It all starts with good planning. Find out what kind of exercise facilities the hotel has. Ask in detail, learning whether they have treadmills, exercycles, a lap pool, and so forth. Don’t accept vague answers. Great that they have that lap pool, but is it open at this time of year? Is it heated?

If you don’t get all the answers you need, ask to speak with the concierge if they have one. He or she is specially trained to provide such assistance. Perhaps there’s a health club near the hotel with reciprocal arrangements.

Pack your bag appropriately, including walking/running shoes, workout clothing and swim gear. Take enough for your entire stay.

Even if you stay at a hotel with absolutely no exercise equipment or access to any, you can still get a workout. Find out where you can go for a 30-minute run or walk. It’s a great way to see the sights.

What if it’s raining or the temperature is below zero? Still no excuse. Put on your walking shoes and head to the stairwell. Walking those stairs can be a really strenuous workout; in fact, keep close tabs on your heart rate, counting the beats regularly so you don’t overdo it.

Back in your room, get in your stretching exercises. This is a good time to know how to jump rope, since a rope takes so little room in your suitcase.

OK, let’s say the stairwell is locked, it’s raining outside, you can’t skip rope, there’s no exercise equipment or pool, and you want some exercise. Don’t despair. Take out a couple of hefty phone books and use them to step up and down, one foot at a time. Here’s the routine: right foot up, left foot up, left foot down, right foot down, left foot up, right foot up, right foot down, left foot down, and so forth. That’s the way doctors used to get the heart rate going when doing an exercise test in the days prior to treadmill testing. It really works.

You can also use those phone books as weights to do some resistance training in your room. Think of them as barbells.

Especially if I haven’t had a chance to do so prior to a flight, I really like getting a workout in as soon as I get into my hotel. It gets the kinks out, relaxes me, gets me into a mood and appetite for dinner and somehow seems to adjust my internal clock to that city’s time.

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Cardio & Blood/ Cholesterol

Let’s face it, airline food has never been one of flying’s major attractions. The fare is fair at best, and just plain terrible at worst. Like hospital food, airline meals have been the basis of countless jokes and stories. And to make it worse, the food that doesn’t taste very good is also likely to be laden with fat and cholesterol. Why cheat with food that doesn’t make your taste buds tingle?

Instead, make advance arrangements for healthy alternatives. You can do so yourself by calling the airline 24 hours in advance. Or you can simply leave a standing order with your travel agent to do so on your behalf.

Every airline has a different list of choices, and some are a lot better than others. Very often, however, you’ll be the envy of your fellow passengers when your special meal arrives. The reason for the superiority of those special plates is that they have to be made to order, rather than in assembly-line fashion. Fresher food is better food.

Most airlines don’t broadly advertise about those special meals. They cost a lot more than those normally served. Why not take advantage of the situation?

To get a heart-healthy tray brought to your seat you can order a low-cholesterol/low-fat meal, a vegetarian platter, a fruit plate, or a cold seafood assortment.

What might you expect to get? Breakfast might be hot or cold cereal, a muffin, maybe some yoghurt, a little fruit salad, and skim milk and juice. Many airlines have been leaning to cold plates and sandwiches for lunch rather than hot meals. Most customers, myself included, prefer it that way. Dinner will include either chicken or fish, with salad, vegetables, pasta or potato, and most often fruit for dessert. You’ll get margarine instead of butter and skim or low-fat milk with all meals served.

If you’re really picky, or if you travel so much that you run into the same offerings over and over, your travel agent can even inquire as to the menus for the flights you might be interested in, comparing two or three airlines. A nice egg-substitute omelette with fresh fruit and squeezed orange juice might be the incentive for you to fly one airline over another.

Then again, you might not want to eat the airline’s food at all. This is a great time to “brown bag” it with foods brought from home or picked up in the airport terminal. Many’s the time I’ve had the guy sitting next to me drooling when I pull out a turkey breast sandwich on sourdough bread dressed with lettuce, tomato and a bit of avocado.

And every frequent flyer can expect delays and more delays. It’s become an anticipated part of travel these days. So I make certain that there are some “emergency foods” in my attache case for all my flights. I might bring a couple of oat bran muffins, pieces of fresh fruit, dried fruits, and one of those low-fat, high-fibre bars or cookies you can pick up in health food shops. There have been times when, after the captain has announced a delay, I’ve wished I had a shopping bag full so I could sell some of my goodies to the envious people around me. Be prepared!

Sitting on a plane for more than an hour can lead to blood pooling in the lower legs and ankles, as well as a general feeling of sluggishness. I make it a point to get an aisle seat on all flights so that I can get up frequently and walk a few lengths of the cabin without disturbing my fellow passengers.

On long flights, especially, it’s a good idea to have a routine of stretches that you can do in your chair. Don’t worry about others staring; they’ll probably follow your example. Here are a few to keep you from stiffening up.

Shoulder shrugs. Sitting upright, simply test your hands on your thighs and shrug your shoulders up, hold, release, and repeat six or seven times.

Arm raises. Just reach straight up with both arms, stretching out the shoulders and upper body.

Elbow shrugs. Lean slightly forward in your seat, bend your arms at 90° angles, and shrug your elbows behind your back as though trying to touch your shoulder blades.

Head rolls. Swivel your head three times in one direction and three times in the other, starting with your chin on your chest, rolling your ear to your shoulder and around.

Tummy tucking. Sitting straight, tighten your abdominal muscles, hold for a count of 10, release and repeat.

Leg lifts. Still sitting, raise your feet off the floor an inch or two, hold for a count of 10, release and repeat.

Foot stretches. Point one foot at a time straight out as though on point like a ballet dancer, hold for a count of 10, release and repeat. Now reverse the process by bringing your toes upward toward your knee, hold, release and repeat.

Doing these stretches will make you feel a lot more relaxed when you land. I make it a point to do them when the captain is making his approach and the seat and table are in their upright and locked positions. There’s an additional benefit in that such activities make one aware of the body and one’s continuing efforts to take good care of it.

While we all like to find non-stop flights, layovers are a necessary evil much of the time. Don’t waste your time by sitting in one of those uncomfortable chairs and grousing about the inconvenience. Rather, take a long walk through the airport’s terminals. In many of the major cities that can be a long walk! Step briskly, as though you’re late for a flight, and you’ll find your heart rate going up nicely. Without exaggeration, you can easily get your whole day’s allotment of 30 minutes or so right there in the airport.

Still have some time on your hands? Again, don’t waste it. Instead, do some deep breathing exercises, meditation, biofeedback or whatever relaxation technique you’ve been using at home. It’ll help make the time fly, and you’ll be far more relaxed when you reach your destination.

Now and then you’ll get one of those “connections made in hell” flights with three or more hours between flights. Or there might be a time when you originally thought you’d have only a one-hour layover but thanks to a “slight mechanical repair” or a “weather condition” in the next flight’s originating city, you find yourself with a four-hour delay.

Yes, you can yell and scream and raise your cholesterol level and blood pressure by getting all stressed out. Or you can get some relaxing, therapeutic exercise at a nearby hotel facility. You can ask about availability and short-term rates by calling from the free phones frequently found in the baggage area. Then take the shuttle to and from.

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Cardio & Blood/ Cholesterol