The Truth Behind Traveling
I’ll admit it, I’m that person who struggles with traveling, because I never know when/if I’ll be able to workout, or what I’ll be eating. But something crazy has happened recently. In the past month or so, I have traveled out of state twice to be in two weddings, and for a weekend at the lake with my best friends from college. This has involved many days of traveling, both in the car and in airports, and many days where my schedule was essentially out of my control. Here’s the crazy part, even though my workout schedule was totally thrown off, and the food I ate/when I ate was mostly out of my hands as well-I SURVIVED.
I won’t lie, I struggled with all of these adjustments while on the road because simply “not caring” about them is just something I can’t turn off completely. Rather than getting upset that I can’t turn it off, I realized that I could control my thoughts, and I made a conscious decision to do so every day. Sure, I would have loved to get in a few workouts while on the road, but I typically wasn’t able to (except that time I was bamboozled into doing CrossFit with my bestie & former teammate). I’m typically fine with taking 2 days off, 3 being the most I can handle without spiraling. This past month has severely challenged that mindset, and pushed me to be okay with 3 days off, sometimes a day more. I won’t pretend that I didn’t spend quite a bit of time thinking about how much I wished I could just get in a quick workout, but for the first time I didn’t let it ruin my trip, or control my mind to the point where I couldn’t focus on the moment and be present.
Hear me out, I’m not saying I neglected my body’s needs and said RIP to my health. I was just able to compartmentalize and understand that this was temporary, and my routine life would be right where I left it once I got home. Through this, I saw the significance behind what I was experiencing. That the weight room isn’t going anywhere, but these weddings are only happening once. That the barbell will always weigh the exact same, but my friends from college will not always be in the same room at the same time. I realized that this is the stuff that matters. I love working out just as much as anyone, probably more than most people, but I’m not going to look back in 5 years and remember that sick leg day I had on a random Friday in June of 2021. What I am going to remember are the nights spent staying up late with my friends catching up on each other’s lives, reminiscing on college stories, and making new memories.
In terms of eating, I found that although I wasn’t necessarily in control of what I was eating or at what time I was eating, I still had a decision to make. I could opt out of eating the tacos, the pasta, the BBQ, the wedding cake/cupcakes, etc. all because I was afraid of what eating them would do to me. Especially while not working out!!! (sarcasm). But I chose a different route-I ate the food that was served. I honestly knew that this was my only option, and it was either eat this food or don’t eat at all, and I was not interested in the latter. Instead of excessively overindulging on all of these foods because they would generally be listed under my “fear foods,” I ate them in moderation. I got enough to satisfy myself and my hunger levels, but didn’t feel the need to eat beyond that and was able to break free from my old habit of the last supper mentality (meaning that since I don’t eat these foods very often, when they are in front of me I would just go crazy and eat to where I felt stuffed and uncomfortable because I didn’t know when I’d allow myself to eat them again). To me, that’s big time growth.
I feel it’s important to mention that I made an effort to be extra cautious of my words and the way I talked about my body and food in these environments as well. Just because I wasn’t feeling incredible and wished that I could workout or eat something “healthier” didn’t mean everyone else felt the same. Sharing the negative thoughts I had about my body or the food could have ruined it for someone else, who wasn’t thinking the same thoughts before I said something. Diet culture is rampant always, but especially in a room of a dozen young women who spend the entire day getting ready for a wedding and staring at themselves in the mirror. This is the last place for negative comments about how you look, or the food that’s being served. It’s contagious, and it’s not conducive to you or the people around you, I promise!
To sum it all up, the gym isn’t going anywhere, and neither is your meal prep. It will all be waiting for you when you return to your normal, routine life. While nutrition and activity are important, they’re not typically where the memories are made. When life presents you with opportunities and once in a lifetime experiences, don’t let them become less significant because you can’t be present in the moment. After all, these moments are the big moments that we look back at in our camera roll for years to come.
It’s also perfectly fine to be on vacation and workout if you have the chance and you want to. I actually prefer to get some type of movement in if possible. It’s also cool if you order something green instead of something fried, simply because you feel like doing so. I like to incorporate some of my normal, nutrient dense foods when I travel as well to help me feel like myself (I draw the line at paying $10 for a snack pack of 3 carrots and 2 tomatoes at the airport though). Whatever you do, just try not to get so caught up in all of it that you allow these things to consume you and take away from the beauty of a vacation and a memory in the making.