How to Stay Healthy When You Travel with JJ Virgin

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Or is it just me, that the drapes at hotels, they didn't even try so many of these ones. The drapes just do not close and so you're shoving furniture against it like all sorts of different things. Here's the easy hack close pins.

Here's jj, Virgin, triple board certified nutrition.

And fitness expert and four time New York Times bestselling author. It's time to reignite wellness. Hey, it's JJ and I travel all the time. Yes, it's true. I travel.

Gosh.

Well, I'm an ambassador with Marriott bonvoy, which means 100 plus nights there. I did 135 nights at the Marriott Bonvoy this year, so if that tells you anything. Wow. So, yes, I have good hotel and airline points. That's the plus. The downside, of course, can be that this can trash your health and your weight loss goals if you do not plan ahead. So I'm going to share with you how I managed to travel like crazy, stay healthy and fit. All right, so I'm going to give you 10 top 10 travel tips. My tops. Also, I'm going to add in as a bonus, how to eat on the road without blowing it. Okie dokie. Before we dive in, I want to do a shout out to Missy. Missy co left a five star review on Apple iTunes and the title was Five Stars. Thank you, JJ for all the great info. I always learned something new. And thank you, Missy, for the review. We super duper appreciate it. I want to give you one more thing to think about and then we'll dive in to today's podcast. Stay with me.

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Alrighty, here we go. So one of the biggest challenges on the road of course is sleep. And so that's the first part I'm going to really focus on is making sure that you get a good night's sleep. So first thing is when you're booking the hotel room, when you're booking it super important, just get asked for a quiet room right then and there. If you stay at hotels all the time, if like you're say, you know, an ambassador at Bonvoy, which is the Marriott and Weston and Sheraton Properties, you can get all of this in your guest profile. But I always have it confirmed too that I want something tucked away from the elevators, etc. Because I am a light sleeper and I that just makes me crazy. And I will also tell you that when I get in I check around just to make sure that I don't have like crying baby next door or anything going on like that or I'm above. I remember once I was like five stories up from the nightclub, I kid you not, that was like outside nightclub. I go how? How on earth do people sleep like this? So not only do you want to say it ahead of time, say it again when you're checking in and then check it out when you get there. I remember I was staying at the W in Scottsdale. And they were like, oh, have the most beautiful room for you. And I'm like, wow, that's so great. I go to it. It's this entire gorgeous suite overlooking the pool where they have parties on the weekends till 2am so always make sure plus you're further away from the elevators. More steps for you. Bonus. All right, now next up, and always, always do this, bring your earplugs. I bring two pairs of earplugs because sometimes they can just, I don't know, they like sneak out in the middle of sleep and like le building. So I always have extra earplugs and I have a sleep mask. I will put in the show notes@jj virgin.com forward/travel tips. I'll put in my very favorite sleep mask, which is this awesome tempur pedic sleep mask. And it does not give you the weird, you know, that weird stuff, the sleep mask smushies that we do not like so much. So that's another great one. Also, my girlfriend, Dr. Marisol Tijero told me this, that when you do wear a sleep mask, it actually helps you get better sleep as well. She has a super cool one that she uses a little cod liver oil on your lashes and brows and puts on. So we'll link to that as well. Very cool. But this is one I used to, when I traveled to Europe or places where it was an overnight flight and I had to sleep, I used to never use earplugs and eye masks. I don't know what I was thinking. What a game changer. And even in the hotel, like there's wacky noise. If you're far enough away, there might be just, I don't know, an AC or something going on that could be wacky. And that's why you can also get a white noise app like White Noise Generator or sleep a fan. Those things can help as well. So look at what you can do if you are in, say, New York City that never sleeps and you still have noise that's getting past those earplugs. Okay, now you're probably going to ask next. Okay, that sounds super cool. What the heck do we do about the time zone situations? And you know, now I live on the east coast in Florida, but I travel a lot to the west coast and I travel to Europe. And in fact, this year alone, I'm traveling from Florida to California, to Hawaii, back to California, over to Israel, back to California, back to Hawaii. Oh my gosh. So a lot of time zone changing that, by the way, is in eight weeks, Actually seven. So that's really crazy. Time zone shifting. So what do you need to do to make this happen? First of all, I will do a shout out to my girlfriend Emily Fletcher's Eva meditation, because one of her hacks is to meditate as soon as you wake up, wherever you are. Like if you're flying in, meditate when you wake up, even if you've only had four hours of sleep, as one of the ways to do this, of course. Also, we love us some blue light glasses to help. So that's another great one. And what I do is I start to shift if at all possible. Like, I actually, on the East Coast, I go to bed a little later and get up a little later than I do on the West Coast. So I'm naturally kind of, you know, West Coast. I go to bed more around nine and. And get up around six. East Coast, I go to bed around 10 and get up at seven. So sometimes even 7:30 or 8, let's be honest. So that's. That's how I do it, is I just shift a little bit already. But I also plan in when I'm moving to different time zones. I build in if needed, like going to Europe. I build in naps and back and forth to the east coast and West Coast. I give myself three days and I shift an hour a day. And then, of course, I use my bulletproof coffee in the morning and my sleep candy at night to help me shift as well. And light a. Of course, super helps. So when you wake up in the morning, open up the blinds, get the natural sunlight. If you can walk outside, bonus points. It makes a big difference. And if you're going to bed earlier, blackout curtains are super important. So here's another key one. Have you noticed, or is it just me, that the drapes at hotels, it's like I just stayed. I went to this really cool place with. With my brother Dave Asprey in the Exumas, and they didn't even try. It's like they. The way they put the drapes up, there was no way the light wasn't coming through. Thankfully, I had my eye mask with me. But so many of these ones, the drapes just do not close. And so you're shoving furniture against it like all sorts of different things. Here's the easy hack. Clothespins, Clothespins. So all you need to do is bring some clothespins with you. Now here's another thing that we bring with us. And I got these actually for my husband in his Christmas stocking last year. Maybe it was his birthday. I got them these little black dots that cover all of the electronics in the room because it is crazy. All the little things that you'll see all over the room, you know, covering things up or all the little lights. So I have these little black dots of varying sizes to stick over those lights. The maids must wonder what the heck is going on in here. And then I have clothes bins for the curtains. Works like a charm. So good. All right. One of the other things that I make sure that I always do when I'm traveling is work out. And I just plan it into my schedule. And I used to allow my schedule to get just ridiculously out of control and I would prioritize all my meetings and everything else and try to do it in a short amount of time and I'd end up trashed. So now I'll add an extra day. I'll do less stuff each day, less work each day so I can get my sleep sleep and I can get my workouts in. What a difference, what a difference. Plus I'm more productive, so it's all good. And one of the ways I stay productive is by making sure that I have a good gym. And so that is one of the things that I'm always looking at when I'm choosing hotels is I want to make sure that I've got a hotel that's got a good gym. And by the way, I always make sure that I find out what is in the gym. Because if they say a fitness room, it usually means a treadmill and a bike and maybe a pre core elliptical, you know, so I always make sure I know what they have in the gym. And I tend to stay away from that gym from 6 to 8am because that's when those gyms are packed. And I can usually organize my schedule just like I do at home to go to the gym during the least busy time. So if there isn't a gym, because sometimes this happens when we go to Europe, we're always checking out what is around. And worst case, I turn the stairs in the hotel into my gym. And of course I also have bodyweight workouts and I have body weight workouts, by the way, in my Fast Fitness online program. We'll link to that as well. But you can always do a bodyweight workout. You can always go up and down the stairs. And the other thing I take advantage of, especially in Europe, is walking as much as possible whenever there's an opportunity. Europe and New York, I walk rather than take the take an Uber or Take the trains. Okay, next up, a fridge in your room. So you know how. Now they have those fridges that if you pull one thing out, you get charged for it immediately. So I always request a mini fridge for my room, which is super easy to do. And then you can have Amazon prime or Instacart or one of those other ones, ship stuff over to you to be there when you arrive. So such an easy thing to do. And, you know, first of all, you don't eat garbage. Second of all, you eat so much healthier for so much less, so that's an easy one for me. And I always have a nutribullet with me and my shake little packets, so I did my shakes in little packets, too, so they're easy to travel with. And then it's pretty simple to just get some unsweetened coconut milk, maybe some frozen berries or avocados sent on over. Same with some bottled water. So super easy. I to always check where I am. Now. There's. I travel to a lot of the same places. Seems like I travel a lot to Scottsdale and New York, San Diego now. So since I know where I'm going, I also know what's around, so I know what healthy restaurants are around. And when you have a fridge back there, then you can go to that healthy restaurant and bring stuff back, right? And put it in your fridge so that you can have it maybe for lunch the next day. Makes it way easier. Now, one of the things they said before was get some water for the fridge. You really, really want to make sure that you are drinking a lot of water when you travel. And so one of the things that I make sure that I travel with is a water bottle that I can fill up, right? Because there's usually water fountains everywhere. And then you don't increase your carbon footprint either, so that's. You're not getting the plastics. So that's. All right. Let me give you a couple more things on the food side. Ready? We'll do the food side. First of all, I travel with a couple things that I never. Oh, one other thing that I bring with me that's really important. So I have my sleep candy, but I also bring magnesium, and that is so important to travel with, because if you're someone who can get constipated when you travel. I know we're talking about this right now. We are. All right. But come on, if it happens, you're going to be thanking me. Bring magnesium with you because this will save you from that problem. And magnesium, generally, you want to dose just a little bit more than you would need. So you get a little bit of just a slight loose stool so you don't get constipated there. That's easy. Especially if you're home, used to taking Epsom salts baths, used to taking magnesium. Then you go on the road, and you're not doing that. Not, you know, you're going to need to do it. Okay. The other thing I take with me when I'm traveling, I always take my Safety Net Plus. I also always take my bars with me, too, so that I'm never stuck on a plane. First of all, Safety Net plus saved me so many times because it's going to help me digest protein and fat, but also protect me if any gluten, dairy, eggs, or soy sneak in. I tend to be able to do pastured eggs. I'm fine. But the regular eggs, nope. So this will protect you, which is why it's called Safety Net Plus. It helps digest protein and fat. So super important to travel with and to keep with you. Next thing is, let's see. I always like to look at menus before I go, if I can. And. But even if I can't do that, when I go to a restaurant, I see a menu as, you know, a suggestion, Right? So now, this doesn't always work. Sometimes you get those chefs that will not let you do substitutions. But remember, you can always do two appetizers as a meal. Look for what are some of the sides on some of the different dishes. Because a lot of times if I see, like Brussels sprouts on a dish, I'll get them as a side on my dish. So I see, I see restaurants as a great opportunity to always start with the salad. Make sure you start with, like, an olive oil vinaigrette. Something clean, not something garbage. And don't turn it into a salad Sunday by adding in dried fruit and crunchies and all sorts of garbage like that. But clean salad, lots of greens and non starchy vegetables, or maybe a vegetable soup. And then get a protein, a clean protein, grass fed, pastured, wild. And then get two servings of vegetables on the side. A lot of times, eating out, it's hard to find clean starches like, you know, some squashes or sweet potatoes or legumes or wild rice. And in that case, I double up on the veggies. Simple, easy peasy. You really want to watch out on the menu. Here's what you're. Here's what you're just saying no to. Deep fried, crunchy, creamy glazed. Those are those problem ones? And also if you've done the Virgin diet, you've gone through the Breakthrough Food Intolerance online program, you figured out which foods work for you and which foods don't. Maybe you've decided you figured out that gluten and dairy do not work for you. That's something of course to talk to the waiter when you're ordering. Because I'm amazed now, even in Europe, they're so super, super accommodating. Gosh, like five years ago this was like challenging. Not challenging anymore. And of course the Safety Net plus will help. But ideally, you know, you're not ordering it the first place. That way if it plates contaminate or something, you still aren't going to hurt. Get, get hurt though, because you're taking the Safety Net plus. And remember, you can always share things. So there's a place I found in Tampa that literally has the best 60 spice chicken I've ever eaten in my life. But they give you, gosh, it's like half a chicken. It's way more chicken than any one person could eat. And so it is something that we share or we take home and it's awesome the next day. So just think about that. You do not need to clean your plate. You want to be the clean plate club because you're eating clean, not because you're cleaning your plate off. One other thing if you're eating out too, especially with other people, is you want to be the last to finish, not the first. Put your fork down. All right, next up. Oh, if you're looking at that menu and there's something you're going, oh my gosh, they have, I don't know what it would be. Something that you just lose your mind over. Do you think it's the yummiest thing ever and you just must have it. Take a break, go into the bathroom, have a little chat. Remember your goals. Call a friend for a lifeline. If you need to go into our our mindshare Mind share. Sorry. Our reignite wellness365 membership community. If you're a get some help, get over it. If there's something that you really want to have or have a bite of, just order it for the table and take your bite last. I always do this if there's some, something I want to try because I know if I'm eating out with friends normally they'll dig through it before I ever get a chance. So that's a little, a little Sun Tzu tactic. All right, next thing, make sure you carry bars with you so that if you do get yourself in trouble, you've always got something with you. So you won't succumb to getting so hungry that you overeat or grabbing something off the street. You know what I mean? Not like off the ground, but like a street cart because you're hungry. Okie dokie, here we go. So travel. This is how you do it. And you stay healthy. When people tell me, and I remember standing in line once and there was this woman standing in line in front of me and she looks back at me and she's got this, this big muffin and she's standing in line to buy the muffin and she's ordering a mocha, like mocha latte or something. She kind of looks back at me, she goes, oh, I only do this when I travel, right? And I go, how often do you travel? She goes, oh, you know, like every couple weeks. And I'm like, whoa. Well, the. If it was once a year, I'm not as concerned. But let's face it, we're traveling so much nowadays that. And honestly, here's the other part. With traveling and eating out, you actually want to be more careful, not less careful, because you're already in a situation where your immune system might be a little compromised. The last thing you want to do is get tired and not get good sleep and eat a bunch of garbage and set yourself up to get sick. So this is a time when your margin for of error is way smaller. So it's super important to do this. So I've got some marching orders for you, as I'm sure you figured I did. So I am going to share something cool with you. I'll be right back after that. To sum it all up, stay with me.

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Alrighty. Welcome back. Okay, I want to remind you I spouted out about a bunch of stuff, so I want you to go to jjvirgin.com traveltips the real takeaway here is more of a refrain or a mindset. What if? What if? You could actually be healthier when you travel. What if you could actually be healthier when you eat out? I think so many people just have got it into their brain that, oh, you know, when I, when I have to travel, so I'm not going to be as healthy, I'm not going to be able to do these habits. When I get into a hotel room, I immediately set it up like my command center. So I've got my healthy food, I've got all my supplements with me, I've got my workout plan set. I set it up so that I can totally keep my routine going or even do some other cool new stuff when I'm on the road. And same with when I'm eating out. Gosh, what if when you're eating out you go, you know what? I never ever eat chard. And they've got chard on the menu now. I can try it, right? So like this 60 spice chicken with this coconut arborio arborio rice with spinach. Like, I wouldn't make that at home because it's a lot of work, but it's so delicious. So, and totally healthy. So look at these things as, look at your travel and your dining out as a way to get more healthy without being deprived. You know, when you're working out. Like last time I was at a really cool event in Cabo and the place I was at had a yoga class every morning and I just decided, hey, I'm just going to do this every single morning. It's a new way to start my day, a new routine, and it's stuck since then. So think about what you can do when you travel to help you try different workouts, right? And try newer new healthy foods that you may want to incorporate into your repertoire. And rather than, and I know you won't do this, but you know, maybe some of your friends might use travel as an excuse, but not here, right? None of us are doing that. And I want to remind you again, jjvirgin.com traveltips I gave you a bunch of cool stuff and I'll link to all those resources. And of course, the final, the big ask. Oh my gosh, I would love it so much if you would rate and review the show and put your name there so I can shout you out. All you need to do is jump over to Reignite Wellness Podcast on itunes. And while you're there, of course subscribe so you don't miss anything. Awesome. And then leave a review. And by the way, if you've got any questions or anything you want to hear more about. You can leave it there too. We read every single one of them. I read them, the team reads them. Because it takes a village to do the podcast and we appreciate it so much. Okie dokie. See you next time by.

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