Our culture’s obsession with weight has led to an unhealthy attitude about exercise. This attitude is often self-defeating because most people have been taught to think of exercise in terms of how many calories they’ll burn to make up for the food they eat.

When you use exercise to earn the right to eat or punish yourself for eating, it leads to negative feelings about exercise. This interferes with your ability to truly enjoy your food, knowing that you’ll have a price to pay. This is also why many people find it difficult to discover and maintain an enjoyable, sustainable exercise habit.

I feel so strongly about this that when I speak to health care professionals about effectively promoting healthy lifestyles, I urge them to never talk about weight and exercise in the same appointment. I want them to send a clear, positive message to their patients and clients about the value of fitness no matter what they weigh!

As part of breaking free from yoyo dieting a decade ago, I stopped exercising to manage my weight. Now I live an active lifestyle because I can and because it feels good. Our trip demonstrated just a few of the reasons exercise has become such a natural part of my life.

• I had major surgery just two weeks before our trip but I recovered quickly and easily. Other than being unable to lift anything over 10 pounds for eight weeks, I didn’t need to change any of our plans.
• Not being allowed to lift anything heavy made me realize how much I usually appreciate being self-sufficient when I travel – hauling suitcases out of the trunk, jogging through the airport with my carry-on to make a tight connection, and lifting bags into the overhead bin without asking for help from some guy.
• I didn’t think twice about walking through airport terminals, hotels, restaurants, or malls.
• I loved seeing the entire Australia Zoo on foot without feeling exhausted at the end of the day
• I’m no Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter) but at least I could easily crawl around in the grass to pet the kangaroos.
• When the 16 hour time difference affected my sleep, 15 minutes of yoga before bed relaxed my body and my mind.

Travelers’ Fitness Tip: Take an honest look at why you exercise—or more importantly, why you don’t. If you have negative feelings or associations about it, focus on the benefits – increased energy, stamina, strength and flexibility. Then do something active that feels good, even if it’s only for a few minutes. Do it again most days of the week until you begin to crave the good feelings you get and start noticing how much easier it is to do everything you want.

Posted in: Active Lifestyle • Healthy Travel Tips • attitudes about exercise • Australia Zoo • exercising while traveling • Staying active while traveling |

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