Start here Three questions
How long?
2 nights or fewer: stay close to your home sleep hours where your schedule allows.
Longer: switch to local time from the day you land.
How far?
Under 3 time zones: skip the jet lag section.
3 or more: read Jet lag.
More than 8 zones, or anywhere in Asia: message me and we'll plan it together.
Anything medical?
A weekly injection, heart or blood pressure medicine, a blood thinner, diabetes, testosterone, a CPAP, recent surgery or a past clot: read Before you go first, ideally 4 to 6 weeks ahead.
The floor for any trip
- Three protein-forward meals a day.
- Two short training sessions a week. With a gym or without one.
- A step floor. At least half your usual target, even on travel days.
Hit those and the trip costs you very little. Anything above them is a bonus.
Before you go Sort it at home
4 to 6 weeks out: see your doctor
If you take regular medicine or you're leaving the country, book a visit and take this list.
- A sick-day plan, in writing. What to do with each medicine if you get vomiting or diarrhea. The GLP-1 labels warn that fluid loss can injure your kidneys, and blood pressure and diabetes medicines need a plan too.
- Doses on a strict clock. Blood thinners, insulin, anything that has to be taken at set times. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for a written schedule across the time change. Never double a dose to catch up.
- Clot risk. Bring it up if you've had a clot or recent surgery, take estrogen, or your BMI is over 30. Ask whether you need compression stockings. Don't take aspirin for a flight unless your doctor tells you to.
- A recent heart event, stroke or operation. Ask when you're clear to fly. The answer depends on your case. If your heart medicines are due to change, ask about the timing too: the CDC advises against changes in the 2 weeks before a long trip.
- Sleeping above 8,000 feet. Altitude sickness risk starts around there. If you've had a heart attack or stroke in the last 90 days, don't plan it.
- Vaccines and local health advice. Look up your destination on the CDC list and ask what applies to you.
- Sleeping tablets. Only ever from your doctor. The risks are real, including sleepwalking and sleep-driving.
Your medicines at the airport and the border
- Carry-on, always. Keep everything in the original packs, with a few spare days' supply in case you get delayed.
- Carry a doctor's letter. It should list each medicine by its generic name, with the dose.
- Injections and liquids. TSA allows syringes carried with the medicine, medical liquids over 3.4 oz and ice packs for medicine that has to stay cold. Tell the officer at the checkpoint.
- Controlled medicines. Testosterone, ADHD medicine, strong painkillers and sleeping tablets can be restricted abroad, including in countries you only pass through. Check each country before you book: start with the CDC page on restricted medicines, then ask that country's embassy.
- CPAP. US airlines must let you use an FAA-approved device in the cabin, and they can ask for batteries covering 150% of your flight time. Call the airline before you fly.
If you're on a weekly injection
| Medicine | Out of the fridge | Missed a dose |
|---|---|---|
| Mounjaro or Zepbound, single-dose pen or vial | Up to 86°F for 21 days in total, then throw it away | Take it within 4 days. After that, skip it |
| Mounjaro or Zepbound, KwikPen or multi-dose vial | Up to 86°F for 30 days | Take it within 4 days. After that, skip it |
| Ozempic pen | Unused pens stay in the fridge. The pen you're using: 59 to 86°F for 56 days | Take it within 5 days. After that, skip it |
| Ozempic prefilled syringe | 46 to 86°F for 28 days | Take it within 5 days. After that, skip it |
| Wegovy single-dose pen | 46 to 86°F for 28 days, in the carton | Take it if your next dose is more than 2 days away. If not, skip it |
| Wegovy FlexTouch | The pen you're using: 68 to 77°F for 56 days | Take it if your next dose is more than 2 days away. If not, skip it |
Keep it with you in the cabin and never let it freeze or sit in a hot car. Moving your injection day: keep at least 3 days between doses on Mounjaro or Zepbound and at least 2 days on Ozempic. On Wegovy, ask your pharmacist. These figures come from the US labels as of November 2026. If your own leaflet says something different, follow your leaflet.
Your cover
Medicare usually doesn't cover care outside the US. Some Medigap plans cover emergencies abroad. Check your plan, and check that any travel insurance includes medical cover.
1 week out
- Message me. Send your dates, where you're going and what the gym looks like. I'll fit your program and check-in around it.
- Pick your trip mode. Decide before you leave.
- Pack protein for US trips. Powder over 12 oz gets extra screening in your carry-on, so check it or bring less. Meat sticks are my favorite snack: Chomps or Epic.
- Leaving the US? Leave the jerky, meat sticks and whey protein at home. The EU bars meat and milk products in your luggage, Great Britain bars meat products and Japan requires a government certificate for meat. Buy protein when you arrive, and declare any food you bring back into the US.
- Freeze 3 days of high-protein meals so there's food in the house when you land.
The flight Move, sleep, skip the drink
- Over 4 hours: get up and walk. Flex your calves in your seat too. An aisle seat makes this easy, and window seats carry about twice the clot risk.
- No alcohol on overnight flights. In a lab study at cabin pressure, healthy adults who drank before sleeping had lower blood oxygen and a higher heart rate through the night.
- Overnight to Europe: sleep as early as you can. Eat before you board or take the first meal, then get your head down.
- No melatonin on the plane.
- Walk the airport. Use your wait for 10-minute laps, staying close to your gate.
Jet lag One rule
Your body clock moves about an hour a day going east, a bit quicker going west. Light is what moves it.
The rule
Your body's low point sits about 3 hours before your usual wake time. Bright light before it pushes your clock later. Bright light after it pulls your clock earlier.
Flying east, you want earlier. So stay out of bright light until your low point has passed, then get outside. After 5 or more time zones that lands well into the morning, so the usual "get morning sun" advice works against you on day one.
Flying east: your light times
Before your time, stay indoors or wear sunglasses. After it, get outside for 30 minutes or more. These times are local and they're a guide: the science here is thin and mostly from lab studies.
Examples for a 6:30 am riser
| Trip | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York to London | 8:30 am | 7:30 am | Normal |
| New York to Paris or Rome | 9:30 am | 8:30 am | 7:30 am |
| Chicago to Paris | 10:30 am | 9:30 am | 8:30 am |
| Denver to Paris | 11:30 am | 10:30 am | 9:30 am |
Los Angeles to Europe is 9 zones. Past 8, the answer is less clear, so message me and we'll plan it.
The first few days
- Live on local time. Meals and bedtime from day one.
- Naps: 20 to 30 minutes, between 1 and 4 pm. Set an alarm.
- Caffeine: mornings are fine. None within 6 hours of bed.
- Move in the daytime. A walk or session in the morning or early afternoon suits flying east. Late-evening exercise can push your clock the wrong way. Keep the first couple of days light.
- Melatonin: ask your doctor first. The timing decides whether it helps, and the wrong time can make jet lag worse.
- Skip antihistamine sleep aids. Sleeping tablets are a doctor's call.
- Know what's normal. Your hours of sleep usually come back in about 2 days. Your sleep timing takes longer, especially going east.
Flying west
- Stay up to local bedtime. A walk outside in the late afternoon and evening helps.
- Expect to wake early for a few days. Keep the room dark and stay in bed if you can.
Training Keep the weight, cut the volume
Two short sessions a week holds most of what you've built. Stopping altogether costs more over 65.
Hotel gym: 30 minutes
Pick 4 or 5 exercises from your program and do 2 to 3 sets of each. Keep the weight close to normal. If the dumbbells stop short, slow the lowering down.
No gym: 20 minutes in your room
3 rounds, about a minute's rest between rounds. Breathe through every rep. If I've taken any of these out of your program, leave them out here too.
| Move | Reps | Easier | Harder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sit to stand from a chair | 10 to 12 | Push off the chair arms or your thighs | 3 seconds down |
| Push-up, hands on the desk | 8 to 12 | Hands on the wall | Hands on the floor |
| One-arm row with your bag, other hand on the desk, chest up | 10 each side | Lighter bag | 3 seconds down |
| Glute bridge, on the bed or floor | 12 | Smaller range | 2-second squeeze at the top |
| Plank, hands on the desk | 20 to 30 seconds | Hands on the wall | Hold for 45 seconds |
Use a firm surface that won't slide. Stop if you feel pain, chest discomfort or dizziness.
Steps and movement
- Protect the worst days. Long flights and conference weeks are where steps collapse. In one study, adults around 72 who dropped to about 1,400 steps a day for 2 weeks lost nearly 4% of their leg lean mass.
- Walk after meals. 10 to 15 minutes after a restaurant meal adds up fast.
- Bad weather? Hotel hallways and stairs count.
- Hot places. Train early or late in the day. Water pills and many blood pressure medicines make heat harder to handle, so ask your doctor what to watch for.
Eating Choose your mode, then keep it simple
Locked in
An event or deadline is coming. Log everything, use a food scale if you can and keep protein high.
Buffer
A normal vacation or family visit. Allow yourself 3 to 4 lb. Keep calories and protein in range, with looser evening meals.
Enjoy it
A rare trip. Progress pauses and that's your choice. Keep your step floor and plan your return before you leave.
No scale, no labels
- Your hand. A palm is 3 to 4 oz of cooked protein. A fist is about a cup of carbs. A thumb is about a tablespoon of fat.
- Your plate. Half vegetables, a quarter lean protein, a quarter carbs, a thumb of fat.
- Take a photo. Snap the plate and log it later.
- Add the hidden fat. Log an extra 10 to 15 g of fat for any cooked restaurant meal.
- Logging abroad. US chain entries won't help in Rome. Search the plain dish ("grilled sea bass") and add the hidden fat.
- Order simple dishes. Grilled and separate is easy to estimate. Mixed, smothered or stuffed is a guess.
Italy
Spain and the Basque Country
France
UK and Ireland
Mexico and the Caribbean
Hotel buffet
Drinks and water
- Alcohol. Spirits with soda or a diet mixer keep the calories down. Alternate with water.
- Not sure the tap water is safe? Drink bottled, brush your teeth with it and skip the ice. Avoid raw salad too. Fruit you peel yourself is usually fine.
If you get sick Fluids first
Vomiting or diarrhea
- Replace fluids first. Oral rehydration salts from any pharmacy are the best option. Older adults dehydrate faster.
- Follow your sick-day plan if you're on a GLP-1, a blood pressure medicine, a water pill or a diabetes medicine, or you have a fluid limit. No plan? Call your doctor today.
- Anti-diarrhea tablets. Follow the packet, and don't take them if you have a fever or blood in your stool.
- Pepto-Bismol. Not if you take a blood thinner or aspirin.
- See a doctor for blood in your stool, a fever, or if you can't keep fluids down or feel dizzy.
Get emergency help
- Chest pain or sudden trouble breathing.
- One leg swollen, painful or warm. Most flight-related clots show up in the 1 to 2 weeks after landing, so this one follows you home.
- Face drooping, weakness on one side or trouble speaking.
112 reaches emergency services anywhere in the EU. In the UK, call 999. Look up the local number before you go anywhere else.
Once you're through it, message me. We'll ease you back in.
Coming home The first week counts most
- Back on plan at the next meal. Your frozen meals are waiting. Don't skip meals or add cardio to make up for it. One off-plan meal is a data point.
- First session within 2 days. If you're tired, keep it short and easy. Showing up is the job.
- Expect the scale to read high for a few days. Extra carbs hold water. Give it the week before you judge it.
- Real gain is small, and it sticks. Across 122 adults on 1 to 3 week vacations, the average gain was under a pound. It was still there 6 weeks later.
- Back from Europe? See Flying west.
- Send me your check-in and tell me how it went.