It's In The Bag: How to Avoid Gaining Weight while Traveling

Worried about gaining weight when you travel?  Try packing your luggage a bit differently.

 

We’d all deem it a whopping success if we could return from travel weighing the same amount we did before we left.  But when you’re on the road, you’re under more stress than other times.  So much so that we lose sight of our plan and give ourselves an excuse to go wild.  Could keeping the pounds off be as simple as how we pack our luggage?  I think so…

One of my favorite authors Malcolm Gladwell, author of the Tipping Point, coined a phrase called “The Power of Context.”  It simply states that human behavior is sensitive to and strongly influenced by its environment.  If you can create an atmosphere while traveling that reverberates your passion for health and fitness you’d be more likely to succeed. 

So, here’s what I suggest.  Create a checklist of items you’ll pack into your luggage (or use mine from below).  From now on when you pack your luggage start by packing all your leisure and/or business items and toiletries.  Finally, you’ll use your checklist to pack all the health and fitness items at the top. 

If You Can See It, You Can Achieve It

We talk a lot at H3 about setting up your environment for success—making sure you have the tools and items around you to facilitate a healthy lifestyle. It is true that if you build up the space around you to be successful then you are more likely to perform the behavior. Convenience is crucial when it comes to diet, exercise or any other health behavior. We are much more likely to work out if our gym is on the way home from work as opposed to going out of our way to get there. We are more likely to eat healthy foods if that is what we stock our pantry with. It’s hard to find the apple if it is hiding behind the bag of potato chips! If you see something, it is easier to choose that as an option. A great way to set up your environment for success is to make the best options easier to see.

Below are some methods that H3 @ Home members have used to set themselves up for success by placing visual reminders in their environment.

• Place vitamins next to the coffee maker. It’s the first thing most of us stumble to in the morning. Having the vitamins there will increase your chances of seeing them and can making them part of your daily routine.


• Lay out your workout clothes the night before. We call is “laying out your body”. Put on your floor all of the clothes you need the next day for your physical activity (this is most effective when arranged in the shape of your body). Making it easy to throw them on, as well as remind you in the morning that it’s a gym day!


• One former H3 guest uses their H3 water bottle at work to stay hydrated. It’s a great reminder throughout the day to stay active as well as the commitment made here at H3 to “get serious”.


• The sticky note is a powerful method for placing visual reminders around your environment. Use it to place your goals on the fridge to be reminded throughout the day of what you are working to achieve.

Those are some methods that others have used to visually remind themselves of their commitment to living a healthy lifestyle.
What are a few that you can use for some of the goals you have set for your life?

Coach's Corner: If You Can See It, You Can Achieve It

We talk a lot at H3 about setting up your environment for success—making sure you have the tools and items around you to facilitate a healthy lifestyle. It is true that if you build up the space around you to be successful then you are more likely to perform the behavior. Convenience is crucial when it comes to diet, exercise or any other health behavior. We are much more likely to work out if our gym is on the way home from work as opposed to going out of our way to get there. We are more likely to eat healthy foods if that is what we stock our pantry with. It’s hard to find the apple if it is hiding behind the bag of potato chips! If you see something, it is easier to choose that as an option. A great way to set up your environment for success is to make the best options easier to see.

Below are some methods that H3 @ Home members have used to set themselves up for success by placing visual reminders in their environment.

• Place vitamins next to the coffee maker. It’s the first thing most of us stumble to in the morning. Having the vitamins there will increase your chances of seeing them and can making them part of your daily routine.


• Lay out your workout clothes the night before. We call is “laying out your body”. Put on your floor all of the clothes you need the next day for your physical activity (this is most effective when arranged in the shape of your body J). Making it easy to throw them on, as well as remind you in the morning that it’s a gym day!


• One former H3 guest uses their H3 water bottle at work to stay hydrated. It’s a great reminder throughout the day to stay active as well as the commitment made here at H3 to “get serious”.


• The sticky note is a powerful method for placing visual reminders around your environment. Use it to place your goals on the fridge to be reminded throughout the day of what you are working to achieve.

Those are some methods that others have used to visually remind themselves of their commitment to living a healthy lifestyle. What are a few that you can use for some of the goals you have set for your life?

Why Worksite Health?

Ever found yourself nodding off at your desk after your lunch of burger and fries? Or taking the elevator up to the next floor to use the restroom so that you don’t have to pass by your co-worker’s desk with the big bowl of chocolate temptations? Dreading that departmental meeting because you know lunch will be provided by the pizza place down the street?

All these scenarios make it very difficult to lead a healthy lifestyle. Quitting your job isn’t always an option, so what other steps can you take? Whether you are a leader in your organization or not, a good idea can be generated from any level. Consider advocating for or implementing health and wellness policies that would be beneficial for all employees. Consider factors like:
• Workplace smoking bans
• Alcohol policies
• Incentive programs
• Healthy food menus from which selections must be made for company functions
• Designated areas to eat lunch from home rather than being required to eat out

For example, the first two scenarios above might be avoided by implementing a policy for a designated break room. In which, should be the only area where food is visible. Providing healthy options at company events/meetings can be a relatively easy way for a company to meet the needs of their employees. Worksite wellness programs can be as simple as an annual screening and access to online resources, or it can involve organization-wide programs with activities and goals; implemented within policies and procedures; and even some friendly competition between departments.

Our environment plays a vital role in our success to grow and maintain a healthy lifestyle, so if you’re asking yourself “is it worth the trouble?”… the answer is “Yes! YOU are!” Take an opportunity to discuss some options with your organization’s leaders, and if you need any tips or assistance, contact Alicea Glover at aglover@hhealth.com to inquire about what we provide our employees through H3Direct, our worksite wellness program.

Coaching Corner: Change Your Environment

It’s un-describable being at Hilton Head Health; we’re in this bubble on an Island, secluded in a plantation surrounded by the healthy lifestyle every day. H3 is a bubble of positive energy, unwavering support, controlled portions, phenomenal exercise classes, continual encouragement and immense motivation. What if we all lived in this bubble? What if we engulfed ourselves in an atmosphere like this at home and at work? I’ll tell you one thing… We’d all be pretty dang healthy, that’s a fact.

The most important step in every guest’s journey begins when they step out of the bubble of H3. That first step is when the environment changes. If you don’t take anything away from this blog take this: Change Your Environment, Don’t Let Your Environment Change You.

Here are the first steps to changing your environment:

Clear out the Kitchen. We unknowingly sabotage ourselves when we stock goodies or treats in the cupboards. Make sure your home is a nutritional blockbuster. Maintain fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains at all times. Take it one step further and have one day each week that you commit to cutting berries, peeling carrots, chopping lettuce, portioning meats, and bagging metabo meals.

Layout the Game plan. Whether you’re a planner or not, create a system in your environment that maps your weekly game plan. Make Exercise Appointments in your weekly planner or calendar; these appointment should highlight what exercise you’ll be doing at a specific time of day. Remember to keep it visible, somewhere you’re guaranteed to walk by at least once per day.

Surround yourself with support. Make certain that people around you aren’t throwing you off your game. Place yourself around people who are positive, excited for life, and the kind of people that health is ingrained in everything they do. Our peers have the biggest impact when it comes to executing our true intentions.

Keep at Least One Cue. Whether it’s a picture of your kids, you crossing a finish line of a race, or the vision of you at your healthiest; there has to be one thing in your environment that draws you back—At all times, one tangible item or image that intrinsically motivates you to make healthy decisions on a day to day basis. Zig Ziglar says: “Motivation doesn’t last, that’s why I recommend it daily.”

Take these action steps and implement them into your everyday life. Evaluating and controlling your environment is the ultimate key to sustained success. No matter what happens, Catch yourself each day, Control each situation, and Change it to your healthy lifestyle.