Living a digital nomad lifestyle has become really a dream come true for many people around the globe. Just imagine being able to travel wherever you feel like, and visit all the cool places you’ve always thought were out of reach. With the huge expansion of freelance working, more and more people opt to spend their time somewhere remote, without having to travel only on vacations and holidays.
These constant ’workations’ are becoming increasingly popular these days. Instead of punching the clock from 9 to 5, you have the privilege of being virtually anywhere in the world and still manage to get the job done. All you need is your computer or laptop and a good internet connection. And although thus far everything may sound truly remarkable, there are a few things that people need to sacrifice to make this thing work. Healthy eating habits are one of the first things that suffer along the way – but this really shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be the case. Here’s how to stay active, travel all the time, and simultaneously maintain a healthy diet.
Choose Wisely Where You Stay
If there’s a possibility to make a choice where exactly you’ll be staying during your visits abroad, we’d definitely recommend you to find the place that’s most suitable for occasional cooking or simple food preparations. Booking a place that includes a kitchen would be awesome if you can pull it off, but even if you don’t have that luxury, there are still ways to incorporate a healthy diet during a day.
In case you can’t possibly book a place with a kitchen, you should at least make sure that the place has a small fridge for storing various foods, vegetables, and fruits. For instance, you can store stuff like cheese, yogurt, cold cuts of chicken or turkey breasts, milk, and anything else that requires to be stored at a lower temperature. These foods can give you awesome healthy options to eat during your stay. For breakfast, you can always buy hard-boiled eggs and eat them with the whole grain bread and avocado. Alternatively, a bowl of oats and milk or yogurt with dried fruits and nuts will give you another healthy option.
Eating at your place will not only provide you a healthier diet plan but, it can also save you money in the long run.
Don’t Eat Outside Too Often
Speaking of eating inside, we’d also recommend you to eat at the place where you’re staying whenever possible. This can give you a certain flexibility and help you become aware of what exactly you put inside your body. Eating outside often times equals eating junk food, and you should avoid this at all costs. Reserve the so-called ’cheat meals’ only for the days when you absolutely can’t find any time whatsoever to prepare your meals.
But even if you’re super busy, you really shouldn’t make a habit out of this. Eating healthy is not about time and preparations – you need to realize that these are just excuses and things we say to ourselves on a regular basis in order to justify our decisions and behaviors. The truth is that it’s all about your mindset and being mentally determined to lead a healthier lifestyle. This is especially important for people who travel often and change locations frequently. You need to feed your body properly and give it enough nutrients to maintain that busy schedule.
Eat a Lot of Fibre-Rich Foods
In case you’re still wondering what exactly should you eat, the safest bet when it comes to eating healthy is consuming plenty of dietary fibres during a day. This is probably the most pertinent aspect of maintaining a healthy diet. We can’t stress out enough the importance of eating a lot of soluble and insoluble fibres on a regular basis. Both of these are mostly found in foods like cucumbers, blueberries, beans, nuts, green leafy vegetables, green beans, celery, carrots, chia seeds, psyllium seed husk, flax, almonds, peas, broccoli, brussels sprouts, onions, sweet potatoes, etc. – you get the idea.
It’s the fruit and vegetables that will make you feel fuller and healthy quickly. If you simply can’t find enough time to do grocery shopping and buy all these things at once, we’d suggest you to consider taking a fibre supplement that will make sure you take in your recommended daily dosage of healthy fibres. These fibres can prevent stroke, normalize blood sugar levels, prevent diverticulitis and hemorrhoids, make your skin healthy, help you lose weight, among other things.
If you’re still not fully convinced about the importance of eating a lot of fibre-rich foods then try incorporating these foods in your diet for an extended period of time and see for yourself. You’ll definitely feel invigorated and more energized, which only means that you’ll be able to travel even more and keep up with the hectic lifestyle with ease.
Research the Restaurant’s Menus In Advance
Even eating outside doesn’t have to be that bad, especially if you do your research in advance. This might be a bit tricky at first, but once you get a hang of it, you’ll be an expert in figuring out which places are alright to eat at. Most of the restaurants have their menus online, so you need to take advantage of this and look for the food that seems healthier.
Some restaurants will also put the list of all the ingredients used for making a certain dish online. This is a unique chance to know exactly what you eat even while you’re ordering or eating your meals outside.
In case the restaurant hasn’t put the list of all the ingredients used for preparing their meals online, you should know what are some of the healthy options that you can always count on. These are good in most cases, no matter which corner of the earth you find yourself in. For example, fish is always a great choice, especially if it’s not deep-fried. Fish will give you plenty of good protein and omega-3 fatty acids which are necessary for your body. Chicken or turkey breasts will also provide you with lean protein. Your side dishes should contain large amounts of leafy greens and other vegetables. Avoid anything that’s deep-fried, and always choose baked or raw foods like various salads.
As far as complex carbs go, rice and sweet potatoes are the things you should look for on any restaurant menu. You should always order a nice risotto over french fries and other foods that contain high levels of saturated fats and simple carbs.
Smoothies and Shakes
Another quick but healthy option to keep in mind are smoothies and shakes. All you need is a blender, and your meals will be ready in no time.
Buy different fruits and vegetables, oats, nuts, dried fruits and mix everything together with milk or yogurt. If you’re exercising regularly (as we would definitely recommend), you should probably increase your daily protein intake. In that case, you can always add a scoop or two of protein powder and have a whole meal with plenty of good carbs and fats.
Smoothies and shakes can be awesome meal replacements if you’re traveling all the time and simply can’t keep up with the busy schedule. You can also add other supplements to each smoothie you make and not worry if you’ve taken enough fibre-rich foods, complex carbs, good fats and lean protein in a day. If you’re allergic to milk or can’t digest dairy products, you can always choose plant-based protein powders to make sure your muscles heal properly after a good workout or a busy and active day.
The Bottom Line
Living a hectic, digital nomad lifestyle can be an awesome way to spend your both working and non-working days on this planet. You get a chance to travel wherever you feel like and meet all kinds of interesting people.
But besides visiting historic places and having loads of fun overall, there are downsides to this lifestyle as well. One of those is a bad eating habit that many digital nomads have. Sometimes they blame the lack of time to prepare the food or go grocery shopping, sometimes they acknowledge the lack of effort and will to change their diet plan. Often times they don’t realize that they’re actually harming their bodies with these decisions and behaviors since they need all the nutrients they can get in order to keep up with the busy lifestyle.
That’s why it’s paramount to realize just how important a healthy diet truly is. You’ll not only feel energized and ready for whatever task at hand at the moment, but you’ll also be ’investing’ in your body long-term. As we get older, our bodies tend to age differently depending on the mix of genetics and the things we’ve decided to eat and drink in the previous decades. Maintaining a healthy diet plan throughout our entire lives is crucial. And although this is true for each and every one of us, it’s especially important for those who are constantly on the move – like digital nomads often are.
Source: https://hugecount.com/health/digital-nomad-lifestyle-smart-ways-to-incorporate-healthy-eating-habits/
Comments
Post a Comment