Grow your own herbs!

Having herbs, fresh and/or dried, can work wonders in your recipes. The easiest way to make sure you have herbs to cook with is to bring dried herbs with you. If you want fresh herbs and you don't think you'll have access to them in local markets, then pack seeds!

In addition to seeds you may want to pack dixy cups or something similar to start the seeds in. Once the herbs have solid roots you can transfer them to bigger pots or into your garden. You can google "grow herbs at home" and get all sorts of advice on how to plant your herb garden. A word of caution - many websites make it look way more complicated than it is!.

I ordered seeds from Burpee, bought gardening soil and cups and then simply followed the directions on the back of each seed's package.

I've just gotten started with my herb garden and I'll let you know how it goes!

Figure out your foundation of food and exercise ASAP

One of the challenges of creating and/or maintaining your health when you are abroad is the tendency to fall into habits and routines that do not prioritize healthy living. I have found that the longer I wait to create healthy habits and routines the less likely I am to create them at all. It has always been hard for me to find the energy to do the things I need to do to be healthy when I first hit the ground. Why? Because I'm busy, tired, don't know the language, there isn't enough time in the day, pastries are the most convenient snacks etc. It takes a serious extra burst of energy to find those extra hours in the day when you first hit the ground to go out and figure out what you need to figure out to start healthy habits and routines ASAP.

For me, the two things that I want to figure out within the first few days are:

1) What food do I have assess to and what can I make and
2) Where/how will I exercise

Figure out Food

Within a few days of arriving I make sure to find the time and energy to go on a grocery store/market exploration. I want to know as soon as possible what my food options are and where I have to go to get it. I want to get over the hurdle of having to seek out where to find food ASAP so that it no longer feels like a daunting task and I understand the resources I have access to. With this I can better plan out how I am going to maintain healthy eating habits.

In Sierra Leone I quickly located the best grocery stores and discovered a fruit and vegetable market down the street. I immediately started to buy cucumbers and avocados from the fruit stand and a salad dressing from the grocery store for daily salads. I learned that the grocery stores were Lebanese owned so I had access to all of the supplies I needed to make hummus. Beans and rice were readily available as was pita bread. I had brought my own oatmeal for breakfast. Pretty basic, but within a few days I had the ingredients for healthy meals that would sustain me until I had more time and energy to get more creative with my cooking.

Here in Santo Domingo I have access to many more ingredients. However, I would not have known this (and therefore has access to it) had I not devoted 3 hours on one of my first afternoons to get myself to the biggest grocery store in order to explore it aisle by aisle. I made mental notes of what was there so that I could start planning my cooking around that. I also brought a list of basic ingredients with me to see if they were there so that I could make another list of things to buy when I am next back in the US. I did one big grocery shop right away to get some of the basics i.e. rice, beans, lentils, olive oil, salt, balsamic, noodles, frozen vegetables etc. things that will allow me to quickly throw together a healthy meal even when I'm exhausted at the end of the day.

Now that I know where the grocery store is, how to get there, and what is has, it no longer feels like a daunting errand to run. I know how to do it and I now feel comfortable doing it. As a result I am more likely to buy healthy food to support healthier cooking from the get go.

Figure out Exercise

Figuring out what you will do for exercise can either be the easiest task or the most challenging. If you are staying in a hotel that has a gym, great! Just make sure you use it! Chances are, however, that you don't have immediate access to a gym and you might be living somewhere where it feels slightly less comfortable/safe to go for a run on your own. Some things that I think about/do:

• I bring my yoga mat. I also make sure that I have guided yoga classes either on DVD, on my computer or on my ipod because I often lack the energy to guide myself through a practice.
• I try to figure out where there is a gym, if there is one. If there is one I next try to figure out how I will fit it into my daily routine and try to implement it right away.
• Is there a local running group? The Hash House Harriers are all over the world and contacting the local group can be a great way to meet people and exercise with them. If you aren't so into the organization, you can go, meet people and then set up smaller running dates on your own.
  
• No gym? Not comfortable running in your neighborhood? Bring guided workout DVDs, download programs onto your computer or ipod. For example, P90X, while expensive, provides you with a series of workout programs that you can do from the comfort of your own home. Iamplify has a wide range of workouts that you can download to have on your ipod including ones designed to be carried out in your hotel room.
  

Whatever you discover my advice is to discover it ASAP and start integrating it into your daily routine. If you're going to go to the gym, figure out if you need to do it in the morning in order to fit it into your day. If you are going to do at home workouts, then start setting aside designated time to do your workout. I find that it is hard, initially, to motivate to do an at home workout so sometimes I designate the time and for the first few days I use that time just for stretching or moderate movement. Doing this I at least get into the routine of using that time for my well being. I then try to add more movement every day until it builds up into a full on workout.

Moral of the story? Create the time and energy during your first days abroad to establish your foundation of healthy food and exercise. It doesn't have to be perfect or elaborate (refer back to my initial meal plan in Sierra Leone), but that's why I call it the foundation. You can build whatever you like as you settle into your life abroad. Having a sturdy foundation from the start will give you a great advantage in maintaining your healthy abroad.

Use a Food Scale - home and abroad

For many of us, portion control is the biggest challenge standing between us and our ideal weight. If you need help managing your portions a food scale can be a great tool to have in your kitchen both at home and while you are traveling. This tip is more for those who are tracking their caloric intake or those who want to better understand the substance in varying amounts of food.

I recommend the EatSmart Precision Pro - Multifunctional Digital Kitchen Scale. Measuring your food, you will better understand things like - ok 50 grams of beans can be 300+ calories so maybe I won't eat an entire bowl of beans as an afternoon snack!

I find that with a better understanding of how many calories are in my food I better control my portions. I also have more respect for the substance of what I am consuming - it helps me navigate the fine line between what my body needs for sustenance and what I just want to eat for the sake of eating.

Emotional Freedom Therapy

Are you away from home and looking for a way to support your emotional health? Travel, for whatever period of time, can bring up a wide range of emotions and can be extremely challenging. You are often busy, tired, and without your usual exercise and dietary routines. It is also common to feel alone and emotions can build up without your usual outlets such as friends, family or a therapist. Yoga and meditation are great ways to relieve emotional distress, but if you are looking for another strategy, try Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT).

Emotional Freedom Therapy is technique developed by Dr. Mercola that utilizes acupressure points and positive affirmations to support emotional help. Among other things, EFT is supposed to help you: remove negative emotions, reduce food cravings, reduce or eliminate pain, and implement positive goals. Read through Dr. Mercola's web page of information on EFT and watch the video demonstration. You can find additional information on EFT by googling it.

Recognizing that this technique is not for everyone and for many it will take a bit of a leap of faith into unfamiliar territory, I think it's worth a try. I am a firm believer in acupuncture and acupressure, which work with the meridian energy channels to heal and promote well-being. I have also used positive affirmations in various forms in my meditation or simply to calm myself down during anxious spells. The combination of these two methodologies must be helpful, especially when you don't have a meditation leader or acupuncture therapist around to support you!

I'll let you know how this goes for me... and please let me know how it goes for you!