These are my five travel hacks for keeping weight off when you travel.
One of the topics I am asked about more than any other is how I keep weight off when I travel. I do spend a large part of each year flying around the world for my luxury hotel consulting business as well as for my luxury hotel blog.
Whether I am in South East Asia, Europe or America, there are always so many culinary temptations in a new city or country. It can be tough to resist when I am tired and starving.
Studies are showing luxury tavellers no longer want to return from the trip of a lifetime with added weight. The only extra kilograms they want to be carrying is in their suitcase.
Many actually want to lose weight when they travel.
Being disciplined around food and especially around different time zones is super important in a job like mine, and there are some simple travel hacks to make it easier.
Locako Snacks:
More than 16 years ago I was diagnosed with insulin resistance – this was brought on by my pregnancy with my twins and I as one of the unfortunate ones for whom it never left. It is basically a pre-curser to full blown diabetes, and the ideal way to deal with it is via a low sugar diet and a drug called metformin.
The challenge though is that people with insulin resistance = and often those with diabetes – crave sugar.
The very thing they cannot and should not eat. This can be torturous at times, especially when flying long distance, but I found Locako, an Australian nutrition brand that produces the most amazing no sugar products packed with vitamins and minerals that curb my cravings. This is the ultimate travel hack when it comes to weight loss.
There are keto brownies with collagen which gives my whole body a heathy kick, as well as a beauty collagen powder I can put into smoothies – and they all come in travel sizes.
My favourite products to travel with are: Locako Beauty Collagen comes in small pink travel sachets and is excellent as an every day booster, Chocolate peanut butter mousse (easy to make and I have had chefs in hotels whip it up for me too), Locako Keto Balls, Locako Brownie Balls are brilliant in my carry-on and Locako Keto meal is a meal replacement shake that tastes like rich chocolate and is great before a long flight.
Don’t Eat Aeroplane Food:
Once in a blue moon I fly First Class, but even then the food really is not worth eating, as plane food just does not have the nutrition you need from a meal. If you find yourself starving mid-flight, nuts are the best thing to munch on, and have some healthy snacks like Locako Brownie Bites in your bag, so you have somehting low calorie as well as healthy to reach for when you need it.
As for the airport lounges, beware of food that has been pre-cooked. If you ask, the staff will tell you if the food has bene pre-cooked, but often large protein meals like steaks and fish have all been pre-cooked so that the food can be served quickly to passengers in a hurry but again this means it potentially has much less nutrition and also puts you at risk of ingesting bacteria.
If you can see food being cooked in front of you as is the case at a lot of Business and First Class Lounges, then it is ok to eat. That’s a simple travel hack to follow to ensure you are eating nutritious meals.
No Coffee On Travel Days:
This might sound too simple, but it is actually very effective. Living in Australia, most of the flights I catch are very long. This means my body clock is often right out of whack. One travel hack to deal with this is to stop coffee on long travel days. It means I feel more relaxed and more likely to sleep on the flight as well as when I reach the destination.
On the first morning at a new destination, I feel awake and alive when I have that first coffee to pep me up.
Alcohol In Moderation:
Yes, the ideal way to travel is alcohol free, but a travel hack is that you can use alcohol to calm any pre-flight anxieties, as well as to help you drift off to sleep. The key is not to have too much for your body size and normal drinking habits and to have a lot of water before and during as well as after the flight.
And remember if you are eating light during the flight, you need to drink light too.
Walk Everywhere:
Walking is hugely underrated for weight loss, and for jet lag recovery. The ideal scenario is to land at your destination and do at least 10,000 steps straight away. A quick look at The Hubermann podcast will reveal the multiple benefit of this practice, but for weight loss, sleep, and just to integrate with your new environment, this is a fantastic practice.
Incidental exercise throughout your travel like going up stairs, walking instead of ubers, and even cycling to see the sites is a great travel hack and an easy way to prevent weight gain.