Keep Fit at the Airport: Food Exercise and Travel Hacks

 

Around the holidays, most Americans will travel. In fact, 46 percent of Americans will take a flight during the holiday season. It’s the peak time to travel. If you’re part of this figure, you might be looking for tips to stay healthy while traveling - you came to the right place!

 

The team here at WOLFpak has compiled a list of some of the best ways to keep fit at the airport, from your diet to your workout routine to how you pack. Keeping healthy around the holidays can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. If you put the preparation in, you can enter the new year as healthy as ever and ready to take on a new challenge.

 

Holiday Season is Travel Season

We’ve got to a point at which most of us travel. You might not be getting a flight, but a large percentage of the population will, according to recent research. The holidays are a time in which people come together; families are reunited, teenagers come home from college, school friends reunite, and work is put on pause in favor of meals together as a family. Sounds amazing, right?

 

There’s always a downside to the holiday season. For some, it’s the feeling of loneliness if they don’t have anyone to spend time with. For others, it’s the change in their routine that can throw them into a funk, and make it difficult to start the new year on the right foot. And this starts with the journey.

 

Airports are notoriously bad places for fit people. You’ll be stuck with nothing to do under fluorescent light for hours waiting for your flight. You’re stuck with unhealthy food options and nowhere to exercise or outside space to decompress. For some people, it mirrors their daily life. But for people who are committed to living a healthy, active lifestyle, being stuck in an airport is a nightmare.

 

So how can you keep up with your healthy lifestyle while traveling? You’ve got to put in the groundwork to make sure you’re not caught in the scenario we just mentioned. Instead, you want to have the tools to reshape your airport experience. We’re going to give you these tools now.

 

How to Eat Healthy at the Airport

Why is airport food so bad? Here’s why: there isn’t much available space for storage or specialist kitchen equipment, which means limited menus pretty much restricted to microwave meals. But more than this, food brands at airports know that you’re trapped there with limited options. Unfortunately, unhealthy fast food appeals to the average consumer more than healthy, fresh choices.

 

This can leave even the healthiest eaters feeling stuck between a burger and fries. Surely there is something you can do to avoid this conundrum? There is. It’s called meal prep.

 

The most effective way to eat healthy at the airport is to put in some preparation work before you’ve even left your house. Meal preparation, aka meal prep, is the process of planning and cooking your meals in advance and keeping them in food storage containers in the fridge or freezer, for when you need them.

 

The idea behind meal prep is that you’re more likely to reach for healthy food if it’s already prepared for you and ready to go. This ultimately keeps you on track with your diet and healthy lifestyle, and in terms of an airport alternative - it’ll also save you a lot of money!

 

What many people don’t understand is that you can take food through security. If you do so, you’ll avoid being forced to eat airport food.

 

So how should you meal prep effectively for travel?

1. Avoid foods that need to be hot - Salads and cold foods are the best choices for airport meal prep. You won’t have access to an oven or microwave and you don’t want to find yourself having to eat cold lasagna.
2. Opt for airtight, leak-proof food prep containers - You don’t want your food to spill out onto your Christmas outfit.
3. Ice pack - Bacteria grow on warm food left out, so having an ice pack in your meal bag is essential.

 

The WOLFpak meal bag comes in a variety of sizes - from a mini backpack to a 45 L meal management bag. Here are some of the features

• Made of waterproof polyester
• Cooler compartment
• 1 ice pack
• 1 sealed food prep container
• Plastic utensil set
• Protective inside phone pouch

 

Click here to shop.

 

How to Stay Active at the Airport

It’s not all about eating healthy - you might also struggle with sitting still. You can stay active at the airport without any gym equipment in sight.

 

Airports are vast. Put in your earphones, your mini backpack on your back, and go for a walk before your flight. Walking increases blood flow, which helps to oxygenate your body optimally before getting on the plane. When you are on the plane, the air pressure is low due to the altitude, which means your body takes in less oxygen. This can make you feel drained after flying, even if it’s just a short flight.

 

That’s why it’s vital you keep your steps up when you’re on the plane too. Lack of movement can increase your risk of deep vein thrombosis. When you’re walking around the airplane, your calf muscles are working to pump blood back up to your heart to keep your body oxygenated.

 

You can also try doing some stretching before your flight to loosen up your body before you have to sit still in a small seat for an extended period of time. Try these

 

• Bird dog - On all fours, extend the right arm and left leg. Draw them in to touch your elbow and knee, then switch sides.
• Low lunge and reach - Step one foot as far back as possible, while you bend your stationary leg. Reach your hands overhead and open up your chest.
• Side lunge yoga pose - From standing, step one foot as far wide as comfortable. Lunge down into this leg as it bends. Lower to a crouched position to deepen the stretch.