When you're traveling to visit family and friends for the holidays, your lifestyle tends to change a lot from your norms, which can take a major toll on your health. Here's what to know to stay healthy through the holidays.
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00:00 All right, folks, many of you are getting ready
00:01 to start your holiday traveling,
00:03 whether it's a much needed vacation
00:05 to visit family or friends.
00:07 While staying healthy during travel like this,
00:09 it's not an easy task all the time.
00:12 Dr. Jessica Shepherd is the Chief Medical Officer
00:14 at Very Well Health and is kind enough to join us
00:17 this morning ahead of the holidays here
00:18 to share some steps that you can take to stay healthy
00:21 while you're traveling this holiday season.
00:23 Thank you so much for joining us.
00:26 - Thank you for having me.
00:27 - Happy to.
00:28 Now let's get into it here.
00:29 What are some health challenges
00:31 that many people face during the holiday travel?
00:33 It really isn't easy to focus on health
00:35 when there's so much going on in your head.
00:38 - It isn't.
00:39 I mean, I think that there's a lot of distractions.
00:41 I think that there's a lot of people around.
00:42 There's a lot of hugging and sharing.
00:44 And so with all of these,
00:46 you're gonna find that it's sometimes hard to stay healthy,
00:49 but I have some tips for you today
00:51 that are really gonna help,
00:52 especially when you're traveling.
00:54 So the health challenges that we see
00:55 are people are fatigued because they're doing much more
00:59 than they usually do in regards to travel
01:01 and visiting with others, and also dehydration.
01:03 Because of much of the movement and the travel,
01:05 a lot of times we're not getting in that fluid
01:07 that we actually need.
01:09 And then that can also lead to some other things
01:11 such as GI issues with constipation and bowel habit changes.
01:15 So what are we really going to do
01:17 when we think of practical tips or strategies
01:19 to fend off some of those things
01:21 that we might see during the travel season,
01:23 in addition to maybe even getting some diseases
01:26 like flu and/or COVID?
01:27 So with that being said,
01:29 we wanna make sure that we check our vaccine requirements.
01:32 A lot of people actually do international travel.
01:35 And so with that, you wanna make sure
01:36 that there's no changes in recommendations
01:38 when you're traveling overseas.
01:39 But for local, make sure that you're staying
01:42 with your flu shots and your COVID boosters,
01:45 and making sure that you plan these out well in advance
01:48 to taking the trip so that if you have any issues,
01:50 that it's not gonna impact your actual trip.
01:52 And then also considering where you're going.
01:55 Are you going to somewhere warmer?
01:56 Are you going to somewhere colder?
01:58 Making sure that you're taking the proper clothing,
02:01 but also making sure that you're staying adjusted
02:04 to the weather change that may come.
02:06 And staying active.
02:07 A lot of times when we travel,
02:09 whether you're in a car for a long period of time,
02:11 or you're in a plane and sitting for a long period of time,
02:14 that decreases your physical activity.
02:16 So making sure that you put some breaks in there
02:19 in between the day to make sure
02:20 that you're getting your movement in.
02:22 - Now, with all the temptations and challenges
02:24 that might arise during the holiday gatherings
02:26 and celebrations as well,
02:28 maybe some thoughts on nutrition.
02:30 I mean, look, don't get me wrong.
02:31 I love a good dessert,
02:33 but sometimes you feel a little bit run down
02:35 after eating too much sugar, for example,
02:38 after the holidays.
02:39 - Now, I would say probably the top tip
02:42 that I would say when it comes to nutrition
02:44 is make sure that you enjoy all of the foods
02:47 when you're with your family and friends,
02:48 but portion control is probably the best way
02:50 that you can have a bit of everything, but not so much.
02:54 So limiting yourself to the things
02:55 that are really rich in calories or really rich in sugars
02:59 is making sure that you may take smaller slices of that pie
03:02 or smaller portions of the foods that you really like.
03:05 And then also liquid calories.
03:07 So there's a lot of calories in things
03:09 such as holiday drinks and/or alcohol.
03:12 So making sure you limit those as well.
03:14 And I think that I've even taken like this tip
03:17 and used it as staying active.
03:18 So what does that really mean?
03:19 There are studies that have gone out to show
03:21 that immediately after a big meal or shortly thereafter,
03:24 if you take as little as 20 minutes,
03:27 20 minutes to go take a brisk walk,
03:29 you can do like monumental things
03:31 when it comes to decreasing calorie intake,
03:34 energy expenditure, and again, limiting.
03:37 So what you'll usually see after the holidays
03:39 is sometimes a little bit of weight gain.
03:41 - Absolutely love it.
03:42 Great tips, great tips
03:44 as we head through this holiday season.
03:45 Dr. Jessica Shepherd,
03:47 Chief Medical Officer with Very Well Health.
03:49 Thank you so much for joining us
03:50 and for all the help this morning.
03:53 - Thank you.