Disclaimer: The following post is sponsored by adidas. As always, all opinions expressed are genuinely my own.
Happy April everyone!
Spring is in the air! The above freezing weather has been feeling nice, hasn’t it?
While I was in the midst of really cold winter temperatures a few months ago, I booked a trip to the Turks & Caicos Islands for a tropical getaway.
My husband and I love staying super active and being outdoors a lot when we travel, and this trip was such a glorious mix of our favorite things. With spring break coming up soon for all of you students, parents, and educators, I thought I’d share the ways that I kept up with a healthy lifestyle while on my recent vacation. I hope that these serve as ideas for how you can feel healthy and strong during your spring break – or during a trip you take anytime of the year!
Go for bike rides.
One of my favorite ways to get in exercise while traveling is to rent bikes and peddle around whatever town I’m in. In Turks & Caicos, we stayed in a cottage that came with some useful extras, including bikes, snorkeling gear and beach chairs. A few of the mornings, we’d start off day off with a bike ride somewhere. One day we biked to brunch, and another day we just explored around the island on our bikes.
Walking around TCI in my new comfy adidas sneakers. I love the clean gray and white colors of these kicks!
Walk anywhere that’ll take 30 minutes or less.
My other favorite healthy way to explore an area is by foot, and I tend to get lots of steps in when traveling. My general rule is that if anything we’re planning on visiting is about a mile or less away, we just walk it versus taking a car or other mode of transportation. In Turks & Caicos, we went for walks on the beach and around the towns often.
Get in a morning yoga session.
Morning yoga always seems to set me up for a wonderful day, so on vacation I like to start off some of my days with some yoga movement. When I’m traveling, I like to take advantage of the scenery – so if I’m staying somewhere with an awesome view, I’ll do yoga on my hotel balcony or the rooftop of the building if possible. But my all-time favorite backdrop is when I’m staying in beachy places, because is there a better view for a yoga session than looking at waves crashing at the shore?
In Turks & Caicos my husband actually joined me for yoga, which was fun because typically when I go to do yoga, he’ll go for a run. We had a great morning biking to the beach, practicing yoga together, then refueling with some delicious food.
Eat lots of produce.
My regular diet focuses on eating lots of whole foods, so why would that change when I travel? I make it a priority to eat fruits or veggies at every meal. I brought some healthy snacks on our Turks & Caicos trip, including figs and pistachios, and we picked up some fruit and water at a local food store. There’s no better beach snack to me than watermelon and pineapple – so refreshing!
Seek out healthy restaurants ahead of time.
Building on the last tip, I always do my research before a trip to scope out healthy restaurants with plant-based options. Two of my favorite meals during the trip were a veggie-packed soup & salad at Retreat Kitchen, pictured above (so good, we ate lunch there twice), and a Caribbean curry tofu & an awesome guava smoothie at Kalooki’s.
Starting to get a little baby bump, 14 weeks pregnant at TCI’s Sapodilla Bay
Adventure into water activities.
I’m a firm believer in trying new adventurous things that push you out of your comfort zone often, and on vacation my attitude is no different. Anything that seems fun but a little scary? I’m in!
The best part about Turks & Caicos is its amazing water. The colors are unbelievable there, and we couldn’t get enough of that gorgeous TCI water. Naturally, we spent lots of our days being active snorkeling and swimming. We visited both Smith’s Reef, where we adored pretty much having the beach all to ourselves, but getting out to snorkel was a bit rocky; as well as Bight Reef – a more popular spot where the snorkeling access is easy. We saw so many cool fish and coral, and we spotted a sea turtle while snorkeling at Bight Reef.
Stretching before our super early flight to Turks & Caicos, wearing my favorite adidas high rise tights. I seriously wear them every week!
Stretch before & after flights and long periods of sitting.
When flying, I routinely get in quick stretches at the airport to loosen up before sitting in a cramped seat for hours. Doing calf stretches, figure four hip openers like in the photo pictured above, and overhead arm stretches to loosen up my shoulders are a few of my go-to moves. A few airports like San Francisco even have yoga rooms, where I love to pop in and do some downward dog flows while a few people are inevitably sleeping on the floor nearby.
Don’t be all or nothing with a healthy lifestyle.
Overall, one thing that I’ve learned over my travels is that being extreme and deciding to “fall off the wagon” with being healthy never results in anything good. Sure, it may have been fun eating and drinking your face off during your trip, but when you come back 5 pounds heavier, you then have to spend weeks working it off again. Instead, I’ve learned to take a moderate approach: I eat what I want, but in small portions. If I want dessert, I’ll share it with my husband or order a small size. If I splurge on amazing sounding waffles, then I’ll try to reign it in and be healthier with my next meal. A healthy lifestyle is all about balance and implementing many smalls habits as much as you can.
Tell me… Do you have any Spring Break trips or upcoming travel planned in general?
Great tips! Your vacation sounds wonderful!!
Thank you, Jennifer! It was indeed wonderful.
I love to try new activities and go for long walks on vacation. It is not always easy to stick to your normal eating plan but that’s what vacations are for!
Very true!! I think that having a laid-back attitude in knowing that your diet won’t be the same is important. No need to stress about it.. and I love trying out new restaurants and cuisines! Food is often a big part of my travels.
Excellent tips! We do walk a lot when we go on vacation…it really is the best way to see a new place! Plus, that way you get to explore the side streets that you might not otherwise have discovered. Sounds like you guys really had a fun time on the beach. In fact, a beach sounds pretty awesome right about now! 🙂
Exactly! I feel like walking lets you check out a lot more of the hidden spots and details of an area.
Yep I totally agree with you on these! Walking everywhere, eating as much produce as possible and doing some research ahead of time are my go-to’s when traveling. We just got back from a trip to Ireland and besides the jet lag I feel great – we did SO MUCH walking while there which definitely helped!
Ohhh I’m curious to hear what you thought of Ireland! I’d love to go back and see more of the countryside. I was mostly in Dublin but did do a day into the countryside to visit the Cliffs of Moher and some castles.