The Diet & Workout Plan of a Full-Time Traveling Family — HERS
INTRODUCTION : We are a full-time traveling family. Over a year ago, my husband and our 2 children sold everything and left our home in Provo, Utah for an adventure around the world. Before we left, and throughout our travels, health and fitness has always been a top priority for our family. Of course, eating clean and working out is difficult, especially when you travel full-time with kids! So here is our diet and workout plans that we travel with! Mine is different from my husband Garrett’s, so we wrote them separate. His and Hers ;) Below is mine. Here is the link to his : https://goo.gl/xOjnDz
The WHY
For the last 5 years health and fitness have been one of my top priorities. Garrett and I are continually trying to up our fitness game. I definitely won’t claim to be in amazing shape and my body isn’t very close to what I would consider the “ideal shape.” However, having health and fitness as a priority has incredibly blessed my life. Here’s a few reasons why:
It’s Brought Garrett and I Closer Together
We love going to the gym together and working out together. He’s typically trying to put on mass and muscle while I’m usually trying to get more lean. But having fitness as a common goal has strengthened our marriage and brought us closer together. We encourage, support and even spot each other at the gym :)
It Makes Me Happy
Literally. My body craves the endorphins I get from working out and I always feel happy and better about myself after a workout. If I miss a day of working out I absolutley feel it in my mood. Anyone else experience this?
I’ve Learned SO Much
I’m grateful for the knowledge I’ve gained on how to take care of myself. I’ve learned how to eat and cook healthy. And most importantly, I’ve learned what foods and exercises work specifically for me and my body type. Every one is different and I’ve learned what my body responds best to.
I’m Healthy
I feel great and I feel healthy. Everyone has different motivations for why they workout. Some people are working on aesthetics, some are focusing on athletic performance and some are aiming for overall health. For me, it’s a balance of all three. I personally love lifting weights and love feeling STRONG. I love know that my body is capable of lifting heaving things and is capable of doing hard things.
MY DIET
When I was back at home, my strict diet is much easier. I strive for 6, small, balanced and healthy meals a day. This diet is much easier when you have a routine and a stable environment. It’s also easier when I have access to a Whole Foods and a Costco. I, unfortunately, don’t any of those.
[Jan 1, 2017] We’ve now been on the road for 18 months. Some weeks are spent in a house where I can cook and have access to great foods. And sometimes I’m at luxury hotel with enormous breakfast buffets where I’m tempted with waffles and croissants every morning. If I was on a vacation, I could better justify eating the waffles, but I’m not. Full-time travel is now my lifestyle and I’ve had to learn to control myself.
Most mornings I eat an egg white veggie omelette, bacon, yogurt and some fruit. Breakfast is always my largest meal of the day. My meals decrease in size throughout the day. Starting big and decreasing throughout the day is called “meal tapering” and has been an excellent way to speed up my metabolism. After a day of properly tapering my meals, I can literally feel my body burn extra calories while I sleep and by morning, I can feel my body extra lean.
Snacks are the difficult thing when traveling. My friend Blake is an incredible trainer back in SLC and he has given me some great snack ideas for traveling. My go-to traveling snacks are fresh fruit, carrots, almonds, peanut butter, rice cakes and some water with me. When I get the chance, I stock up on protein bars (I like Oh Yeah! ONE bars, Think Thin Bars and Pure Protein).
We Pack Our Supplements
We have one small suitcase dedicated to health supplements. We have a Magic Bullet blender that we take everywhere, its lightweight, small and gets the job done. We make sure to get a good protein shake to nourish our bodies after a workout.
We carry with us C4 Pre-workout, BPI BCAA, collagen, whey protein, vegan protein, flax seed, chia seeds and a green veggie supplement. Every time we are in a country where they have a good health foods store, we stock up! Or, we have friends bring stuff out for us when they come visit. Thanks, friends!
BALANCE
I of course, make sure to try the amazing cuisines from all over the world. Some countries are healthier than others. Greece, Korea, New Zealand and Japan made for incredibly yummy and healthy diets. Italy… I love you the most, but you ruin my body with your carbohydrates and gelato. ;)
I try to eat clean as possible at meals so I can indulge in the baclava, tredelniks, mango sticky rice and the Swiss chocolate.
EXERCISE
I’ve done it all — yoga, spin, pilates and cardio til’ I die. But for me, I see the best results and enjoy the most a combination of heavy weight lifting and HIIT (high intensity interval training).
We always do our best to stay in rental homes with gyms nearby or hotels with fitness centers. Some are very well equipped and others are not, so we have to make do with what we have. Some days, we have no equipment and just have to do body weight exercises where I do lunges with Dorothy in my arms and shoulder presses my suitcase. The most important thing is that we workout EVERY day, no excuses (rest Sunday).
I’ve recently started workout plans with some of my girlfriends back home. From afar, we share workouts, tips, struggles, recipes and cravings with some of my closest friends back home. It helps SO much having someone by your side. I’ve also learned that having an actual plan before you enter the gym is so much better!
One thing that has really helped me is sharing your goals with others. I’ve worked closely with an amazing trainer and nutritionist, Blake who has kept on me about my goals. He’s even helped come up with healthy snack options in random cities like Kathmandu to keep me on track.
I’ve also learned that having an actual plan before you enter the gym is so much better! I made a workout plan for myself for January 2017. If you’d like to this workout with me, I’d LOVE to have anyone join me. Check out January’s workout out here.
Our Typical Day = Every Day
We travel full-time but that doesn’t mean we are on vacation full-time. We have a routine that we try to stick to everywhere we go.
7:00 am : Wake-up
7:30am-8:30am : Breakfast
9:00am-10:30am : Garrett Workout (While Jessica sings, plays, teaches with kids)
10:30am-12:00pm : Jessica Workout (While Garrett takes kids to the pool or park)
12:00pm-1:00pm : Lunch
1:00pm-3:00pm : Naps
3:30pm-6:00pm : Go out and explore for the day
6:30–7:00 : Dinner
7:00 : Bedtime for kids
7:30pm-11:00pm : Work
11:00pm : Bedtime
A Work In Progress
Thank you for reading about my thoughts and efforts to be the healthiest version of myself! This is a endless work in progress. I will continue to update this post as I progress and learn. I hope you will stay tuned!!
Sincerely,
