Nutrition And Fitness While Traveling: Tips & Tactics

00:00While you're away, you are in control of the choices that you make. Yo, yo, yo, what's up, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkie Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. And on this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkie Stott, and welcome, you guys, to episode number 37.

00:32So today, I'm going to dive into talking about all things related to travel and how to balance your nutrition, how to balance your fitness goals while you're traveling, while you're living out of a hotel, while you're going on vacation, all of the things. And this was actually inspired by, you guys know I do, on my stories, asking you guys questions that you would want answered here on this podcast. And this was one of the questions, and I was like, how fitting. When this podcast goes live, I am going to be traveling.

01:02And so I'm going to share with you guys how I'm going to prep for that travel, and also just past stories of all of the times that I've been traveling, been on vacation, had to live out of a hotel for a full month, lived in Bali for six months. So I'm going to share mainly stories during this topic of the things that I did that helped me be successful while maintaining my body composition, maintaining my fitness goals while still doing all of those things, traveling, vacation, living in a hotel.

01:37So that's what we're going to get into. So let's dive into it today. Now, what I want to first talk about, though, is vacation and or like traveling for work, traveling for business, because that's what I'm going to be doing when this podcast is live. And then I'm going to share with you guys the story of how I lived out of a hotel for over a month and how I managed, you know, just balancing everything pretty damn well. If I do say so myself looking back, I'm like, damn, these are really solid tactics, takeaways, tips, tricks, everything that I can just share with you guys.

02:08So first and foremost, like traveling for business, going on vacation, they kind of go together in some respects. So, you know, upcoming travels for myself in this podcast slide, like I already mentioned three times that I'm going to be traveling. What I do to set myself up for success during this travel window, and I'm only going away for like four days. I leave on Sunday and I take a red eye home back on a Wednesday night. But what I'm going to set myself up for a prime for this travel is I'm going to pack a ton of protein bars that I have.

02:43Condition one is so good. The protein bars are bomb. So is first form. The protein bars are great. And then I'm going to put, and this will make sense in a second, protein powders, protein powder in a sandwich bag and label it protein powder. Because that's how you get through the TSA. So that's, I'm just going to make sure, because this is really important, and I'm going to touch on it in a second too, why it's important to have some balance here.

03:14But I'm going to make sure, because when I travel, when you travel, when you go away on vacation, when you're going away for business, X, Y, and Z, mainly you're going to be finding foods that you're eating out, or yeah, mainly that you're eating out. And all of those foods are mainly carbohydrates and fats. Now there's ways to control the way that you can order food and choose food, which I'll get to in a second. But the lacking macronutrient is protein. And I think from you guys listening to this podcast and knowing me, if you follow me on social media, I mean, I pound home how important protein is for you to build muscle, to maintain muscle, for your overall, you know, everything when it's related to your fitness goals.

03:51So protein is so freaking important. And what's the one macronutrient that you don't get when you travel? Protein. So how can you best set yourself up for success to get enough protein while you do travel? And that's having protein bars, protein powders, all of the things protein. So beef jerky is great. Anything that's dry, right? So that's what I'm going to be doing. I'm going to be bringing protein powders, protein bars. But most importantly, because the way you can only get dry food through TSA. You guys know that you can't bring like water, drinks, all that jazz. You have to dump it in the trash can beforehand.

04:22But if you bring dry food through and you make sure that, you know, protein powder can be easily confused for other things. So if you just put it in a sandwich bag and you label it protein powder, then you're solid. You're going to get through TSA. I have been stopped a few times and they had to take the protein powder out, test it and clear it. But like that's, you know that you're chill. All right. So just do all those things.

04:53Dry foods, chill. Oatmeal packets, rice cakes, rice packets. I'm just firing off off the top of my head, you know, the protein powders and protein bars. But those are some things. Oh, no, you can't bring peanut butter. I was like peanut butter. No, I got stopped in TSA for peanut butter when I was traveling abroad or overseas. So those are just some examples that you can easily get through TSA. And you're just setting yourself up for success while you're away.

05:23Rice cakes are definitely solid because you don't have to cook it. But oatmeal, unless your place that you're going to has a microwave, that may be a little challenging. But those are just some good snacks that you too can have throughout the day, right? Like you're most likely while you're traveling, you're going to have breakfast, you're going to have lunch, you're going to have dinner. But in between is also important because you want to make sure you're getting in all the macronutrients that you do need as best as you can. And I'm going to talk on that in a second. But what I really want to do hardballed on to this as well is like vacation and traveling for business and X, Y, and Z.

05:54What I'm too going to be doing while I'm away when this podcast is live, when you guys can hop over to my story on at Nikki Stott Instagram. And you guys can see the way that, you know, I'll do my best to document how I do go about this. But when it comes down to like the choices that you make while you're away, you're in control of that. Okay, you're in control of the choices that you do make business trips, vacation when you're traveling. But most importantly, it's meant to be enjoyed and relaxed. Like I tell anybody that I've coached, I tell all of our warrior babes, I'm like, please do not track your macronutrients while you're on vacation.

06:32Or like even if you're traveling and like there's a lot of things out of your control, you can do the best to control things. Like I'm saying here right now with packing protein, all the other things and like making the choices of when you're ordering out. But like make sure that you're also enjoying your time and that you're feeling relaxed. You don't feel the stress of having to track macronutrients. I mean, it's silly. It's more of a mindset, you guys. Like one week away or however long you're traveling for a couple of days or one week vacation. Like in the whole grand scheme of your entire journey, it isn't going to completely ruin your progress.

07:05What does matter the most is that when you do get home from this travel, when you do get home from your vacation, that you get right back to it and you get right back to your routine. So little story here. My birthday was last week. It'll be about two weeks when this podcast goes live. But I went away and I went down into the city for a couple of nights and I relaxed. I enjoyed myself. I didn't bring protein with me on this one. I just let it off on a whim. I really heavily enjoyed myself.

07:36But it's a difference of like coming home. Like, sure, I felt all of the effects. Like I was inflamed. I had a shit ton of inflammation on my body. I felt like, like I just felt like, and my brain was foggy. And like all of the things that you would experience if you're totally off of your normal routine, especially when it comes to food, when you're eating pancakes and cake and you're having a couple drinks. When you're not when your body's not used to that. And like I experienced, like I felt all of the things.

08:08I was super inflamed. My body was just very puffy. My face was very puffy. My energy was low. My brain was super foggy. So all of those things. And that's to be, that's normal to experience when you're away or not keeping to a consistent routine. But most importantly, it's not like, okay, when I came home, it's not like, oh, I'm going to keep doing this and I'm going to keep eating this way. And hell no. First of all, when you do it for so long, you guys and your body gets adapted, which is one thing that I absolutely love because I cannot imagine going back to the way that I used to eat or the way that I used to be eight years ago.

08:48Because I had this new profound understanding of everything. And so when you do do that for a little bit, it's like, dude, I don't even want to go back. It's like, give me my routine. Give me my eating, my eating routine. Give me my workout routine. Right. Because I didn't even work out well. It was my birthday too as well. So I got back and it was like, literally next meal being back in my place was my meal prepped meal. I'm not kidding you. And then next day was getting back into just walking, right?

09:19Getting outside, hitting 10K to 15K steps. And then I made sure that I had a full day of eating underway before I put myself back in the gym. So and like, but that's how it is for me. It's like, what matters is that you get home after this said vacation after. And that's what it more is. It's like the mindset. Like people get to that point of feeling that I'm explaining of, I feel like I gained 10 pounds or I feel like I gained five. And the scale will say that. But it's mainly inflammation because all of the things that you eat, the sugary things, alcohol that you had.

09:50So it's just so important. And I think that's what mentally weighs on people. But it's like, dude, if you get back to your routine, I guarantee you that you'll feel so much better at least four to five days after just being back into your said routine. Guarantee you. I've been there. I've had clients say that. Holy cow. Like, you know, it's like the work, the vacation never even happened or all of this stuff. Or, you know, people go away on vacation. And because they have all of this consistent routine down for themselves, they come home and they're like, they had all of the things that they enjoyed.

10:21And then they didn't even gain a pound. But they may experience other things. And then they get back into the routine. And it's like nothing even happened. So it's definitely individual for everybody. But it's definitely more of a mindset thing when I speak to the balance of learning this while you're traveling and how to stick to your goals, how to set your nutrition. It's like the more of the mindset that one week away is not going to mess up anything unless you're an asshole and keeping to doing all of those things that you do on vacation back into the next two, three, four, five, six, seven weeks when you're home.

10:53So it's really important, you guys, moral of that with vacation travel and being away to get back to your routine when you're home. But more pulling back to like how you are in control of the choices that you make. Like, sure, it was my birthday. Like, I enjoyed drinks. I enjoyed pancakes. I enjoyed a cake. I enjoyed all of the things. But know that majority of the time they do travel and you, too, you're in control of the choices that you make when it comes to food. Like, you could choose pancakes, pizza, and pasta every single day.

11:27Or you could choose to ask for an egg white omelet with toast or a chicken sandwich or a wrap for lunch. And then, like, in between, you're having rice cakes, which is solely carbs, and protein powder, which is solely protein. And then for dinner, it's like salmon, steak, rice, and potatoes, or like some veggie, right? So the two big differences between those two examples is, first of all, hey, hey, just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to this show. It means a lot.

11:58I hope you guys are enjoying it and there's so much more to come with it. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons. And also, it would help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages, too. Thanks so much, guys. Let's get back to the show. The weight of how you're going to feel after eating, the first example, which is, like, super heavy. Like, you feel you're going to fall asleep. Like, low energy levels. Like, all those things where I was away on my vacation. I was away on my birthday. But to come, it's like, no, I normally choose.

12:28And what I would recommend for you guys to do is, like, normally choose a second, which is, like, very light. Right. And, like, you're going to feel good. Your energy levels are going to be stable. You're going to be mentally, cognitively, like, more focused, more there, more alert, more present, like all of the jazz. And the other difference between the two is, like, one of them is all carbs. Okay. Panky pizza and pasta. And the other one is more of a balance between protein, fats, and carbs. So, like, moral of that is, like, while you're away, you are in control of the choices that you make.

13:06Okay. Most importantly, vacation, travel, whatever. Bring the protein. But enjoy it. Relax. One week away is not going to screw up your progress at all. Okay. And then make the routine get back to normal when you're home. Now, that was mainly around, like, nutrition. So, let me talk about fitness a little bit. Find a gym. Majority of hotels have gyms. And, like, for my small group of clients, I know our coaches do this. But they ask for programming for their travel.

13:38Specifically, one of my babes right now is in Jamaica for her wedding. And she was, like, give me a workout plan while I'm away. I'm, like, I got you. She took a video of her entire gym when she got there. And I was, like, whipped it up in, like, an hour. And it's a killer workout. And there she has it. For the four days while she's away on vacation, she's going to work out. So, like, it's, like, mind over matter. Like, you may not want to do these things because you want to relax and all these things. But, like, if you really want this and you're really into the health lifestyle and you really care about the goals that you're striving for and just overall for yourself and your

14:12mental and, like, moving your body is just so good, especially when you're vacation, you're usually laying and chilling out. Or, like, me, I'm going to be in a meeting. So, it's like, dude, I'm going to wake up in the morning and make sure I get my steps in. I'm going to wake up and at least move my body in some way. So, it's just making it a priority, you know, making it a priority. I'm going to talk a little bit, too, when I, before I talk about, like, me living in a hotel for a month. But it also, too, determines or it also, too, matters, like, where you're at in your journey,

14:46right? So, going all the way back to the beginning of my journey when I was a competitor and I locked in the goal of competing and stepping on stage, yet I had all of these travel things that I did. Like, my mom ran marathons. And so, I would come support her on those marathon trips. And so, I remember one of them. Specifically, it was down south. I can't remember exactly where. I want to say, like, Kentucky. That sounds about right. But I was also in midst of my prep and was competing in a couple of months.

15:21So, I literally, you guys, and I wouldn't say that you're going to, you need to do this, but it's not a bad idea of where you're at in your journey. If you're really, like, in a deficit and a cut and you want to make the cut as best as it can be, then some of these things may be good, especially packing some meals that, you know, you can get in the day and then being able to have all of the dinner options that you want to have with your friends and your family while you're out. But I don't want to take you away from experiencing things. And majority of you guys who are listening to this are not competitors. But what I did at the beginning to show you the dedication that I had to my goals is that

15:54I literally meal prepped all of my meals for the three days that we were gone, weighed them out, put them in Tupperware, and then put them in a cooler, a big ass cooler, like something you would haliate with. And put ice in it, got ice, put a shit ton of ice in it, and put it in my mom's car. And then by the time we got to the hotel, because we drove down to Kentucky, you guys know I'm from PA. For those of you who don't, I'm from PA. So drove down to Kentucky and it lasts, the ice, the food lasted, everything was solid.

16:25And whenever I needed to eat, I would just pull out the food from the cooler. Now to keep the longevity of it. Oh, and by the way, yes, I ate it cold. But you know, that's what you do for some goals. And so when we got to the hotel. Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss,

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17:34That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. In order to keep the longevity of the food, first of all, there was a microwave now. So I was able to microwave and heat it up. But I would put the cooler in the bathtub. I would unplug and dump out all of the ice. And then I would fill it back up. I would walk down the hallway with a cooler and I'd go to the ice machine and I'd fill it up with ice.

18:07Guys, the perfect way to have a mobile refrigerator with you. Ain't no excuse there. Like if you're a competitor and you got to do those things, you got to do those things. There's even the point, I'm not going to go to this far. But there's a point where I was going through TSA with all of my meals and I was eating tilapia on a flight. I'm not kidding you. Like I felt so bad for anybody that was around me, sitting around me during that plane ride. Because just the smell of raw, cold fish probably was horrendous. But you know, goals, man.

18:37Like I had a goal in mind and I was committed and determined to do anything that I had to do to achieve that goal. When you do like, I'll say, when you do get to the end of the goal and you look back and you're like, did you do everything right? Did you do everything that you could have possibly done to get you to where you are today? And in that moment, I was always able to say yes. And I was always just super proud of myself for adversity or things that I had to figure out or like problems I had to solve or like the things I had to say no to because it led me to the goal. Right?

19:08So that same goes to you. It may not be that freaking extreme. And I wouldn't say it needs to be that extreme. But it's like, what do your goals mean to you? Are you dedicated? Do you want to achieve them? And at the end of them, can you, when you're there achieving it, can you look back and be like, and even if you set a date and you get there and you're like, I, and you, you ask those questions and it's not. And it's because you didn't control yourself while you travel. And maybe it's spiraled for a couple of weeks afterwards. Let me tell you, then you need to put some of these things into play for yourself.

19:41Right? Prep your meals, pack your meals, do that stuff. Do things that you know, even if it's only a few meals throughout the day, or it's like protein bars and protein powder. And you're more picking the light foods during the day that while you're out to eat, then you can have the big meals with your friends and family because you've saved up that extra room. I'm thinking mentally. And if you, if you learn macros, you'll be able to, to do all of this stuff. Like you'll just know macros isn't another diet. It's a skill set that will serve you for the rest of your life. But anyway, that's all the things related to like traveling for vacation, a couple stories in there.

20:16And just how you can just prime yourself mentally and also some of those tactics that I shared with you. But now I want to share with you guys because there may be some of you guys who for an extended period of time have to live out of a hotel for work. And so I didn't have to live out of a hotel. Well, I technically was working from the hotel. But yeah, I mean, in my sense, it was running warrior, babe. But anyway, I had to live in a hotel for, I would say, a little over a month. And that was back in the end of 2019.

20:46Now, if anybody, if any of you guys do have to do this for work, I would totally recommend to find an extended stay because there they have a fridge, they have a stove. And they, they can, if you go downstairs to the front desk, you can ask them for hot plates. And so if there's not a stove, they can give you a hot plate and you can cook on the hot plate. So I had to do that. I had just a fridge and a microwave in one of them. And then the second one that I had to stay in had a stove.

21:16So that was, it was very small though. Or did I have to use a hot plate for that one? I don't know. I don't remember. But those are your options, right? And so while I stayed there though, I found a local grocery store and I just went and grocery shopped all the things that I needed. And then I meal prepped everything with a hot plate and whatever I knew that I could cook into a microwave. So like it's on you if you're traveling and you're staying inside of a hotel for an extended period of time. Let's say you don't have the option of a stove.

21:48They probably still do have a hot plate downstairs. So definitely go and ask if they have that. And then go buy a cooler. Do the thing that I already just said with putting ice in a cooler and then emptying it out and putting new ice in it. Because that's your fridge. And then there's, if there's not a microwave, there's probably a microwave downstairs somewhere. And you can just whip up pretty much anything in a microwave that you like oatmeal or egg whites or, you know, something that's super easy. Microwave will rice. Like there's so many options.

22:19It's like looking at the resources and kind of opening the box up and being like, how can I prepare myself for this? Right. And some answers will come. Grocery store. Bam. Meal prep. Hot plate. Microwave. If you didn't know those things existed, they do exist in hotels. And then you can set yourself up for that. Right. So it's on you to just go out of your way to do those things. I definitely made it apparent for me to make sure that I, you know, I still was in alignment with everything that I wanted to do for myself.

22:50Like I personally could not fathom eating out every single day for a whole month. So I had to figure it out. Not only is it a waste of money, but also it just was totally detrimental and kind of productive to the goals that I was. So I was working for that time, which was just maintaining my body composition. But I still needed to the proper nutrition to do it. And like I'm trying to remember exactly the foods. I know rice cakes and oatmeal were a big thing. Egg whites, being able to and full just regular eggs.

23:23I was able to cook sweet potatoes and chicken and everything on the hot plate. So it's like there's anything and everything, hot plate and microwave that you could do. And maybe there's some things I'm missing or not thinking of. But it's totally possible if you think outside of the box. And then two, to combine like this living in a hotel for work with also traveling with vacation too, to combine these two really quick for a gym. Dude, I used to when I traveled to Kentucky with my mom, I would find our, I would know, like ask her in advance, where's our hotel?

23:56I would go to Google Maps. I would look at the hotel. And then I would search gyms. And then all of the local gyms came up. And so there we go. I would then either just walk into the gym and get a day pass or a week pass or whatever I needed. And the, you know, just making it happen is what I and you need, I did and what you need to do is like, cool. Okay, I found this gym. I'm going to make my workout happen on this day, this day, this day, and this day.

24:27And I'm going to go to this gym, right? It's really like, it sounds so easy, me tactically talking it out to you guys. But like, it's on you too, when you do travel and you go on vacation or you're traveling for work or all of this stuff, you're living in a hotel. It's like, you now know by listening to this podcast, it is possible for you. So you just, you need to implement it for yourself, right? So again, some takeaways is definitely prepare yourself ahead of time for any travel by bringing protein powder and protein bars.

24:58Label the protein powder the right way to get through TSA. You can also bring some other dry foods like rice cake. And then it's more of a mental game. You guys, like totally more of a mental game. Like one week away is not going to ruin all of your progress. It matters the most if like, when you do get back home, will you or will you not get back on your routine? If you don't get back on your routine, then yes, all your progress could be lost. If you do get back on your routine, you're solid. And then when you're traveling, look for gyms. Search the gyms around the hotel that you're staying in, even for vacation or living out of a hotel.

25:32And then make it a choice to choose the foods that are going to support you, right? Choose the foods that have a solid balance of protein, fats, and carbs. And so you don't feel like bogged down after you eat a meal, but you feel like, okay, that was super light. And I feel great. And now like I'm ready to crush the rest of my day. Okay, so I hope you guys found that valuable. Those are some tips, tricks, and ways to help you stay balanced and nutrition while living in a hotel, going on vacation, or even just overall your fitness goals and making your workouts happen while you are away.

26:08All right, guys. Hope you enjoyed it. And I'll catch you in the next one. Real quick. The only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.

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