How the hell are you supposed to be consistent with your habits when your life is wildly unpredictable?

Like…

✈️ You’re always traveling
📅 Your schedule changes every week
👩‍👧‍👦 You have kids / a job / a brain that is already full

To answer that question, I interviewed one of our awesome MFers, Rebecca Bagley.

 

Rebecca:

  • runs a large national organization (works 60 hours a week)
  • travels to a new destination every week
  • has four kids,
  • and somehow has managed to completely overhaul her fitness and stick with her healthy habits.If you’re like:

You can listen to Rebecca’s episode here.

You can download all her hacks (including recipes) here.

And here is a guest blog post from the Queen of Travelling Consistency herself. Take it away, Rebecca!

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Staying Healthy on the Road: Habits I Live By as a Frequent Traveler

by Rebecca Bagley

If you travel for work—whether occasionally or every single week—you already know how easy it is to let healthy habits slip. Airports, time zones, client dinners, long days… it can feel like health is optional. But here’s the truth: travel doesn’t have to derail your goals. In fact, with the right mindset and habits, it can support them.

I used to treat business trips like mini-vacations—“I’ll get back on track when I’m home.”

Spoiler: that didn’t work.

Eventually, I realized I had to bring my healthy life with me, not leave it behind.

Over time, I’ve built a rhythm on the road that keeps my energy up, my body strong, and my mindset steady. It’s not perfection—it’s intention.

Here are the habits that changed everything for me.

1. Hydration: Water, Water, and More Water

My number one rule: hydrate like it’s your job.

  • I always book an aisle seat and drink at least 60 oz of water on long flights.
  • Yes, I’m in the bathroom every hour—but I land feeling human instead of dried out and foggy.

Hydration is the simplest way to fight jet lag, boost energy, and stay consistent.

2. Sleep (Or Doing the Best We Can)

Let’s be honest… sleep on travel days is messy. I often land on the West Coast after at 4 am wake up and end dinner at midnight est and then wake up at 3 a.m. anyway. Here’s what I focus on:

  • Get as much rest as possible, even if it’s broken.
  • Avoid obsessing over the time zone.
  • Use the hotel’s blackout curtains and skip the late-night scrolling.
  • Bring some comforts from home like my Yogi Bedtime tea,  my lavender pillow mist and my waves travel noise machine.

3. Planning Without Overplanning

I don’t full-on “meal prep” on trips, but I do plan my meals mentally before I go. I jot down:

  • What I’ll eat for breakfasts (oats, muffins, fruit?)
  • How I’ll handle lunches (airport, packed snacks, client lunch?)
  • Dinner strategies (protein + veggies, skip the bread basket?) – look at menus whenever possible and use the half veggies and lean protein guidelines if things change
  • I have taken all of my suggestions overseas.  So far no problem.

Then I pack with purpose based on that plan.

Pro Tip: Save a bag from the airport convenience store and use it to carry your food— saves precious space in your luggage and is accessible.

 

4. Movement: Make It Non-Negotiable

I don’t rely on hotel gyms. I bring my resistance band, do workouts in my room, and aim for my step goal every day—travel days are actually great for walking.

  • 30-minute hotel room video workout – do anything when 30 is not possible
  • Don’t get hung up on having to take that second shower. Landing in Vegas for a conference as I write this. I will workout before dinner and shower again!
  • Airport laps instead of sitting at the gate – I don’t really do this to be honest but sounds really good!
  • The occasional yoga stretch has saved me after long flight hours.

Download the Travel Guide to get the band workouts for free: 

5. Mindset: Celebrate the Wins

Travel can be lonely and draining. That’s why I track my good choices each day—hydration, protein, movement, rest. I don’t record the “less-than-healthy” ones. Progress over perfection. No all-or-nothing thinking.

Every meal and every moment is just another choice. Make the best one you can and move forward. Recently  I have been combating my decision fatigue.  Trying to make even more things simple.    

6. Road-Ready Foods I Always Pack

Here’s what keeps me fueled and grounded on the go:

  • Superhero Muffins (frozen, thaw perfectly in-flight and can easily last for days in a hotel fridge)
  • Apples + Individual Almond Butter Packs
  • Protein Balls (from the MFA recipe—my go-to lunch with veggies) – these freeze well and then I just drop 2 per serving into a snack zip lock
    • Sliced Bell Peppers are my go to (they last forever)
  • Larabars (emergency backup)
  • Overnight Oats (chia chocolate is my favorite – bring dry ingredients mixed in a ziplock and just add water in your collapsible container night before and they are ready to go)
    • I bring a collapsible container, maple syrup in a carry on toiletries bottle and spoons) – if I can find a banana it makes it even more delicious

  • Prepped Salad in Tupperware – this is harder to carry and the Tupperware does fit in my suitcase on the way home. I just put chargers and things in it
  • Almonds + Raisins or Dried Mango as my easy snack or fuel up before dinner so I make better choices – pack them from bulk in snack size ziplock

Sometimes I pack it all. Sometimes I hit a grocery store on arrival. The point is: control what you can control.

Final Thought: Stay Kind to Yourself

Travel is demanding—mentally, emotionally, physically. It’s exciting, essential, and also exhausting. Don’t aim for perfection. Aim for presence. Focus on what you did do right and let the rest go.

Every trip is another chance to prove to yourself:
You can be a Healthy MFer anywhere.

Big thanks to Rebecca for sharing her hard-earned wisdom!

Click here to grab the free Travel Guide! Includes:

  • Band and bodyweight workouts you can do in your hotel room
  • Protein Balls recipe
  • Chia Chocolate Overnight Oats Recipe
  • Superhero Muffins recipe

…and more!