Wellness for traveling employees can be understandably difficult to stick to your plans, no matter how dedicated you are to living a healthy lifestyle day in, day out. This is particularly true if you have to travel frequently for work. Always being on the road can create roadblocks on your path toward eating healthy, getting enough exercise and prioritizing sleep.
Your Diet and Traveling
When you’re on the go, one of the most difficult things to do is to eat healthy. Whether you’re at the airport to catch your flight or on the road, when hunger strikes, the options available at the food court or convenience stores aren’t always the healthiest. And, if your travel requires you to stay overnight, it’s tempting to order room service or head downstairs to the hotel restaurant for a convenient—but unhealthy—meal. While it’s true that eating healthy while you travel is more difficult than choosing the convenient option, it’s not impossible. With careful planning and the right mindset, you can stay on track with your diet even while you travel.
Going Out to Eat and Your Diet
Though it may seem like an impossible feat, you can still maintain your diet while enjoying a meal out at a restaurant. Since restaurants (especially fast food chains) tend to serve meals with more fat, salt and sugar than meals prepared at home, it is important to understand what foods to avoid and which ones to select from the menu.
Exercising While Traveling
Life is full of responsibilities that can pull you in multiple directions, and sometimes exercise takes a back seat to other obligations. But letting your fitness slip can create serious health risks down the road and make bad fitness habits even harder to break later on. While it may be tempting to take a break from exercising while you’re traveling for work, your body will thank you if you stick to a workout routine.
Sleep and Traveling
When you’re traveling for work, your sleep can be disrupted. While this may not seem like a big deal, getting enough sleep is essential for maintaining a healthy, productive and low-stress lifestyle. Prioritizing your sleep while you’re traveling for work can be tricky, especially if you have to leave early to get on the road or to catch a flight, or you don’t have control of your schedule. With a little bit of planning and a commitment to sticking to your sleep schedule as closely as possible, you can minimize the effects that traveling can have on your sleep.
Travel Safely
While you’re traveling for work, staying safe should be a top concern. Whether you’re driving or flying, there are a handful of simple tips that you can use to stay safe on your work trip.
Preventing Distracted Driving
Distracted drivers are one of the biggest threats on the road, leading to hundreds of thousands of injuries and fatalities every year. And although cellphones and entertainment systems are some of the most common distractions, anything that takes your eyes off the road can be incredibly dangerous.
Driving Defensively
Using proper defensive driving techniques will keep yourself safe on the road as you travel. One of the main components of being a good defensive driver is to know how to use your outside mirrors to detect what other motorists are doing around you.
Driving at Night
Darkness makes it more difficult to see hazards, and the empty roads and lack of light can make you dangerously drowsy. If your job requires that you drive after dark, it is important to remember the challenges you will face.
General Travel Safety Tips
Many jobs require employees to travel for work, sometimes even abroad. While this can be a fun experience, staying safe can be much more difficult if you are in an unfamiliar area. To keep yourself safe when traveling for work, remember the following tips:
- Familiarize yourself with local customs and laws, as you are subject to them while traveling.
- Avoid hailing taxis on the street when possible. Instead, have your hotel’s concierge service book a reliable driver or car service for you.
- Keep hotel doors and windows locked at all times. When you arrive, and any time you leave and return to the room, make sure the locks are working.
- Ensure that your room has a working peephole and use it to verify the identity of anyone visiting your room. If an unexpected visitor claims to be a hotel employee, call the front desk to confirm.
- Take photos of important documents and information, like your passport and driver’s license, and leave copies at home.
Research is essential when it comes to ensuring a successful business trip. Planning ahead and remaining vigilant can make all the difference.
This following provides simple, actionable tips that are designed to help you find healthy foods while on the road, get your recommended exercise and stick to your sleep schedule.
Disclaimer: This guide is intended for informational use only. Seek professional medical advice for any medical-related questions. © 2019 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved.
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