motel living

 My name is Vickie, and I am all new to using anything on the OH site even though I have been a member since 2006, so I really don't know what I am doing yet. But, I have just started traveling with my husband again since I have had RNY in Sept. of 06. He works for the railroad and we will be living in a motel 8 days at a time so I am very concerned about staying active living in a motel 16 days out of a month. Does anyone out there have any suggestions?  Can't wait to hear some good ideas. I bought a "Walking with Leslie Sansone" dvd. Right now, I am hoping it will work for me, as some places are just not that safe anymore to walk outside alone.

I've only been in a hotel once since I had WLS, we're not much on traveling. But the hotel had a gym right down the hall and I was able to do a little in there. Even got to take my dog with me. And we walked all over a mall that was nearby, so that helped too. The hardest part was making good food choices, so hopefully you'll be able to get around that.

Thanks Wanda...I did not even think about seeing if the motel had a gym! But I sure will from now on. Congrats on your 2 yr anniversary! You had your RNY 1 mo. before me, so you may hear from me every now and then. You look great!  Thanks again.

I work in a motel and we have a fitness room, with tb and exercise dvds.....

Oh yeah, hopefully you'll find some places with fitness rooms that you can utilize!!! I do love the Walk Away the Pounds dvd's and use them all winter~great workouts!!!!

I do walking as my daily exercise, and it works well for me. You might see if there are any local YWCA's in these areas too. If the neighborhoods seem unsafe, you might try to locate a larger enclosed mall, and do walking there--just leave your wallet locked in your car to prevent spending too much $$.  I do my walking, and I routinely carry pepper spray with me. You never know what may happen, and I've had a couple of loose dogs act agressively with me. So whether it's a two legged or four legged foe, the pepper spray keeps me prepared. These are inexpensive, portable, and legal in almost any states. Many sporting good stores sell them, or they can be ordered from Internet sources. Cost is normally $15-20 for most, with a few more expensive. These are small, and can be concealed easily in your hand. The ones I have have a key chain on them, and I keep one in my vehicle when travelling also. Good luck on your new lifestyle. DAVE

well you have gotten a bunch of good suggestions here, so the only one i will add is this one.

last year when the weather was cold and i needed to move around, i walked in large stores, such as a huge supermarket , walmart, loews, home depot. etc.  they might have wondered about this lady walking around and not shopping much, but at least it kept me moving.

just another thought,

be safe and well, jacki

Hi Vickie,

I travel quite a lot for work and pleasure. When I'm traveling for work--I look for a motel with a gym. Some are way better than others!! I also bought a set of resistance bands--which I have been bad about actually using....but they are good for lots of people. You can go online and find tons of workout routines to do with them. One suggestion I have is make sure you take some hand sanitizer with you--because I have been in some disgusting motel gyms before--but my committment to exercise trumps the gross-out factor for me.

I do sometimes walk--if it feels right. Soemtimes I seek out nature preserves, etc nearby. I live and work in Europe--so I get LOTS of pleasure from being outside in new places--in Germany for instance they have wonderful walking trails through the farm fields--lots of cool stuff to see!

Best of luck to you!! It can be done!!
Kim

I travel a minimum of two weeks a month for my job. I tend to be in San Francisco, NY, Chicago and LA. SF, NY and Chi are all great walking cities, so I schedule my meetings so I have enough time to walk everywhere. The only transportation I allow myself is from the airport to my hotel and back. Otherwise, I walk everywhere.  LA is an anti-walking city, so there, I have to try a little harder. There, I find good shopping areas and catch up on my window shopping for a couple hours. Or I walk the pier and the beach if it's still daylight.