Short term health hacks, travel edition
October 22, 2017 10:09 AM Subscribe
I enjoy travel, and I've clearly overdone it this year - my health has begun to complain. Unfortunately, I have six separate work/non-work trips coming up in what remains of this year, which translates into a total of four weeks of being on the road. None of these are optional. Hack my health for the travel, please.
I have motion sickness, GERD and muscles that cramp easily, and a lot of these trips would involve travel over mountainous roads, and extremes of weather. I'm excited about them but also worried. What can I do to stay as healthy as possible through them and the in-between times?
My routine remains the same - same punishing commute (3 hrs plus), same office hours(8-9 hrs), same household chores etc. The stuff I've thought of already include (1) physical exercise every day, (2)get 8 hrs of sleep, (3) drastically cut down on takeout food, (4) very little or no alcohol, (5)maybe yoga?
Is there something I'm forgetting? Something that makes it easy to quickly acclimatize to new places/food/weather/breathing problems that come with GERD?
I'll be grateful for ideas! Thank you!
I have motion sickness, GERD and muscles that cramp easily, and a lot of these trips would involve travel over mountainous roads, and extremes of weather. I'm excited about them but also worried. What can I do to stay as healthy as possible through them and the in-between times?
My routine remains the same - same punishing commute (3 hrs plus), same office hours(8-9 hrs), same household chores etc. The stuff I've thought of already include (1) physical exercise every day, (2)get 8 hrs of sleep, (3) drastically cut down on takeout food, (4) very little or no alcohol, (5)maybe yoga?
Is there something I'm forgetting? Something that makes it easy to quickly acclimatize to new places/food/weather/breathing problems that come with GERD?
I'll be grateful for ideas! Thank you!
Best answer: I travel a lot for work, and here are my additional tips. Some of these are hokey pokey, but they work for me!
1) Drink a lot of water. Way more than you're used to. If you're flying a lot, doubly-so!
2) Start off each day with a bowl of fruit or banana or apple
3) I use melatonin to heavily regulate my sleep.
4) Winter is coming up. Take your vitamins!
5) Get a flu shot, if you haven't already.
posted by unexpected at 10:29 AM on October 22, 2017
1) Drink a lot of water. Way more than you're used to. If you're flying a lot, doubly-so!
2) Start off each day with a bowl of fruit or banana or apple
3) I use melatonin to heavily regulate my sleep.
4) Winter is coming up. Take your vitamins!
5) Get a flu shot, if you haven't already.
posted by unexpected at 10:29 AM on October 22, 2017
Get a (smallish?) icebox/cooler to bring with you in the car and get food at an actual grocery store instead of the gas station. This will help with the eating healthy. Also maybe a bowl/fork/etc for pulling over for a salad (wash in the hotel room etc).
posted by sexyrobot at 10:51 AM on October 22, 2017
posted by sexyrobot at 10:51 AM on October 22, 2017
Can you get some temporary help for household chores and such? Sometimes there are not enough hrs in the day and something has to give. And yes, lots of water and sleep.
posted by koahiatamadl at 11:07 AM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by koahiatamadl at 11:07 AM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Muscles that cramp easily could point to your electrolytes being deficient. Try eating high potassium foods or supplementing.
posted by quince at 11:39 AM on October 22, 2017
posted by quince at 11:39 AM on October 22, 2017
I also have GERD and a sensitive stomach. Daily exercise and lots of water makes a big difference for me. Also making sure I take my omeprazole.
Daily meditation (I like the headspace app) helps as well.
Carrying snacks (bananas are great) and caffeinated stuff I can drink (earl gray) helps me from getting too hungry and making poor food decisions. Also tums, pepto,etc.
Having recurring lists (buy these groceries/toiletries) and separate, prepacked travel items (these are my travel sneakers, my travel deodorant, etc) helps me feel less stressed and unprepared, too.
Avoid ibuprofen if you can. Sucks if like me you get headaches or muscle aches but it's murder on your stomach.
Whatever daily exercise you do, work your core. It helps your whole body and your tummy, too. Yoga might be great, core work + meditation, but it can be hard to fit in a class. Great vids online though.
posted by pazazygeek at 11:54 AM on October 22, 2017
Daily meditation (I like the headspace app) helps as well.
Carrying snacks (bananas are great) and caffeinated stuff I can drink (earl gray) helps me from getting too hungry and making poor food decisions. Also tums, pepto,etc.
Having recurring lists (buy these groceries/toiletries) and separate, prepacked travel items (these are my travel sneakers, my travel deodorant, etc) helps me feel less stressed and unprepared, too.
Avoid ibuprofen if you can. Sucks if like me you get headaches or muscle aches but it's murder on your stomach.
Whatever daily exercise you do, work your core. It helps your whole body and your tummy, too. Yoga might be great, core work + meditation, but it can be hard to fit in a class. Great vids online though.
posted by pazazygeek at 11:54 AM on October 22, 2017
For motion sickness I always feel better if I'm driving.
If that's not possible, try to sit in the front seat or at least where you can see through the windshield. Look ahead as if you were the one driving, and shift where you are looking on curves as if you were driving. It's actually a lot more mental effort and difficulty than doing the driving but helps a lot.
Try to impress on anyone you are traveling with who just doesn't get the idea of or makes fun of you having motion sickness and makes you ride in a poor position, won't stop when you need a break, smokes in the car, wears scents that make it worse, etc, of the seriousness of the situation for you -- throwing up on them is generally helpful in this regard.
posted by yohko at 4:50 PM on October 23, 2017
If that's not possible, try to sit in the front seat or at least where you can see through the windshield. Look ahead as if you were the one driving, and shift where you are looking on curves as if you were driving. It's actually a lot more mental effort and difficulty than doing the driving but helps a lot.
Try to impress on anyone you are traveling with who just doesn't get the idea of or makes fun of you having motion sickness and makes you ride in a poor position, won't stop when you need a break, smokes in the car, wears scents that make it worse, etc, of the seriousness of the situation for you -- throwing up on them is generally helpful in this regard.
posted by yohko at 4:50 PM on October 23, 2017
Sleep. As much as you can, before-during-after this travel, sleep. Can you get 7-8 hours each night during this period? Your immune system will thank you.
(Ah, I see you already mentioned this in your ask, but it bears repeating. I've been doing immunological research related to sleep and, hoo boy, even I'm a little spooked that I'm not getting enough)
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 9:41 AM on October 24, 2017
(Ah, I see you already mentioned this in your ask, but it bears repeating. I've been doing immunological research related to sleep and, hoo boy, even I'm a little spooked that I'm not getting enough)
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 9:41 AM on October 24, 2017
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For the motion sickness, I find these ginger candies to be invaluable: Ting Ting Jahe. If you have access to some Asian grocery stores, they're going to be a lot cheaper than going through Amazon.
For my GERD, I find that keeping it under control keeps the rest of my body happy. It'll take some experimentation, but things that I found worked for me were:
No drip coffee; cold brew is OK.
No green tea; black tea is OK.
No alcohol at all, in any amount.
No spicy foods at all.
I try to eat yogurt with live cultures at least once a day.
I take a probiotic every day.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:27 AM on October 22, 2017