Fit Tuesday: How I Stayed Fit While Abroad

Here it is: the second post in my new Fit Tuesday series. I am slightly disappointed that I showed no noticeable results after this week, although I struggled with my diet this weekend. I suppose it will end up like that for the majority of the holidays. I have to start getting up earlier to workout too. Although I usually wake up at 6, it took me a full forty minutes this morning to get out of bed. That is just wasted time.

So, I’m working out tonight after class, taking on Week 2 of the BBG Pre-Training. On week 1, I was so sore on the next day, so it must have been a decent workout despite how short it felt. I will be keeping up with working out over the holiday as well, so fingers crossed that it doesn’t become a binge eating marathon.

I haven’t been feeling good about myself lately, and it’s honestly such a downer. I haven’t been eating well, I haven’t been taking my workouts seriously, and I haven’t really been taking care of myself. It’s definitely time for a mental break. I just need something that lets me turn my brain off. A treadmill and Netflix always seems to help when this happens. Updates to come next week.


I actually used to be better about working out while I was abroad than I am about working out here. I suppose it may have been the low levels of stress that I carried that made it easier to workout, not hold on to stress weight, drink more water, and actually enjoy my workouts when I did them.

However, I didn’t go to the gym all that often. Instead, I walked around a ton and got to enjoy all the different activities that Australia had to offer.

I was always doing fun activities that basically disguised workouts in them. It made staying in shape so much easier. I also only ate a small variation of meals including oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and chicken salads. They were cheap and easy.

It didn’t actually take much to not gain the “abroad 20.” When you’re walking around and not overeating, it was easy to keep the weight off. Drinking water was important too, so I always carried a bottle with me.

Here were my favorite activities to keep me distracted from snacking and secretly got my workout in:

Hiking

As you may know from some of my previous posts, I love hiking when I travel. It’s, in my opinion, one of the best ways to see a new place. The views are always stunning and no two views are ever the same!

You can see my previous post on hiking here.

Hiking in Australia

Snorkeling

It may not seem like much of a workout, but I definitely put in effort here. It requires diving down to see reef life close up and it’s usually about an hour or two of swimming. Sure, it may not be like swimming laps, but as long as you keep moving, you keep burning calories.

Snorkeling in Australia

Scuba Diving

Scuba diving isn’t much different from snorkeling, but it may require more movement and heavier equipment.

Scuba Diving in Australia

Paddle Boarding

Paddle boarding is great for your core and that’s a known fact. It’s not very expensive, you can probably rent a board for hour long increments, and it’s easier than surfing for those of us with balance issues!

Paddle boarding in Australia

Surfing

The crown jewel of water sports basically. And, it’s way harder than it looks. I went to a surf camp for two days and came back sore in places I never knew could get sore. It was a lot of work, and I’m not very good at it, but it was a ton of fun.

Surfing in Australia

PS: As a little incentive to get this thing going, I will try my best to comment on every single post that is linked below!

So here are the rules to the #FitTuesday linkup:

  1. Comment on this post and at least two other posts in the linkup. Leave an inspirational message or tell someone how their post inspired you! This is all about building a little blogger fitness community (notice, I did not say fitness blogger, this is for everyone)!
  2. Subscribe to my email list or follow my blog on Bloglovin’ so you never miss a linkup! Feel free to share the love to other bloggers as well.
  3. Paste my link up button at the bottom of whatever post you want to link up! This way, others can come link up too! You can also post this in your blog sidebar!
  4. Optional: Tweet about it! The more people start linking up here, the more supportive and fun it will be! I’m really hoping this can grow into a large weekly link up that brings a lot of bloggers together. I have high hopes for this, so please help a girl out!
Loving the new #FitTuesday link-up by @kirstenortez! Come check it out! Click To Tweet

If you are interested in helping me co-host this linkup, please send me an email!

The Wandering Brunette


Hi - my name is Kirsten! I am currently based in Chicago after a long cross-country move from Arizona. What will you find here? I love sharing all things sustainability and slow fashion, any of my day-to-day shenanigans, the latest new hobbies I picked up, and whatever concert or music festival I can find. Welcome and thanks for popping in to my little corner of the world wide web!

21 Comments

  1. 11.22.16
    Mary said:

    I SO wish I had been able to study abroad. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to for my major. That said, I love hiking and paddle boarding when the weather is nice so I suppose thats a mini adventure in itself!

    XO // easilyinspired-blog.com

  2. 11.22.16
    Bella said:

    Girl you are killing it! I don’t think I have enough balance to surf lol! Lots like a lot of fun though.

    http://xoxobella.com

  3. 11.22.16

    hahaha I WISH I had snorkeling as an option for a workout. Unfortunately it may be quite difficult here in NYC x

    • 11.22.16
      Kirsten said:

      it’s not easy now that I’m back in Tucson anymore either!

  4. 11.22.16
    Katie said:

    I’m definitely hoping to study abroad in college so I will be keeping these tips in mind! I love paddle boarding- my family has a paddle board at our lake house and it’s so much fun!

    xoxo,
    Katie
    chicincarolina.blogspot.com

  5. 11.22.16
    michelle mink said:

    Hiking and paddle boarding are two activities that I love! What fun ways to stay in shape.

  6. 11.22.16
    Southern & Style said:

    I love sneaking in workouts that aren’t just heading to the treadmill at our gym! My favorite way to do that is to go on hikes with my pup. He’s a lab with a high energy level and is very curious so I have to move it to keep up with him!

    xoxo, SS

    Southern And Style

  7. 11.22.16

    Hiking is always one of my favorite activities when I travel! Great post 🙂

  8. 11.22.16
    Lauren said:

    It looks like you had an amazing time with your abroad adventures! Good luck with BBG- I did it last summer and felt super in shape, it’s hard to keep up with now though!

  9. 11.22.16
    Alex said:

    What a great post! I absolutely love surfing. If I could do it every day, I would. Such an amazing workout.

    http://adoredbyalex.com

  10. 11.23.16

    I absolutely loved this feature! I would potentially be interested in joining and cohosting this but I don’t post on Tuesdays. 🙁

  11. 11.23.16

    I am convinced we are traveling spirit animals. YAS To all of these! It helps that I live in FL and can do all the water stuff (minus surfing, we don’t have great waves where I am), whenever! I love hiking whenever I am visiting somewhere new with mountains!

    Rachel | The Confused Millennial

  12. 11.23.16
    Jenny said:

    So many fun activities here! I wish I was more active because I’d love to do more things like this haha

  13. 11.23.16

    these are such fun ways to stay fit! definitely beats a regular treadmill work out

  14. 11.23.16

    You look amazing! I love all these tips for staying fit 🙂

  15. 11.24.16

    I love canoeing! I went to a summer camp and tried it for the first time and fell in love, and it’s really great for your arms! Also, awesome Great Barrier Reef pics!

  16. 11.24.16

    I’d love to go snorkelling one day, especially in the Great Barrier Reef! Props to you for keeping fit whilst abroad though

  17. 11.25.16

    I loved the discussion of how easy it is to incorporate movement and exercise into traveling. I am planning a trip to Europe and now that my husband and I are working out regularly, we want to keep that momentum up. Great post!

  18. 11.25.16
    Nicole said:

    Loved this ideas, and how realistic they are! I love hiking when I’m on vacation or anywhere really!
    ClassToCloset

  19. 11.26.16

    Wow! No wonder you were so active when you were abroad – there were so many cool things to take advantage of! Wishing you the best of luck on your fitness goals. I’m a little down, as well, but hope to get back on track after the holidays.

    XO, SS || Seersucker Sass

  20. 11.28.16
    Rachel Timmerman said:

    Oh I love this post! I always enjoy seeing how others stay active and fit. Looks like you had a blast staying active while abroad 🙂

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