The Nick Bare Podcast - 189: How I Eat and Train While Traveling

Episode Date: August 31, 2026

In this episode, I break down the planning system I use before every trip and the practical decisions that help me stay consistent on the road. I cover how I scout restaurants, grocery stores, gyms, and running routes; what food, supplements, and hydration I pack; how I prioritize protein; and how I rearrange strength sessions, use vacations as deload weeks, and lean on running when time is limited.You do not need a perfect plan or a rigid schedule to keep making progress. Build enough structure to support your goals, stay flexible when the trip demands it, and make the time for your health without taking time away from the responsibilities that matter most.CHAPTERS:00:00 Intro01:22 Why Fitness Matters02:18 Expectations and Flexibility04:09 Routines Versus Responsibilities10:35 Airport Food Reality Check15:10 Mission Plan for Travel18:04 Eating Plan and Recon23:45 Packing Supplements and Meals26:23 Day Of Travel Food Strategy33:41 Staying Hydrated on Flights35:00 Eating at Destination41:13 Protein First Principles45:46 Smart Restaurant Choices49:58 Training While Traveling52:32 Deloads and Run First59:09 Wrap Up and Key TakeawaysJOIN THE APP AND GET READY FOR UPDATEShttps://www.nickbarefitness.app/ORDER MY BOOK HERE: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Go-One-More-Intentional-Life-Changing/dp/1637746210FOLLOW:Become a BPN member FOR FREE - Unlock 25% off FOR LIFE ⁠https://www.bareperformancenutrition.com/collections/performance-nutritionIG: ⁠instagram.com/nickbarefitness/⁠YT: ⁠youtube.com/@nickbarefitnessThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal [health or profession] advice. Bare Performance Nutrition (BPN) is not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice.This podcast may not be republished without the written consent of Bare Performance Nutrition (BPN)MB01YBJI8SW8R2S

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today's episode is titled How I Train and Eat While Traveling. Now, this past month for me has been a marathon of travel, to say the least. And yesterday, me and the family just got back from completing the marathon. Some of this travel was family vacation in Florida. I had some travel that I needed to do for work. Earlier last week, I was in Fargo, North Dakota with a BPN team visiting one of our retail partners, who is Shields. And then I got back from that Shields trip, had a day in between, and then me and the family went back to the airport.

We flew to Michigan. We spent a few days in Michigan with Steph's family because that is where Steph is from and her parents still live in Michigan. And we got back last night. Like I said, August, 2006, it was full of travel. But I stayed on top of my nutrition. I stayed on top of my diet. I stayed on top of my training and my workouts.

And I just want to share with you. guys, how? And why? I mean, why? Because it matters to me. My health, my fitness, my performance, it matters to me. Staying in shape, hitting my workouts, fueling my body. I show up better, stronger, more energy. And I believe I'm a better leader, I'm a better father, I'm a better husband, I'm a better contributing member of and to society when I am training, when I am pushing my body, when I am eating healthy foods. That's the why. Now, the how, how do I train and eat while traveling?

And before I get into some of the tactics, there's a few things I want to say. First off, we have to. to, I have to, set realistic expectations while traveling. And I should also say that what I'm sharing, this is how I eat and train when I travel. I'm not saying you have to do this. You know, I want to share what I do. And hopefully it helps some of you guys out. But if you don't agree and you don't want to do any of this stuff. You don't have to. This is all personal preference. So when it comes to travel, I set realistic expectations and I look at travel very differently. I ask myself, what is this travel for? Is it for business? Is it for a normal

course of life event, or is it for vacation, leisure, pleasure? The way that I approach a vacation with my family in terms of training and dieting and nutrition is very different from the way that I may approach a work trip, where I fly in, I'm there for a few days and I fly out. or if we travel somewhere for a wedding or a birthday or anything like that, I will approach that travel, those events differently. So I approach and plan accordingly. Because one of the things that I've been beating a drum on for quite some time is that responsibilities should always outweigh routines.

The main problem with being unable to break your routine is that the rigidity can cause high anxiety, stress, decision fatigue, and an inability to adapt when life changes unexpectedly. When I go on family vacation, for example, my family, my kids, my relationships, my wife, my partner, that is my responsibility. being present, being there, making memories. My routines become flexible and they have to adapt, but I'm not going to prioritize my routine over my responsibilities. At least not anymore. I've done this at one point in my life and I can tell you, it didn't provide the joy and satisfaction and enjoyment that I thought it would.

It made things worse. it came with, as I mentioned, high levels of anxiety and stress and decision fatigue and an inability to adapt to life changes, routine changes. When we prioritize responsibilities over routines, we build structure and not cages. There's a looser framework that allows us to keep making progress and to succeed. I shared this quote in a podcast months back, and I'll come back to it because I think it's really good. The mind makes a great servant, but a terrible master. A servant is problem solving.

It sets and maps goals. It focuses energy. That's what a servant does. The mind makes a great servant. but when it becomes a master, the reason it's terrible is because when the mind is a master, it replays the same routine, even when that routine stops serving you. It steals your peace, your rest, your joy, and enjoying the present. So the key takeaway that I want to share with all of this and setting realistic expectations

is know when to be strict and rigid with your routine. and when to allow for flexibility and to adapt based off of the type of travel that it is. Again, I've shared this story before, but I've allowed routines in my life. And I still do occasionally. I'm not free of those chains sometimes. But I remember when Steph and I just got married

and we were on our honeymoon and coppers. and I just entered an Ironman prep. And in the morning, when Steph was waking up slow and going to get breakfast and then heading to the pool to relax, I was on the treadmill logging 14 to 20 miles in the resort gym. And I look back thinking, stupid, stupid, stupid. You prioritize your routine over your responsibility. Your responsibility to your new, loving, beautiful, caring wife. Some of my best vacations, best travel is when I just loosened the grip a little bit. I was flexible.

I was adaptable. So I share that again. I reiterate. I share that because what I'm about to do. talk about is not to make you feel guilty for going on a family vacation and enjoying some food and taking time away from the gym or you're running, your training. There is a time in place for that. I encourage that. Peace, rest, joy, satisfaction. But just because you travel, and here's where I'm going to hammer it home, just because you travel, just because you travel,

does not mean your systems, your habits, and your routines have to go out in the window. Just because I was traveling to Fargo, North Dakota early last week, doesn't mean that my habits, my systems, routines, they get put on pause and then I resume when I get back to Texas. There are seven days in a week, not just five. If you're traveling on a weekend or you're treating your weekends like a vacation, you will never make consistent progress. You will limit yourself. There's seven days in a week.

Not five. Saturdays and Sundays, they still count and they always will. The way that we succeed, achieve, win, progress is learning how to be. become resilient and adaptable. It is the most adaptable to change, the one that is most adaptable to change. It always blows my mind when I'm traveling and I'm in the airport. I'm not judging by any means, but I'm observing people's behaviors. If you want to experience some of the world's most selfish encounters and behaviors,

you just got to spend not even a few hours, but a few minutes in an airport. Everyone is concerned with themselves, getting to where they need to be running other people over. It is a pretty magnificent experience to witness. got a lot of zombies who were just walking, like staring at their phones, two inches from their face. But I'm always intrigued by watching people's nutrition and food choices while in an airport. Again, no judgment. Because the reality is that for many people, they just don't know any better.

They're not educated on what they should eat, how they should eat, when they should eat. I was sitting next to this kid. He's probably 16 years old a few months ago when I was coming back from the Pittsburgh Marathon and his head was down. His shoulders were sunk in. He was overweight. He looked insecure.

Maybe not. Maybe so. but from my observation, he looked insecure, and he was drinking a massive full sugar Mountain Dew. He had two bags of, like the dessert checks mix. Between the soda and those two bags, it was probably 1,200 calories. I think he just didn't know better.

And I thought to myself as I was watching him. This was one of those moments in life where I'll remember it forever. Because I was watching this kid, eat these foods, drink that soda, shoulders slouched, head looking down on his phone. And I just wanted to help him. I just wanted to take him under my wing and be like, dude, let me speak some life into you. let me introduce you to the gym and working out and eating healthy and building your confidence back up

where when you sit in that chair, your shoulders back, your chest is up, you're proud of the choices you're making on a daily basis. You're pushing yourself forward. I'll always remember that moment in that airport with that kid. And that's normal, unfortunately. Those are the decisions that people make on a regular basis. This past week I was traveling. It's 7 a.m. and people were drinking a beer. It's 9 a.m. And people are eating ice cream cones.

Like, what in the world is going on? I could imagine. But again, they may not know better. Ignorance. So how do we get this information out there? That's my goal with the podcast. and YouTube videos and, man, I've had this conviction on my heart recently for a long time, but it's been really strong recently. This is why I've created content for years and years and

years. But these last couple months, it's like, it's pulling at me. It's pulling at me. It's poor at me. There are so many people who just they want help, but they don't know where to get started and I want to help those people. Maybe you're some of those people. But maybe you're not.

Maybe you know a lot of this. Well, in that case, maybe you can be the brother or sister that pulls a peer out from the darkness of what they're struggling with and helps them improve. I treat travel like a military mission or operational plan.

And I never have really thought of it that way, but as I was preparing this episode, just thinking about the way that I approach, travel, no matter where we're going, vacation, wedding, business trip to Fargo, North Dakota, Pittsburgh Marathon weekend earlier this year. The way that I approach my travel is based off of the principles and strategies and tactics that I learned while I was in the military. Mission and operational planning.

First, we plan the travel. Then I recon the travel. I see what's available in that area. What gyms, what run routes, what grocery stores, what restaurants, what restaurants. I recon the travel. Then I make the plan. Or in the military terminology, make the order.

And then I execute and then evaluate and assess. So after I go through my travel, I sit back and I think, you know, what worked, what didn't. I then refine for the next time I travel. I learn, you know, every time I go out and I travel and what worked and what didn't work. And a lot of these systems and habits that I'm sharing are what I've learned through the plan, the recon, the order, the execution, and then the evaluation and assessment.

Treat your travel like a military operation. And I can guarantee it will be successful. you will increase your chances in likelihood of success in sticking to your plan if you treat it this way. Plan the travel. Recon the travel. Make the plan. Execute and then evaluate and assess. So I'm going to break this up into two sections. How I eat and then how I train. So let's talk about eating first. I'm sure this quote is no stranger. to you. If you fail to plan, you should plan to fail. And I think the rebuttal to that might be, yeah, but we're supposed to be flexible and adaptable. Being able to be adaptable and flexible

does not mean that it doesn't require a plan. If we take it back to military planning, operational planning, mission planning, there is always a plan. There's always a backup plan. Always. And in the event that plan A doesn't work and plan B doesn't work, then you become adaptable and you pivot and you're flexible. You lean on your systems that you know do work. So I like having a plan.

Sometimes that plan gets thrown out the window. In most cases, it does. but I have systems and habits that are foundational that allow me to be adaptable and pivot and be flexible. So this is all about planning, preparing, and setting yourself up for success. This might seem like a lot. And in some cases, it is.

It's like, too, I just want to wake up, pack my bag, hop on a plane, get to where I want to be, and then figure it all out. And if that's your approach and your agenda, and it works for you, go for it. I got nothing against it. But I like to prep.

I like to plan. I like to prepare. It brings me joy and happiness and fulfillment. So it's just, it's what I do. So eating, prior to travel,

some of the things that I'll do. As I talked about, the recon, If I know where we are going, I will look at what restaurants are around where I'm staying, grocery stores, readily accessible food options. Eating healthy while traveling is relatively simple. Is it easy? Depends on the person.

But it's simple. I mean, nowadays, you have. Chipotle's in every city. You got Kava's all over the place. You got Starbucks. You got Chick-fil-A. You got in and out. You have fast food, bowl spots, grocery stores. There's no excuse, literally zero excuse not to be able to eat healthy and stick to your your diet and your routine while traveling. Like some of the things that I'll do or look for, if there's a Chipotle close to where I'm staying,

that's easy. Beef and rice, chicken and rice. If there's a bowl spot, like when we were in Fargo last week, there was a bull spot that we stopped at, you know, one of those spots where you walk in and you can make your own bowl or salad. where I added rice and greens and chicken. Now I had to get a triple serving of chicken

because their single serving of chicken was like two ounces. You end up paying for it. You know, but you got to get the protein in. And then I added veggies. So it was olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, cucumbers, purple cabbage, pickled onions. You can add pumpkin seeds and... you know, really beef these bowls up that are packed and dense in protein, carbs, healthy fats.

You had avocado on top and then micronutrients, fibers. They're all over the world, and especially all over the United States. I will look for these spots prior to my travel. And it doesn't take that much effort. You know, on Google Maps, I'll pull up the Airbnb or the hotel that I'm staying at. And then you can see restaurants around where you're staying. And I'll just make notes, mental notes. Okay, I know there's a Chipotle here.

I know there's a Starbucks here. Starbucks for me is a great place to go grab breakfast. I always carry protein powder with me. So I'll wake up. I'll have a protein shake. I'll go to Starbucks. I'll get some fruit. maybe a fruit cup or a banana and then their oatmeal.

Their oatmeal is really good. It's quick, it's cheap, it's convenient. I don't add any of the extra toppings to it. I can go to Chick-fil-A and get a bunch of the grilled chicken nuggets. The options are endless at this point. So I will do my recon prior to travel just to see what's in the local area of where I'm going to be staying. And then I will look at my travel times for the day of travel itself. And I'll identify what I need to pack or prepare.

The night before travel, I will sort out and pack all my supplements in Ziploc bags. For example, if it's a quick trip, like the Fargo trip last week, it was in and out. I was in Fargo for two full days. I will pack a few Ziploc bags. And each Ziploc bag has two scoops of weight protein in it. In my Ziploc bags, I'll have my vitamins and minerals for the day. I'm packing my BPN strong multivitamin, BPN strong joints, BPN strong omega, BPN endurance essentials. My creatine, I'll put everything in Ziploc bags.

And then in the small Ziploc bags, I'll throw all of those in a big Ziploc bag. But I'm doing this the night before travel. Like Steph can always find me the night before travel. I'm in the pantry and I'm packing up my supplements and my powders. That way I don't have to travel with the full serving size containers. Now, if we're going on a longer vacation, like when Steph and I go to Florida with a family every year and we're checking bags. We'll take full-sized containers of weight protein and reds and greens and creatine

and even G-1M sport or pre-and-pump because we have the room and we need, you know, many serving sizes. When Steph and I go on vacation for a week between the both of us, we'll go through a whole two pound container of weight protein because we both prioritize our protein intake. So prior to travel, it is planning, it is recon, it is preparation. It's identifying where we're staying, what's in the area, having options available, just mental notes. Not planning every meal by meal, but just mental notes. I know there's a Chipotle here.

I know there's a Starbucks here. I know there's a Whole Foods here. There's a grocery store here. I know generally we're all able to source some of my food and nutrition from. And like I said, the night before, we will pack and prepare supplements, powders, anything else we may need. Now, the day of travel, this is where it gets fun. We just filmed the YouTube video and I shared this. And it always blows people with mind.

You know, my lunch every day is 300 grams, Jasmine Rice, 8 ounces of ground beef, some primal kitchen's buffalo sauce, and pickles topped with some ketchup. I love it. I just had that meal before recording this podcast. and it never gets old. I like sticking to consistent eating patterns as much as possible.

So what I do when we travel the day of is the night before I'll prepare my lunch. I have my 300 grams of jasmine rice, 8 ounces of ground beef, Primal Kitchen's buffalo sauce, pickles, ketchup. But instead of putting it in the Tupperware that I always use, in the meal prep containers that I use, I get this question all the time, they're from caraway home. They're the medium storage containers. They're expensive. It is an investment, but they have been the best that I have found. And that's not a paid endorsement by any means. We buy our own caraway home food storage containers, been buying them for the last couple of years,

and I love them. But when I travel, I add that meal to a Ziploc bag, a gallon Ziploc bag. and I close all the air out of it, zip it, put it in another gallon Ziploc bag, pull all the air out of it, close it, because I don't want any leakage. And then I have this little cooler, like handheld cooler that is super low profile, it's easy to carry on travel, I can fit in my backpack. I will, the day of travel, throw that bag of beef and rice in that cooler, add a cooler, cooler pack with a spoon and take it on my travels. Now sometimes depending on the day, the time of travel, how long that meal is going to be in my backpack until I eat it.

Sometimes I don't need the cooler and I'll just throw the meal in my backpack. And once I get into security, I'll eat it. Once I get on the plane, I'll eat it. The smell isn't the most pleasant on the plane so I prefer, if possible, to eat it in the airport before getting on the plane. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn't. But you can travel with food. So I will always travel with a meal. I'll always travel with a bag of beef and rice.

Steph can attest to this. We were traveling back from Michigan yesterday. And the way that our seats were set up on the plane is, you know, there's, there's six seats in an entire row, but it's split up by the aisle, so it's three on one side, three on the other. And we booked these flights a little bit later,

so we couldn't get the whole family in the same row. So Nico and I were next to each other, and then Steph and Charlie were next to each other, but in a row before us, in front of us. So I, would eat my bag of beef and rice because it was a longer flight mid-flight next to this stranger. And I just kept getting these looks.

Here's this guy with his two-year-old son pulling out a Ziploc bag of beef, rice, pickles, and ketchup, eating it with a spoon like a animal, like a caveman. But there's no shame. I like sticking to the plan. I like staying on the top of my nutrition, but you can travel with food. You can travel with food. This surprises a lot of people, but you can. I always travel with a meal.

And I'll always pack food that doesn't have to be kept cold. So in my backpack, while I'm traveling, you can always find protein powder in Ziploc bags, bars, protein bars, go bars,

dried fruit, I'll travel with dried mango, which is some of my favorite, dried figs. As you guys may know, my favorite, I love dried figs. Great source of fiber. I will travel with slices of sourdough, in some cases a whole loaf of sourdough. There was this flight a few months back. We were traveling back from Nashville, and we stopped at this bakery before leaving Nashville to head back to Austin. in Franklin, Tennessee called Pyrin.

And I picked up a freshly baked loaf of sourdough bread. I had them slice it there. I threw my backpack and while we were on the flight back from Nashville, I pulled this bag of sourdough out. And I'm just eating a loaf of freshly baked sourdough. And it was delicious. But I was getting all these looks on the plane. I'll travel with nuts and seeds,

beef jerky. Like my backpack always has food in it. And this may not be your thing. You know, the other option is before travel, I know a lot of people do this, they'll have a huge meal, they'll fast while traveling,

and then when they get to location, they will resume eating. And that's perfectly fine. That works too. But as I mentioned, I like having these consistent eating patterns. It provides me a steady source of energy. I don't like getting hungry because when I get hungry, I end up becoming hangary,

and it's the last thing I want while traveling. And I like sticking to these consistent eating rhythms and behaviors in patterns. And that is these moderately sized meals spread out throughout the day, my stomach feels good digestion is good bowel movements are good I fitted around my training schedule routine but

if you want to have a big meal before traveling maybe just a protein shake while traveling and then another large meal when you get to location that's perfectly fine too but this is the way that I approach

the day of travel it's just my preference and I'm always staying on top of hydration I always have a water source with me. And, you know, I'm consuming electrolytes every single day. At least one serving of our electrolyte today, which is 500 milligrams of sodium. On big training days or days where I'm sweating a lot between training and sauna usage,

I'm consuming multiple servings of electrolytes. But while traveling, I prioritize water intake. consumption, electrolytes added to my water source. Yeah, it's not the most convenient to be having to go to the bathroom and get up on a flight. I wanted to say use the latrine. That's some military lingo. I'd be inspired by the operational mission planning segment. But go use the latrine while you're on the flight.

But I make sure I stay hydrated while traveling. This is something really easy to fall behind in. You know, it's, it's just something you intentionally have to do. Now, during my stay, when we finally get to the location of travel, something I've been thinking about a lot recently, that, you know, as I think about how to help people be more consistent. and make better choices when it comes to dieting, food, nutrition, and training. The way that I approach my daily diet is like when I wake up,

I don't necessarily always have a plan for the day of what I'm going to eat. I know what I'm going to have for breakfast. I know what I'm going to have for lunch or my second meal because I meal prep. But dinner is, it's flexible and there's a lot of variation. And my last meal of the night, which is about an hour before I go to bed, changes from day to day. I always have a loose plan for the day. But I have a tighter plan for the next meal. This is how I approached my day, whether I'm at home in Texas or traveling.

When I'm traveling, there's always a loose plan for the day, but I have a tighter plan for the next meal. I almost always know exactly what I'm going to eat for the next meal. And I think if you apply that logic and that strategy to whether you're home or traveling, it can be extremely effective and lead you to success. we always try to book a place to stay that has a kitchen. When we travel to Florida, we rent a home that has a full kitchen. When I was traveling in Fargo earlier this week, I was in a hotel. Luckily that hotel had a mini fridge and a microwave, which was super helpful and useful.

When we traveled to Michigan and just got back last night, you know, we were staying at Steph's parents' cottage in northern Michigan. and there's a full kitchen. And what's amazing about Steph's mom, many things, but Steph's mom watches all of my content. She knows the lifestyle that I live. And whenever we travel to Michigan,

she will make sure that she has all the foods, all the ingredients, all the items that I'm eating at that moment of time. So, you know, we flew in, we had to fly into Traverse City, Michigan, and we drove to their cottage. Got to the cottage, got there late, had dinner, I woke up the next morning. And all of my foods that I eat were there. Oats, bananas, fruit, ground beef, 937 ground beef, grass-fed ground beef, rice, Primal Kitchen's buffalo sauce, pickles, organic ketchup. Sourdough bread, freshly made sourdough bread,

carry gold butter, like steaks, chicken, potatoes, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, all the things that I regularly eat on a daily basis, she had stocked in the cottage, which is so thoughtful. It means a lot to me. that she puts that effort into just help me be more consistent while I'm traveling and sticking to my diet.

And I know that's a pretty rare trait and characteristic to find in a mother-in-law. So I recognize that. And I'm extremely grateful. But my plan will change based off where we're staying and what I'm or we are staying in. do we have full access to a kitchen or is it a little kitchenette or is it nothing? As soon as we land or as soon as I land while traveling we'll typically go to the grocery store.

Like when we're in Florida for a week long vacation, we will either land and go straight to the grocery store and stock up on all of our stuff or we actually found this really cool company. We go to the 38th, seaside Florida area for vacation. And Steph found this company called 30A arrange, where before you get to the house that you're staying at, you can send them your grocery list.

They'll go to all the grocery shopping and they'll stock your pantry and your fridge with all of your food prior to you arriving, which has been so helpful. because you have a long day of travel with the kids, you finally get to your spot, the last thing you want to do is running the grocery store, do a whole grocery hall, which we've done and still do, but to arrive in all of your groceries,

everything you need is organized in the pantry, it's organized in the fridge. That's a game changer. If we go somewhere that doesn't have that service or amenity, yeah, we'll land, we'll go right to the grocery store and we'll stock our pantry and our refrigerator with everything we eat on a regular basis and that we need for that week. Some of my foundational principles of how I approach nutrition while traveling,

I always prioritize protein. Always. Protein is satiating. It's going to keep you fuller for longer. It's going to help you maintain a positive muscle protein synthesis. You know, our muscles are constantly being turned over. They are breaking down and then being rebuilt. And the way that we stay in a positive muscle protein synthesis,

as opposed to muscle protein breakdown, is by weight training and or a net positive of protein. amino acids. So while traveling, I always prioritize protein. I try to front load protein as much as possible earlier in the day. Because when we're traveling, whether this is for work or for vacation, I typically try to eat out. We try to eat out only one time per day.

and it's normally dinner. And sometimes the protein option or portion is just a little bit smaller than you may be used to at home. So I try to prioritize protein in front-load it earlier in the day. I like to reserve fats for later in the day because if we're going for dinner, I'll have to eat. I can expect that that meal is going to be higher in fats because I'm either ordering a steak or the food items are cooked. in creams, sauces, oils, butters. You know, the reason even broccoli tastes so good at a restaurant is because 95% of the time it's cooked in butter and or oil

and covered in salt and it's like, oh my gosh, this broccoli is so good. What did they do? Well, I can tell you one thing. They didn't just steam it. They steamed it in a pound of butter. That's why it tastes so good. One thing I'll do is I'll prep my go-to foods in bulk, beef, chicken, rice, potatoes. Once we hunker down into our location, I then go out to where I need to go, get all our foods, so we have availability.

Setting ourselves up for success. When we're in Florida for family vacation every year, Steph and I approach dieting and food and nutrition the same way. We keep our breakfast is the same. It's the same as if we were at home in Texas, eating breakfast. Lunch, generally the same. Beef and rice. Chicken and rice. And then dinner is where we'll have some variation.

You know, we'll go out to dinner or we'll go get food and bring it back to the house. We love going out to dinner and trying new foods and what's local and seasonal in in that environment. With two young kids now, going out to eat doesn't happen as much as it used to. Mainly because of Nico, my two-year-old son is just wild.

Charlie will sit down in a restaurant and chill and eat her food and engage in conversation. Nico will find the steak knife. He will run across the restaurant and attempt to throw it everywhere and anywhere. He's a danger.

We can't go to dinner with Nico. anymore. Steph and I made a pact. It's like, it's a liability. He's dangerous. So this last trip to Florida, I would go order the food, bring it back to where you're staying. We would eat there. But we typically, while traveling or we're out on vacation, that is the one meal that we go out and enjoy. And I think sometimes people would treat travel and vacation as I mentioned earlier where all your systems, all your routines, all your habits just get thrown out in the window. And it doesn't have to be that way. I'll give some examples of foods that I've eaten recently while traveling. Last week in Fargo, we went to Chili's. It's my first time eating Chili's in

probably 15 years. I ordered a 10 ounce surloin steak. I wanted a baked potato. They were out of baked potatoes. I wanted a sweet potato. They were on sweet potatoes. So I got a side of rice and steamed the broccoli. Was it the best meal in my life? I'm sorry to break it to you, but no.

It wasn't. But it got the job done. I got proteins. I had carbs. Got some veggies with some fiber. Is it a memorable meal? You know, I could probably argue that in one way or another, but it did its job.

It fueled me. When we were in Florida, you know, yes, I could have ordered cheeseburgers and pizza and this crazy stuff every night treated myself. But for me, that's not treating myself. Treating myself in this case was going to a restaurant and ordering a whole fish. It's one of my things, my favorite things to order. If I go to a restaurant and has a whole or half chicken on the menu, I'm ordering that. If there's a whole fish on the menu, you know, where they just cook it and some olive oil

and they might finish it with some fresh greens on top and lemon slices, I will crush that. The entire fish. There's a spot in Florida we go to called Shrimp Shack, where I'll go and get a whole pound of peel and eat shrimp, delicious, fresh, right off the ocean, full of protein, low fat. So I will make intentional food choices and decisions where I can enjoy the local cuisine in foods. But just by being on vacation or traveling doesn't mean it's a free pass to just throw your systems and habits and routines out the window. The concepts are few.

The methods are many. I would encourage you, if you're traveling, whether for vacation or business or just normal course of life, make intentional, smart food, decisions, and choices. Allow yourself the flexibility. Truly. I encourage it. I invite it.

I'm not a big sweets person or ice cream person. I really never eat ice cream. I eat ice cream once a year when we go to Florida. My favorite ice cream spot is Blue Mountain Creamery. And my favorite flavor is oatmeal cookie. And we go there while we're on vacation. And I know when I'm on vacation, I'm getting my favorite ice cream at my favorite ice cream shop. I'm not getting ice cream every night. I'm not getting dessert every night, but I treat myself, and you should too. But it doesn't mean you have to throw all your progress, all of your plans, all of your routine,

all of your systems, all of your discipline out the window, just because you are in a different environment, different state physically, different state of mind, be disciplined, be committed, but allow for flexibility, allow for the joy, allow for the satisfaction. Now, when it comes to training, this is a little simpler and easier

than diet and nutrition is, in my opinion. Now, this is a way that I approach it. I, again, will treat it like an operational mission. There's the plan, there's the recon, there's the execution, then there's the evaluation and assessment. So I will always recon before we get to location. What is accessible? Is there a gym? Is there a gym at the hotel that I'm staying at?

Are there photos that I can view that shows what's in that gym? Are there gyms in the local area? You know, is there a gym a mile from me? Or is there a gym that isn't, you know, less than 20 miles from me? When is this gym open? What are the hours? If it's a 24-7-axis gym, okay, how do I get access to that 24-7 full-access gym? I start asking these questions.

I'll go on the website. I'll map out distances. I'll call to ask questions. Because if we take it back to the beginning of this episode talking about responsibilities over routines, I have to ask myself questions. Like, if I'm traveling for work and I have to be at our first meeting at 7 a.m.,

what does that mean for how much time I need to allocate prior to that meeting to get my workouts in, my training, travel to and from? Does it make more sense to run? Does it make more sense to lift? If I'm traveling for a vacation with family, I obviously don't want to carve out family time to go to the gym. So it's what is available and what is accessible. Now, the way that I like to approach my workouts while traveling, if it's a family vacation, which we do once, maybe twice a year, I like to use these weeks as delode weeks. Now, a delode week is a week of training where you reduce volume and intensity. typically after a harder, more intense training block where volumes high,

and it allows for your body to rest, recover, and prepare for the next training block. So this doesn't mean that while we're traveling for vacation, I just stop training altogether. Because movement and working out in training makes me feel good. But it allows for flexibility and for you. that week of training to look a little bit differently. So the week prior to vacation, prior to delode, I might increase volume and intensity a little bit extra in preparation for delode and also in preparation for the next training block.

So I like to time up my family vacations with a delode week, which I highly recommend. Because then you also don't have the stress and pressure. of trying to fit in all these workouts and training sessions while you're on vacation with your family where you should be relaxing, spending quality time together. Now, if it's travel for work, it's in and out,

or if I have more control of my time and schedule, well, that might look a little bit differently. I will always plan my training two weeks out prior to travel if possible, because I will set up the week prior to travel to shift some workouts around so that I can prioritize strength training sessions so that while I'm traveling,

I just have to run. If I get to the gym while traveling, that's like icing on the cake, that's a bonus. So last week, for example, We went to, like I said, Fargo, North Dakota. And there were a lot of things that we were working on doing while in Fargo. We had some store visits we had to do. There were some meetings that we had.

We had to speak and give a presentation to all of the Shields store managers at an event in the evening. So I went into that travel trip with the expectations that we'll probably get to go to a gym once while there. And we identified the gym we were going to go to. It was called beef brand gym. It was absolutely incredible, Fargo, North Dakota. But I reserved the other days of travel just for running. So earlier in the week, prior to that travel, I first. front-loaded my strength training sessions so that while traveling, I only had to run and any

opportunity to go to the gym was icing on the cake. It was a bonus. And I'll do this because one, the ease and simplicity of being able to go run is much greater than that of going to the gym. You know, when it comes to a gym, you're restricted by hours of operation, travel to and from. And if that conflicts with your work and travel schedule, it makes things challenging and hard. Running, I can lace up my shoes, go out the front door of the hotel or the Airbnb or wherever I'm at, and go run. As far as I want to, run back and be done on my terms in preparation for what the schedule. schedule that day looks like. So I will always

front load or backload strength training days within a week around travel so that all I have to do while traveling if needed is run. And the earlier, the better.

One of the things I've said over the years that I firmly believe is that we have to make the time so that we don't have to find the time later. When I'm traveling, no matter what it's for, if I'm going to make time for me to go run, go to the gym, get a workout in,

I don't want this to affect my other obligations and responsibilities for that day. So I'm going to forward-thinking backwards plan and set my alarm for when I have to be up to go run or train to make sure I'm done with my fitness so that it doesn't affect anyone else, whether in my business or my household or my family. We have to make the time.

So we don't have to find the time later. So that's the way that I approach training. I'll plan my week. I'll either front load or backload strength training sessions if you have the ability based off the length of your travel. I will prioritize running while traveling because the ease and security of getting those sessions done. If it is a long duration of travel and it's for vacation where family is the priority I will utilize that week as a delode and then I will make the time so I don't have to find the time later. These are some of the principles, the strategies and tactics that I incorporate while traveling. As I mentioned

a million times at this point, whether that travel is for family, vacation, work, just the necessary travel of life, events, weddings, birthdays, stuff like that. I approach each one a little bit differently based off my responsibilities, but just because you're traveling doesn't mean that your routines, systems, and habits have to go out the window. There's seven days in a week, not five. Dawn More.