For mi hermana and I, going on vaca doesn’t have to mean getting fat! Oh the contrary! It means getting away from your bad habits, setting the reset button on healthy life-styles, and slowing down long enough to get a really good meal, compromising on neither nutrition nor flavanoids.
I. Stay active/moving as long as you can
- WALK! — When we flew to and from India we had a two hour layover in Turkey, we made sure we were moving for those whole two hours for a couple reasons: to make sure granny’s blood was circulating, as you go up in altitude the higher elevation makes your blood thicken, it needed to circulate and get the blood pumping; Sitting 5 hours on a plane– ‘nuff said; We wanted to tire ourselves out as much as possible for the next stretch
- Yoga poses and stretch — it feels so good and you usually have plenty of space/time to do it, especially when you compare to the amount of space you have on a plane or bus (although it can also be done in these vehicles). People around me always start to notice and usually end up stretching as well. I guess that’s a better habit to mimic than yawning. I love that I get a mini workout in/and feel relaxed afterwards. It totally takes away any soreness from sitting, although I do switch positions with that as well (as shown in the photos)
II. NO PANCAKES! (jk, but legit, eat the good stuff)
- BYOF– You can totally air travel domestically with food, and obviously by car/train/bus as well, all you need is a cooler! Carry and make your food as much as possible
- Dried fruit/nuts/canned items/dry food– all the rage! It can be done in a health-conscious fashion as well. You don’t have to eat canned baked beans or space food, you can do food simply but with nutrients, as you should! If you’re on the go you are sure to fatigue faster if you are denying your body rather than supplying your body.
- Bring empty bottles-Teatox and H2O on the go for days! You can carry your own (loose) tea; Stop and fill up on hot water costs you $0 usually, add your favorite tea and wallah! $Free99!$ Not to mention, we are still in theme with going green. Did we even mention the health benefits of tea toxing!? Drinking wawa of course is super essential! Warm water helps keep you regular. Regulating the digestive system (which traveling may knock off course) is always a great idea. Not to mention, keeping the organs warm and comfy, which they tend to like. The body can concentrate on performing other functions when it doesn’t have to keep you too warm. We know what a hot cup of anything can do at a coldy anywhere!
- On the note of bringing your own containers, this is healthy and environmentally beneficial. Keeping containers (preferably glass or aluminum) you may reuse for leftovers for when you do decide to go out. You eat to your own contentment and save the rest for later (especially when portion sizes have been amplified beyond normal consumption); Secondly when you do have hot or cold elements to food that you may want to heat/and or eat later, it is best to avoid plastic for a variety of reasons. The resins that come from plastic can be toxic. Although some are marked with “BPA Free” labels, I feel from an environmental standpoint it’s best to avoid them all together. Heating in glass is easier and drinking out of aluminum keeps your food to the desired temperature and is usually insulated.
III. Lastly, I leave you with a little less yack and some photos to demonstrate different sitting positions while in a moving vehicle. This encourages the forward motion of the pelvis, which encourages a straight spine, which in turn delivers efficient breathing. When breathing is done well, all the cells in the body are happy, the brain functions well, the body can rock on!
By Salina Maria Khanna