by Gerald George Mannikarote, MBBS MBA
I used to travel quite a bit for work. During those trips, I always found it a challenge to stay healthy. But I get by with a little help with my friends. It was through friends that I realized and learned what I needed to do to stay healthy while traveling for work.
What I’ve learned, from myself as well as others, was interesting. People tend to take a vacation from being healthy when traveling for work. If they normally exercise and eat right at home, they tend to throw all of that out of the window when traveling for work.
Often times, people say it’s very challenging to stay healthy when traveling for work. “I have to eat out a lot.” “The hotel doesn’t have a gym.” “The meeting was really late.” “The customer wanted to meet over a couple of beers.” Yes, the challenges are real.
The challenges are real, but like I said, I got by with a little help from my friends. I have been lucky to have a few friends that understand health and wellness very well. They helped me understand the challenges that I faced because they faced them as well.
One of the biggest lessons that I learned was that you can have what you want if you make it a priority. So, if you want health, you will make that a priority. You can have what you want if you really want it.
For example, if the hotel doesn’t have a gym, you can work out in your room or even just take a walk outside. If you have to eat out, you learn what are the right things to order from the menu. If the meeting was to be over a few beers, you learn what beers or drinks to order. If the meeting is expected to run really late, you learn how to close the meeting on time.
The late meeting example still resonates with me. I had a friend in a previous company that I worked for that did the same job as I did. She read to her children every night even when she traveled for work. She scheduled her meetings to close at the right time so that she could call her children, even in the parking lot, and read to them. You can have what you want if you really want it.
At dMann Training, we plan to have a series of posts to help you stay healthy while traveling for work or even at home. I hope this post gave you a chance to think about it. And maybe even some tips.
So what do you do to stay healthy while you travel for work? What do you do to stay healthy at home? Leave your thoughts in the comments. You can also contact me at jerrydmann@dmanntraining.com
