Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle as a Touring Musician
Whether you’re a seasoned professional or you’re just starting out, you’ve probably noticed how difficult it is to maintain a healthy lifestyle while traveling all over the country performing. Heck! Most of us treat it like it’s a road trip vacation! However, the long hours, the endless drives, and the limited options for exercise and meals make it hard to keep to your goals.
We’ve compiled a list of helpful tips to keep you accountable and keep your goals intact - basically, we made the mistakes, so you don’t have to!
Pack Healthy Snacks & Do Some Research.
The hardest thing to maintain on the road is your diet. With endless quick meal options that fill you up with PLENTY of taste, yet empty calories (I’m a sucker for some chicken nuggets, personally…), it’s easy to just say, “I’ll start again later.” However, if you keep a cooler of healthy snacks in your car, bus, or van, you take away the temptation for the unhealthy, and still satisfy your cravings for a snack! As for meals (because we know we can’t survive on snacks,) there are plenty of fast food restaurants that offer healthier options. Subway, Chik-Fil-A, Wendy’s, Chipotle, or Zaxby’s are all examples of restaurants that offer either a grilled chicken option or a salad!
Find an at-home body-weight exercise routine you can do in 20 minutes or less!
Workouts are also one of the first things that go out the window when we’re touring! However, you can get a healthy workout in with minimal equipment (and often, NO equipment) in just 20 minutes and have it be effective! You can also buy a travel yoga mat and resistance bands if strength training is your thing, but you don’t want to pack your weights! (Ain’t nobody got time for those extra weight limit fees on airlines!) Yes, we’re burning calories loading our gear in and out and performing; However, those 20 minutes dedicated to strengthening your body can also be meditative, and a moment to yourself in an otherwise hectic schedule!
Find an easy to bring hobby with you to give your brain a break.
Mental health is just as important as physical health! When you’re in the thick of a weekend of performances, all you can think about is “What’s Next?” and it can get EXHAUSTING. Whether that hobby is the aforementioned workout, or something in addition to said physical health, it’s good to clear your mind of the task at hand and take time to yourself! Some of our favorite hobbies are: coloring books for adults (or kids — you do you, boo!), reading, cards, keeping a journal, bird watching, or just sitting outside and enjoying the space you’re in for a few minutes. It’s amazing what some Vitamin D can do!)
Bring your favorite water bottle with you!
Sometimes, we forget how dehydrated we are when we are traveling, and for good reason! We’re so focused on getting from point A to B that we forget our body needs water to keep going! Start bringing your favorite water bottle with you and making a point of drinking at least two of them! (Unless it’s one of those massive gallon water bottles. In that case, maybe only have one…) The FDA recommends that humans drink 64 oz. of water per day. Figure out how many of your water bottle you would have to drink to make that goal and try to achieve it every day! Water not only keeps you hydrated, but it also keeps your energy up, helps your skin, your voice, and a whole other slew of good things!
Make a goal for yourself
Whether you’re a pen and paper kind of kid, or you’re married to the reminders list on your phone, make a reminder, a calendar event, or a to-do list that you’ll see every day to keep you accountable! If you have a smart watch with a fitness tracker, set it to remind yourself to get up and walk every now and then (or, make regular stops in the car so you can get out and stretch!). Set reminders to drink water, or just write it down on a sticky note where you’ll see it all the time! Consistency creates habits, and habits create lifestyle!
We know there are many other ways to stay healthy on the road but these were our favorite! Whether you’re on the road for weeks, the weekend, or just going on a family road trip, we hope you found these helpful!
If you have one you want to add, reach out to us and we’ll give you a shoutout on our socials!