It’s no secret that travelling isn’t exactly awesome for your health. Unless you are a dedicated runner (I’m not) or are willing to spend the time and energy to select and cook organic food for every meal (err, no), then long term travel can take it’s toll on your waistline. Not to mention your fitness levels.
I blame it in part to all the delicious international food and in part to my laziness. Although I haven’t gained much weight while travelling, I have definitely lost any fitness I may have once had. And muscle tone.
Sure, there was a lot of walking. Even some running and hiking. And sure, back in the beginning I tried to keep up with my yoga. But when you’re moving on every few days and are staying in small hostel rooms, any kind of fitness routine can be hard.
Which is why, now that I’m settled for a little while here in Amsterdam, I want to focus on getting back into shape. Luckily, I can achieve some of my daily exercise by having to cycle everywhere on my new bike. But more than that, I want to get back into my regular yoga routines and eat a lot more healthily.
Exercise
I have practiced yoga for years, on and off, but when I started travelling it was one of the first things to fall by the wayside. Luckily for me there are plenty of online yoga videos and even a hot yoga studio just around the corner from where I live meaning I have no excuse. Of course, I can’t start any kind of class without the right attire (any excuse to shop) and I’ve been checking out some of the cute new yoga clothes from Sweaty Betty. I’ve never owned anything of theirs before, but I’ve been hearing good things recently from some health bloggers, so maybe I’ll take the plunge.
Besides the yoga, I want to start running, at least a couple of days a week. I have to be careful as I have weak knees, meaning too much running outdoors or the wrong type of footwear and I can be in pain for a couple of days afterwards. I’d like to get some custom-fit trainers for exercise like this, but until I have the budget for that, I’ll have to stick some good quality (and fashionable) Nikes. As I have the Vondelpark (a large, famous park here in Amsterdam) as my backyard now, and with summer approaching (even if you wouldn’t know it), there’s no excuse to not take advantage of some free exercise this way.
Diet
While I was travelling I ate *all the food*. When you’re in a new country and they have so many tasty delicacies on offer, it’d be rude not to. But this included a lot of red meat and sweets, both of which aren’t exactly conducive to good health. I have now tried to cut red meat out of my diet altogether (barring once or twice a month) and am trying to eat a more vegetarian diet. This has been a good thing as I find that red meat tends to bloat me and give me bad skin.
As for the desserts, I’m still bad on that front (I have a ridiculous sweet tooth), but I’m trying to make sure that I don’t eat one every day, as I had a tendency to do while on the road.
The diet part of this challenge has already begun and I’m hoping to roll out the exercise part as soon as possible. If you have any tips/resources/websites that you think may be useful (or that have helped you get fitter and healthier in the past), please let me know!
I’ll keep you updated on my progress…
Leave a Reply