Staying Healthy While Traveling

Good morning and happy Tuesday friends! I hope you guys are having a good week.

This week I am going to try something a bit different. I am going to go back to my blogging roots in order to help me stay accountable. As you all know, I believe in finding healthy moderation in order to live a healthy, happier life. This week as I am in Cincinnati for three days of business meetings and then heading back down to Avalon for a few more days at the beach, checking in with you guys more frequently during the week, on a more personal level, will help keep me accountable and continue to make strides with this month’s goals of getting back to a place of strength and confidence.

When I landed in Cincinnati yesterday at 12:45pm I headed directly to the Cincinnati Airport’s food court in search of a healthy lunch option. The new Chick-Fil-A Grilled Market salad was a great solution as the fresh berries provide a burst of Summer flavor and the cabbage provides some fun crunch. Even though the salad is only 320 calories, the 14 grams of fat and 26 grams of protein helped keep me full until dinner. Since I knew my afternoon would involve back to back meetings, I grabbed a medium fruit cup to snack on later in the afternoon.

Chick-fil-a market salad

When our meetings ended at 5:30 a group of us walked a few blocks to Igby’s for happy hour with some of our fellow team members. Due to the bar’s large size, we were able to snag a space for our group in the back that made our happy hour feel more like a private party. Their $5 happy hour was the perfect way to end the day and kick off a few days of team meetings.

Sotto cincinnati

After happy hour my friend Amy and I headed next door to Sotto for dinner. It’s always wonderful to catch up with my best friend when I’m in Cincinnati for business since she lives and works in our Cincinnati office. Due to multiple meetings and conventions in Cincinnati this week, we weren’t sure Sotto would have any availability. But, luckily since we were a party of two, we were able to sit at their chef’s bar.  The atmosphere of Sotto is what I would call intimate Italian chic and the service is top notch. The chef we spoke to from across the chef’s bar was able to recommend a dish from every section based on our love of seafood and desire to sample a few of their signature dishes. We each sipped on their Nebbiolo wine while sharing three dishes:

  • Baby bibb – apple honey dressing, croutons, olives, feta, pignoli
  • Squid ink linguine – rock shrimp, tomato, spinach, spicy breadcrumbs
  • Wood-fired branzino w/ swiss chard & grilled lemon

Unexpectedly, the branzino dish stole the show. I am still thinking about how Bo and I can recreate the flavorful branzino dish at home. The swiss chard was perfectly seasoned and paired perfectly with the lemon branzino. The fish was tender and flaky while the skin was grilled to a perfect level of crisp. While the meal was not cheap, every single dish was five stars and executed perfectly. I will definitely return to Sotto again soon!

By the time I checked into my hotel around 8:45 I could barely keep my eyes open. Instead of staying up and doing work I collapsed in bed. I decided that I would be more efficient after a good night’s sleep even if that meant setting my alarm for 4:45 AM.

This morning I woke up after eight hours of sleep feeling like a new person! It’s amazing what sleep can do for the body. Since my calf is still in quite a bit of pain due to the road rash from Sunday’s fall, I opted to do a hotel room workout instead of running outside. I skimmed over my hotel room workout board on Pinterest before settling on a combination of these two workouts:

hotel room workout

I am going to be in non-stop meetings today so my two goals are to stay hydrated and avoid falling into the “meeting food trap.” Our catered meetings at the office tend to have lots of desserts and sweet treats which I would rarely eat during the day. Since I know we have a delicious team dinner tonight, I am going to stick to small, healthy, protein-filled meals throughout the day with some fruit for sweetness.

Your turn – What is your favorite way to work out when traveling? Do you have a favorite travel or hotel room workout? 

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16 Comments

  1. Danielle @ Wild Coast Tales July 19, 2016 / 12:20 pm

    Nice job holding yourself accountable! It can be tough when travelling to stay healthy, especially when travelling with a big group or for work.

    I’ll usual run – if it’s somewhere safe and I won’t get super lost! Otherwise, a high intensity gym workout combing weights/strength and cardio. Usually I’ll try and recreate a tough workout I’ve done at a fitness class at home, since I know it will be a good workout.

  2. Meagan @ My Life as Mrs July 19, 2016 / 12:44 pm

    It’s so much harder to make healthier decisions when we’re out of our regular routine. I guess I usually let myself indulge a little more because I travel infrequently but I still try to eat stuff that will be good for me. I try to go for a run or I’ll use the gym at the hotel if I don’t feel comfortable going out alone in the area I’m in. If I can, it’s fun to explore pretty new areas wherever I’m visiting.

  3. Kristen July 19, 2016 / 1:37 pm

    I like these more casual posts — they feel much more real and are more interesting to read. They are more relatable and seem more like real life.

    • ashleyd July 19, 2016 / 3:34 pm

      Thanks Kristen. I really enjoyed writing this morning’s post so depending on how I feel this week I may do it more often.

  4. Rose, RD, LD @ The Donut Dietitian July 19, 2016 / 1:56 pm

    Love Igby’s. And if you decide you need some good Cincy food or fitness suggestions, reach out! I’m a huge fan of this wonderful city I get to call home.

    • ashleyd July 19, 2016 / 3:34 pm

      Aww thanks Rose! I always love my Cincinnati visits just wish I got here more often.

  5. Mary July 19, 2016 / 2:04 pm

    Hi Ashley! I second Rose’s comments… Glad to see you’re enjoying the city so far!

    Sotto is great! Definitely one of my favorite restaurants in the city. Too bad you guys didn’t share the donuts… They are to die for! You should run down to the Smale Riverfront Park tomorrow morning if you get a chance. You can run east down the river past the stadiums and enjoy the riverfront! There’s only a slight uphill back to the hotels downtown.

    I know you enjoy yoga as well so I would suggest the move your hyde yoga studio located in Cincinnati Athletic Club… Once again its a super easy walk from any of the downtown hotels.

    I hope you enjoy your quick trip!

    • ashleyd July 19, 2016 / 3:33 pm

      Oh wow Mary thanks for these recommendations! I didn’t realize there was a yoga option downtown. I’ll have to take a look at this next time!

  6. Katie @ Live Half Full July 19, 2016 / 9:39 pm

    I try not to be too strict on myself when I travel, I’ve found that usually backfires. I love taking walks while I’m traveling. Usually I convince a coworker to go with me or make my husband go when we travel. If you add coffee it’s basically the same as touring but you get some exercise in! 🙂

  7. Canus @ Runnerlight July 20, 2016 / 1:48 am

    Wow! I like your workouts. With a runner, these workouts are very necessary! ^^

    • ashleyd July 21, 2016 / 3:26 pm

      Thanks Canus – I’m glad you like them!

  8. Katie July 21, 2016 / 2:43 am

    I would go to the hotel gym early in the morning during work trips, I did some of my best networking with senior managers at 5 am.

    • ashleyd July 21, 2016 / 3:25 pm

      That is such a great idea! No one else was in my gym yesterday 🙂

    • ashleyd July 21, 2016 / 3:24 pm

      Oh I’ve done things like this before too – aka forgetting shoes etc! So frustrating!

  9. Molly July 24, 2016 / 7:13 pm

    I was also in Cinci last week for Signal and this post was such a good reminder- I too pulled myself up for a 6:30 am run with a colleague. I almost always utilize your hotel room circuit. I’m off to Las Vegas for work this week and this is great encouragement!

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