How to Supersize your health on a USA road trip

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You know America is the land of supersize and “You want fries with that?” It’s notorious for gigantic meals and unlimited soda refills.

Or is it?

We’ve come to America with the intention to smash down those walls of perception, uncover the hidden secrets and reveal the truth – it’s also the land of supersized health, where many current healthy food trends were born – like green smoothies and kale, cauliflower and quinoa inspired dishes.

This is the America we love. As we said to a local health food store attendant in Hawaii,

“We love America; it’s so easy to get what you want!”

If you follow our Instagram stories, you’ll know that amongst the small sized coffee we consume – and the odd milkshake treat for the girls – we also showcased the variety of delicious, healthy food and experiences on offer.

Health is important to us. I’ve suffered from gluten intolerance for many years, which lead me on a path of healthier living. Craig has been having similar issues, and I’m concerned about the girls.

I’m hyper aware of what food can do to your body – good and bad. Eating crap food scares me.

I was concerned we’d have limited options traveling, but for the past month, we’ve been amazed by what is on offer to help supersize our health and create a happier inside.

We have partnered with UP4 Probiotics for our America Unplugged journey this year and will be sharing posts about healthy living and creating happier insides in sponsorship with them.

You’ll see in point 1, why they are a perfect fit for us and why we are happy to share with you how they can help supersize your health, not matter where you are traveling (or not).

How to supersize your health in the USA

1. Take Probiotics

“Are you taking probiotics, Caroline? Your digestive system is a mess today. I want you to take extra for the next four days.”

This was the conversation I’d have with Dr Matt, our chiropractor almost every week I visited him.

I’ve since done a lot of research and am a devout taker of probiotics and encourage many others to take them. Gut health is everything.

As Hippocrates, the father of medicine said over two thousand years ago,

“All disease begins in the gut.”

Gut health is everything.

Sadly, we live in a toxic world that strips our guts of all the right flora and bacteria, ESPECIALLY if you have taken a lot of antibiotics. Probiotics help re-line your stomach with good bacteria.

When you are traveling, you are trying different foods and exposed to different environments. Your gut can struggle to adapt, which can easily lead to you getting sick.

Dr Matt’s receptionist told me about her tour to China once. Everyone on tour came down sick, except for her. She was taking probiotics daily.

Probiotics are one of the easiest ways you can strengthen your gut, build your immunity, and protect yourself from getting sick. Particularly in the US because you do not want to be visiting a doctor or the emergency room. There goes your travel and your life budget.

It’s best to take a probiotic that has strong digestive and immune protection when traveling.

I like to take the UP4 Ultra Probiotics with ultra-high potency, which is best for my weak digestive system and what you want when traveling.

I also LOVE that they have probiotics for kids.

The UP4 Kids Cubes come in the form of soft vanilla melts – natural vanilla bean flavor, not sugar. I am so happy they come running to me each morning reminding me it’s time to take their probiotic. It’s one of the few healthy things I promote to them that they have embraced wholeheartedly.

Savannah has a very sensitive stomach. She’s been taking the probiotics for two weeks now, and we’ve had no issues. I am curious (and excited) to see the difference this will make for her gut.

You can buy UP4 Probiotics at Target or online.

Drink Kombucha

Reach for the kombucha instead of the soda. You’ll feel like you’re having something fizzy and naughty, but it’s tremendously good for you!

Kombucha is naturally fermented with a living colony of bacteria so is a probiotic drink good for your gut health.

My favorite is the turmeric and ginger, and I found the most delicious one in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii – the Big Island Booch!

You can easily find kombucha in most grocery stores, health food shops, healthy cafes, and sometimes even bars.

Yep. I tried a kombucha in The Raleigh Beer Garden. Mind you, it did have alcohol in it, which I didn’t realize you could do. It’s all about the balance, right? I only had one as it wasn’t that good. I’ll just stick to the turmeric kind from now on.

Buy Organic and local

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Hippocrates

Instead of eating out all the time, splurge in the supermarket, or local farmer’s markets, on organic food.

There are loads of options to purchase organic food in the US and at a great price. It’s more expensive than non-organic, but in comparison to what you’d pay in Australia, it’s a good deal so worth spending that money for a happier inside and a supersized health!

We mostly only purchase organic produce now and can notice the difference. I have been very surprised also by the number of restaurants and cafes that advertise organic meals.

As we are going to be road tripping and will have more space, we shop in bulk at Costco. We get a lot of organic food for a good price. Trader Joes is another favorite supermarket of ours, even Harris Teeter has a growing selection. Whole Foods is also another option. If you want to eat out, Whole Foods has a buffet with healthy options. Each meal is labeled, so you know what ingredients you are eating.

We found the most amazing natural grocery in Nashville called the Turnip Truck. Cheap prices, great variety, and delicious smoothies.

We are also now Amazon Prime members so can easily get our organic food and supplements shipped to wherever we are for cheaper prices and quickly!

And we purchased a Ninja Blender and Nutri bullet so we can make our own supersized healthy smoothies and juices.

Exercise daily

Make it an intention to exercise daily, especially if you are eating out a lot.

The rule of thumb to maintain your body weight is 10,000 steps or 6km walking a day. You can easily check this off when you are out exploring if you are using your feet to get around.

America is a land of many conveniences and accessibility, which is fantastic, but not if it takes you away from movement and supersized health. Choose walking first.

Hippocrates also said,

“walking is man’s best medicine.”

I use the S Health app on my Samsung Galaxy 8 to track. I was easily doing 10,000 steps, and on some days 2-3 x as much.

I also like to get up for sunrise and go for a run and do my morning meditation. Not only is this supersizing my physical health, but my mental health, and giving me the unique perspective of watching the destination come alive.

I loved running along the beachfront in Maui and Waikiki, and at our current location, I am enjoying running through the pine forest.

FREE fitness classes

Whilst staying with friends in Durham, North Carolina Craig and I attended Bootcamp with our friends. We learned about FIANation.com (Females in Action) and F3Nation for the men. You can search the website to see where a Bootcamp may be happening near your location.

It’s free and run by the community. Not only was it keeping me fit, but gave me a wonderful insight to the local community, which we love to experience. The people were very warm and welcoming. You even get a nickname at the end. Mine was Strayed, for obvious reasons!

Yoga online

I love yoga and also have an annual membership to Grokker, which has access to yoga and fitness classes. It costs me $9 a month and it’s of exceptional value. I can easily fit it into my day as there are classes of different lengths and focuses.

My body and mind loves it, and it’s a great way to unwind from a busy day of exploring.

It has a brilliant calendar feature so you can schedule in classes, and you receive reminder emails to get it done. Plus, you earn wellness minutes which motivates you to keep going and move up the wellness ladder.

Be Fast Food Good

Yes. You can get healthy fast food in America. Do your research to find them.

We often ask locals for tips, or research using TripAdvisor or Google maps.

Google has a cool section now on their maps which collate local restaurants into themes like best lunch, fast food, where the locals eat – that is my favorite one as locals are going to know the treasures and often ones that aren’t so unhealthy.

If you can, download menus before arriving to make sure they have something you will like and is healthy.

Stick with whole foods, go grilled instead of fried, and be careful of any sauces for salads. You can’t go wrong with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.

We love being in Raleigh-Durham as the options for healthy food are overflowing. We randomly passed a fast food place the other day called B.Good. They source all their food locally. My salad was delicious and one of the best I’ve had.

We have followed a lot of cool local accounts on Instagram before arriving in Raleigh, which was a fantastic way for us to discover healthy foods we want to try.

Grab a juice or smoothie

If you’re eating out a lot and you feel you lack fruit and veg nutrients seek out a healthy juice or smoothie to give you a little zing and zap.

We especially needed this after a few days in Memphis – the BBQ capital of the US. It was hard to find good vegetables. On the last day after a desperate search online for healthy food, we discovered The City Silo. OMG. Give me one of everything!

We were devastated to only discover Lanikai Juice on our last day in Hawaii. We’d seen it mentioned in many places, but I ignored it thinking it would be just like Jamba Juice, which I wouldn’t say is a ultra-healthy choice.

We were wowed when we finally got a smoothie from Lanikai. They have fantastic recipes, full of nutrition and supplements and are relatively well priced.

I also had one of the most delicious smoothies of my life in a smoothie place, SunLife Organics, I randomly walked past in Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles.

Keep following our travels on Instagram stories as we continue to share just how easy (and delicious) it is to supersize your health in the USA.

[uestion] Do you have any other great local secrets for us to continue our quest to supersize our health on our USA road trip?

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