Make Calorie Burning Part of Your Next Workout

 

 

Nowadays, business trips are a normal part of young executive’s life. Rushing to and from airports, running in and out of meetings and jumping from one time zone to another can certainly take its toll on even the strongest body!

With little time and the high stakes involved when you are on such trips, how can you manage to keep lean and fit? Here are seven simple strategies you can use:

1. Watch the food

I know that while traveling, it can be tempting to gorge on fast food, candy and other quick snacks. After all, a chocolate bar or a pack of cookies looks pretty savory when you’re starving, doesn’t it?

Be wary of such habits. I personally try and eat lean meat and as much fresh fruits and vegetables as possible. For snacks on the go, I look towards nuts and seeds, since they are easy to carry and provide me with the quick pick-me-up I need during those long meeting hours.

2. Keep moving, use local amenities

You obviously cannot carry your home gym around the world with you. Many hotels will offer training facilities such as weight rooms, cardio equipment or good old fashioned pools. Use them! A 30 minutes training session will do wonders for you on your travel, helping you keep fit.

3. No gym? Improvise!

Your hotel has no training facilities at all? Not even a pool to swim in? Improvise!

Run up and down stairs to work your cardio. Use your own body weight and do squats, push ups and burpees to do a complete work out in your hotel room. You’d be surprised at the number of exercises you can do using only a few square feet!

4. Try and maintain proper sleep

While racing around the world in pursuit of your next dream, jetlag can really take you down. When landing in a new country, try and adapt to the local time as quickly as possible. Don’t sleep during the day and keep in the light to tell your brain it’s not night yet. On the first days of your sojourn, go to sleep early in the evening to help program the new rhythm in your system. Proper sleep helps you function better AND help keep your waistline in.

5. Breathe

Take a daily moment to do those simple breathing exercises. Most of us don’t know how to breathe properly anymore and deep belly breathing will make wonders! Those will help you keep calm during your meetings, reduce stress and lower blood pressure and heart rate, contributing to keeping you fit.

6. Stretch

After the breathing, do a five minutes stretching regimen. This will counter all those hours you were cramped in the plane and help alleviate muscular and skeletal pains. It will also prepare your body for all those long hours of sitting that may lie ahead of you.

7. Take 5 minutes and relax!

Finally, try and grant yourself a daily “off-switch” period. Be it 5, 10 or 15 minutes, it will relieve your mind and body and let you forget about your job even for just a little while. Read a book, write to your loved ones, whatever let’s you pull the plug. Stress hormones will stop pumping in your blood and you will feel refreshed and ready to tackle yet another day of heavy work!

This concludes my article! Use those seven tips to keep in shape while traveling and remember: being fit means being brighter, faster and better!

Tomi Kokko is the endorsed fitness and lifestyle coach of NIIM (Natural Institute of Integrative Medicine and is himself a successful business owner. With such feats as being an army sergeant, three times Finnish champion in Judo, winner of 27 gold medals in other national and international competition, the man breathes and live fitness and performance. Tomi now focuses on coaching business executives to improve their fitness and lifestyle so that they can achieve more in business and personal lives. 

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

 

At Celsius, we rarely let a holiday  go by – especially not a long weekend, without honoring it in some way. Often, we will celebrate with special health and fitness content on our Live Healthy Community blog, or we run great holiday specials for our online community. Gearing up for Memorial Day 2013, we wanted to do something different. As a team, we had to pause to recognize the very special place that Memorial Day has in America. We are inspired daily by the heroic sacrifice of our armed service personnel. To celebrate and honor our heroes this Memorial Day, we decided to simply ask our online community to tell us about their loved ones and friends who sacrificed their own comfort, safety, and sometimes their very lives to keep Americans safe and free.

 

In addition, a portion of proceeds from our sales in the days following the holiday weekend will be donated to various veterans’ organizations. In light of all that they and their families have done for us, it seems like the least we can do to honor these heroes. As you plan your (healthy!) cookout and family activities for the upcoming weekend, we invite you to take a few moments to share your photos in our Honoring Our Heroes section on our Facebook page. Maybe you will also be inspired to make a gift in honor of your family member or friend, or just in honor of all of the brave Americans we are thankful for. While there are many fabulous organizations doing great work, we have gathered a short list of organizations you may consider.

 

Fallen Patriot Fund

 

The Fallen Patriot Fund of The Mark Cuban Foundation was established to help families of U.S. military personnel who were killed or seriously injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Financial resources are vital to enhancing the sustainability of the family unit who has suffered a loss because their loved one sacrificed him/herself for freedom. Click here  to support the Fallen Patriot Fund.

 

www.fallenpatriotfund.org

 

Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation

 

The mission of Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation is to provide college scholarships and educational counseling to military children who have lost a parent in the line of duty. EVERY dollar raised goes directly towards helping these children. Supporters can set up a fundraising page to invite friends and family to join in fundraising. Individuals can also donate to the CFPF Backpack Program to send off the grant recipients to college with supplies and with the support of the organization’s donors and volunteers behind them. Visit CFPF online  to learn more about their events and efforts and to make a donation.

 

www.fallenpatriots.org          

 

Wounded Warrior Project

 

 Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) serves veterans and service members who incurred a physical or mental injury, illness, or wound, co-incident to their military service on or after September 11, 2001 and their families. With advancements in battlefield medicine and body armor, an unprecedented percentage of service members are surviving severe wounds and traumatic physical or brain injuries. Even more suffer the invisible wounds of war including combat-related stress, major depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

 

The Wounded Warrior project is supported by volunteer-driven events many of which are fitness events including the Tough Mudder organization’s challenging obstacle course races as well as the WWP 8K. Visit their site  to find an event in your area or to donate to the Wounded Warrior Project.

www.woundedwarriorproject.org          

  

National Volunteer Fire Council 

 

It has been difficult for many to view the images of devastation following the tornadoes that have hit Oklahoma. In addition to the devastation, we have seen remarkable images of hope and courage as well as pure heroics in the first responders who were on the scene within minutes and are still working tirelessly to find survivors, reconnect families, and support the citizens of Moore, Oklahoma and the surrounding areas. This is how American communities respond to tragedy. These firefighters, police and supporting personnel are our heroes as well. 

 

The National Volunteer Fire Council is a national campaign to help recruit both first responders and support (Fire Corps) volunteers in the fire and emergency medical services. Visit their site if you would like to become a volunteer in the emergency services or find out more about the 1-800-FIRE-LINE program.

   http://www.nvfc.org/          

 

We are in awe of the courage and dedication of our brave military and emergency response personnel working every day both at home and overseas to keep Americans safe and free. Please join us in honoring these American heroes this Memorial Day on the Celsius Facebook page  and by supporting great organizations like the ones we have shared.