A Flight Attendant’s Five-Step Guide To Staying Fit While Constantly Travelling

Instagram: @theflyingfitfoodie

Keeping up a fitness routine and eating well can be hard at the best of times, but if you're constantly travelling, it can feel impossible.

Lack of suitcase space, frequent in-flight meals, and all of the sugary, fizzy and alcoholic treats in Duty Free are more than enough reason to throw diet and exercise out the window.

However, Sophie Jones, a flight attendant for a big international airline, might just have the answer for staying fit while travelling.

??Good morning from Chicago! It was such a beautiful day here today so took my training outside, taking the scenic route alongside Lake Michigan. I'm not really a runner so I broke my run up to mix things up and to incorporate some HIIT too ✅ ?I split my run into two parts. My first half was a warm up for 2km, just running at my own comfortable pace. The second half I mixed things up with some intervals. ?First was 8 x 30 seconds running with 30 seconds jogging ?Next was 8 x 30 seconds of sprints with 30 seconds walking ?‍♀️I find this helps me cover more distance as I tend to get bored running! It also increases my heart rate, and turns running into more of a challenging fat burning exercise! It was also made much harder by having a crazy strong head wind! ??? #thewindycity #chicago #lakemichigan #runchicago #hiit #chicagofitness #intervaltraining #fitcabincrew #fitflightattendant

A post shared by @theflyingfitfoodie on

Last January, the 26-year-old launched her Instagram account @theflyingfitfoodie as a way of documenting her travels as a long-haul flight attendant, jetting between the likes of the US and South Africa each week, and keeping her friends and family up-to-date with her favourite restaurants, cafes, and workout destinations around the world.

"I started the account as a way of keeping myself motivated to workout and eat well while travelling. I never expected it to be popular," Jones says, having since amassed over 10,000 followers.

Having completed a year of shorter-haul trips and with a career of long-haul looming, Jones soon realised that maintaining a healthy fitness regime across so many different time zones was going to be a complicated affair.

"When you start flying, it's quite common to gain weight due to sheer exhaustion. A lot of cabin crew go out drinking, eat plane food, order room service and stay in their rooms watching Netflix because the easy options are so tempting when you're tired and can't be bothered researching new restaurants when you land.

"Quite early on in my job, I got the idea in my head that I didn't want it having a negative impact on my life and health,' she admits.

As a result, Sophie fits in between four to five workouts a week, with a range of HIIT training, weights and yoga, into her busy schedule to maintain her fitness.

Here, we find out Sophie's top tips to staying fit and healthy while travelling:

4 of 5

4. Plan your snacks

“Bloating is one of the biggest downfalls when you’re a regular flyer – it’s the worst feeling when you get off a flight.

Over the years, I’ve trialled eating whatever I want, only drinking water, and not eating in order to avoid that post-flight bloat. If I’m honest, you’ll leave a flight feeling bloated no matter what you eat but it’s the 24 hours after the flight when you’ll notice a difference in your digestive system, depending on what you consumed.

I recommend travellers take their own snacks on board a flight because you never really know what you’re going to be served. For example, I always take my own nuts, salads, protein bars, fruits, vegetables and rarely eat big meals during the flight. As a result, I often notice my stomach is back to normal the next day.

See also
#TheLIST: 10 Hair Trends That Will Be Huge in 2018

If you consume fizzy drinks or eat the hot, overly-processed foods on board, which are known to be high in calories, salt and sodium, you’ll stay bloated for longer.


If you’re concerned about taking snacks through customs, I’d advise declaring them before touching down so you won’t get fined. Alternatively, the authorities will simply take whatever you’re not allowed to bring into the country off you. The US are quite funny about you taking in snacks . I’ve had bananas and avocados taken off me on some occasions, whereas others times I’ve been allowed to take them through, so it depends on who you get on the day.”

See also
5 Health-Related Reasons to Add Plants to Your Home Office
4 of 5