you.

Following as much of your usual daily schedule as possible will help keep you in the fi tness mode while traveling so that by the time you return home, you might just be in even better shape than when you left.

DIETING TO BUILD PURE MUSCLE

Diet is probably the most fundamentalcomponent ofthe bodybuilder’smakeup. The foodyou eat becomes the fuel that allows you to perform heavy sets of muscle-building exercise, as well as becoming the primary fuel of your nervous system and brain. All mental functions, from choosing a biceps exercise to abstract philosophical contemplation, are fueled by what you put into your mouth. Because this aspect of bodybuilding is so fundamental, it can be broken down logically into some basic arithmetic. To start off, let’s conduct an elementary caloric analysis of human tissue. It’s a fact that a pound of human muscle tissue will yield about 600 calories when measured with a device known as a calorimeter, while a pound of fat will yield 3,500 calories. We will return to these numbers in a moment.

As a bodybuilder, you must strive to increase your percentage of organic muscle while simultaneously reducing your stores of bodyfat. The reward for success is a more functional and effi cient (not to mention well-chiseled) physique. Unfortunately, the average bodybuilder fi nds it nearly impossible to gain even ten pounds of solid muscle tissue in a year’s time, due largely to the person’s falling prey to the hype and outright B.S. that is propagated by most bodybuilding publications and that lines the pockets of more than a few gym owners and personal trainers.

Fortunately, to reach a solution to your nutritional problems, you needn’t try to sort through the dubious proclamations of the bodybuilding publishing industry (most representatives of which exist solely to sell you their products, but that’s another story entirely). Instead, you need look no further than the fi eld of nutritional science. You will quickly learn that all that is required in the course of a year to allow for ten pounds of muscle growth would be 600 (the number of calories in a pound of muscle) times 10 (the number of pounds of muscle growth stimulated in a year), or 6,000 extra calories a year over and above your present energy requirements.

SIX RULES FOR STICKING WITH A FITNESS PLAN

When it comes to long-term success, these six rules proved invaluable to me.

1. Make Fitness a Priority and Readjust Your Mind-Set

Everyone complains about time limitations. People justify not working out or eating healthy by saying, “I don’t have time.” If this is the case, you have to make time. It’s not that hard to do. Think of fi tness as a priority, something that you must fi t in, like going to work, eating, sleeping, or even using the bathroom.

It should be that much of a staple. Everyone has 24 hours in a day. That’s lot of time. What matters is how you fi ll those hours. Take a moment to list all of the things you’re doing now that you make time for and ask yourself how important they are to you and your happiness. Are they more important than improving your health and getting the body you want? More important than feeling better? When I used this simple technique, I couldn’t believe how many ridiculous, habitual things I was unknowingly fi lling my days with and putting ahead of my fi tness pursuits.

To further solidify your commitment to improving your body, take a page out of Oprah’s book. She wrote a contract with herself. I didn’t go that far. I just wrote down my short-term and long-term goals as well as what I to do to accomplish them. Writing things down just makes them seem more real.

2. Make It Real: Give Yourself Something Tangible to Focus On

The fact that you’re holding this book in your hands is a great start, both mentally and physically, to making fi tness a permanent part of your life. Mentally, it’s something you can see, feel, and touch, and it represents your commitment to putting ideas into practice. Most of us have amazing thoughts every day, but only a select few ever act on them. You’ll notice those few are usually the most successful.

Physically, Fitness Made Simple provides the exact time-conserving workout routine and nutritional meal plan thousands of women and men, including myself, have used to attain their fat-burning and lean musclebuilding goals. I’ve been told it’s like having a personal trainer on hand 24 hours a day providing you with the complete blueprint for creating a toned, defi ned physique. In just eight weeks this program helped me develop the tight six-pack of abs I’d always wanted but never was able to see before, despite years of trying.

This book isn’t the only way to make your goals tangible, of course. Joining a gym or buying inexpensive home exercise equipment like free weights and a bench are two more ways you can show commitment to your goal.

3. Take Photos

No matter how out of shape you think you are, take a “before” photo prior to beginning your workout regimen and additional snapshots every two weeks until you reach your goal. This practice can be nerve-racking, but nothing beats it when it comes to keeping your mind on your goal. It provides

a starting point and biweekly reminders of your progress. I fi nd it diffi cult to notice improvements on a day-to-day basis, which wreaks havoc on my motivation. When I compare periodic photos and notice the benefi ts of my efforts, however, I feel much more satisfi ed and strengthen my resolve.

4. Practice Nutritional Planning

“Good eating” takes no more time than “bad eating,” but it does require a small—and I emphasize small—amount of planning. This is why I suggest taking a few minutes one day and writing down all the foods you want to keep in your nutrition plan and then shopping for them one day each week. I also think it’s helpful to cook one day a week and refrigerate or freeze some meals for later in the week. 

For instance, since I love bulk discount stores like Costco and Sam’s Club, I get the jumbo chicken breast packages and cook two of them on Sundays, storing serving-size portions of the tasty morsels in my refrigerator for use throughout the week. When needed I take them out, add some brown rice or a sweet potato (previously cooked) and/or vegetables, pack this nutritious meal in a plastic container, and carry it with me to eat later in the day. This practice benefi ts both my muscle defi nition and my wallet when compared to the often pricey, sugarladen, and saturated-fat-fi lled fast-food fi xes I might have succumbed to.

Speaking of fast food, nowadays it can be a help rather than a hindrance in keeping our physiques lean and muscular. Just select healthy alternatives. As stated earlier, most major franchises offer low-fat fare, and it doesn’t take any more time to select the chicken breast salad combo over the bacon double cheeseburger or to opt for the chicken soft taco with sauce on the side instead of the deep-fried cheese tortilla. You can also carry convenient protein powders, meal replacements, and nutrition bars with you so you don’t fall victim to fast-food cravings. If you just think about what you’re putting into your mouth, eating on the go doesn’t have to translate into eating badly.

Planning what you want to eat and making smart choices when you’re eating out gives you control—and control will help you get the body you’ve been dreaming of.

5. Make Good Eating the Rule and Cheating the Exception I said it before and it bears repeating: as long as you eat “clean” by following your FMS nutrition plan the majority of the time, the truth is that one day of indulgence in most cases will have no lasting visible impact on the gains you’ve made over several weeks of good days.

6. Don’t Be Too Hard on Yourself

No one eats perfectly all the time, so don’t give up if you have a bad meal, a bad day, even a bad week. The same is true with exercise. There are going to be days when you may not feel like doing your A.M. cardio workout or lifting weights later. If that happens and you miss a day, don’t give up and tell yourself it’s hopeless. Just try to make progress the next day.

Once again, keep in mind that the fi rst few weeks of anything new can be diffi cult. You’re trying to change a lifetime of habits, and it can’t be done in a single day. It’s crucial to look at your new fi tness lifestyle as just that—a lifestyle. Trust that you are taking control of your life and changing it for the better. Look to the future with a sense of eagerness and excitement!

SAMPLE 7 DAY MEAL PLAN

MONDAY

Breakfast

Egg-white omelet with mixed

vegetables

Peanutty Oatmeal Cakes

Mid-Morning Snack

1 cup low-fat yogurt with nuts,

almonds, or fl ax meal

Lunch

Tuna Pita Delight

Mid-Afternoon Snack

Protein bar (any fl avor)

Handful of raw almonds or

raw mixed nuts

Dinner

Light and Tasty Turkey Loaf

Vegetable

Brown rice

Mixed salad with olive oil and

vinegar or fat-free, sugar-free

balsamic vinaigrette

Evening Snack

Protein Shake Fruit Freeze

TUESDAY

Breakfast

All-natural cereal with skim milk

100 percent whole-grain toast

with almond butter or

peanut butter

Mid-Morning Snack

Vanilla protein shake with half an

apple or half a banana

Lunch

Sliced turkey breast on

100 percent whole-grain bread

with a slice of avocado

Mid-Afternoon Snack

Hi-Pro Oatmeal Energy Booster

Dinner

Chicken Stir-Fry

Romaine lettuce salad with olive

oil and vinegar

Evening Snack

Protein Shake Fruit Freeze

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast

All-natural oatmeal topped with

fl ax meal

Egg-white omelet with spinach

and cut-up chicken breast

cubes

Mid-Morning Snack

1 cup low-fat yogurt with nuts

or almonds

Lunch

Extra-lean turkey burger on a

100 percent whole-grain bun

or wrapped in lettuce

Mid-Afternoon Snack

Protein bar (any fl avor)

Handful of raw almonds or

raw mixed nuts

Dinner

Wild salmon

Vegetable

Spinach salad with olive oil

and vinegar

Evening Snack

Protein Shake Fruit Freeze

THURSDAY

Breakfast

Egg-white omelet with mixed

vegetables

Peanutty Oatmeal Cakes

Mid-Morning Snack

Vanilla protein shake with half a

banana or half an apple

Lunch

Chunky Chicken Salad

Mid-Afternoon Snack

Hi-Pro Oatmeal Energy Booster

Dinner

Lean red meat

Vegetable

Red potato

Romaine lettuce salad with

olive oil and vinegar

Evening Snack

Protein Shake Fruit Freeze

FRIDAY

Breakfast

All-natural cereal with skim milk or

all-natural oatmeal

100 percent whole-grain toast

with all-natural almond butter or

all-natural peanut butter

Mid-Morning Snack

1 cup low-fat yogurt with raw mixed

nuts or raw almonds

Lunch

Chicken breast on 100 percent

whole-grain bread

Mid-Afternoon Snack

Protein bar (any fl avor)

Handful of raw almonds or

raw mixed nuts

Dinner

Mexican Scrambled Omelet

Spinach salad with avocado

Evening Snack

Protein Shake Fruit Freeze

SATURDAY

Breakfast

Hi-Pro Oatmeal Energy Booster with

fl ax meal

Mid-Morning Snack

1 cup low-fat cottage cheese with

fruit and raw mixed nuts

(all-natural raw trail mix)

Lunch

Tuna Pita Delight

Mid-Afternoon Snack

Protein bar (any flavor)

Dinner

Turkey or chicken breast

Brown rice

Vegetable

Romaine lettuce salad with olive oil

and vinegar

Evening Snack

Protein Shake Fruit Freeze

SUNDAY

Eat Day! Follow the regular schedule

from your other “good eating” days,

but indulge with something you’ve

been craving. Don’t go crazy, watch

overall calories, but enjoy yourself.