P.S. If This is Austin, I Still Love You

I just spent four days on vacation, and if you know anything about the health blogging community, tradition dictates I now post the obligatory “how to maintain fitness while on the road” update, a close relative of the Jan. 1 “back on track” update and a dead ringer of the upcoming “how to cut calories on Super Bowl Sunday” update. (Take cover.)

Any blogger worth her weight in three-ounce bottles of shampoo (including this one) could list for you a series of tips for keeping healthy while living out of a suitcase, from sticking to your daily workout routine to bringing your own breakfast to limiting your alcohol intake to a respectful two drinks a day. My travel companion in Austin was a Bay-Area-living, Trader-Joe’s-shopping, lunchtime-yoga-practicing, three-time marathoner, so I knew our long weekend in the Live Music Capital of the World would be one for the healthy-living record books.

And boy, was I right. So without further ado, I bring you Anne and Meredith’s top 6 tips for keeping your health on track while traveling:

• Forgo fattening paper plates and eat your chili directly out of a full bag of Fritos instead. Saves calories and trees. Or maybe just trees.

• Take the edge off your hunger with a light, pre-dinner snack, preferably in the form of free fried bacon strips.

• Work up a sweat. While not moving a muscle in 103-degree water. Tub-side bottle of wine optional.

• Use your time in an unfamiliar city to experiment with new sports. Most guests at our hotel opted to kayak or paddleboat in Lady Bird Lake. We opted to ride jackalopes instead.

• Eat your vegetables. Drink your vegetables, too.

• Seek out activities that, um, curb your appetite. (Too political for a running blog?)

Ok, so maybe I left Austin a little more, uh, well-rounded than I’d intended, but when you’re surrounded by good friends and good food and all the late-night food trucks a girl could ask for, sometimes healthy lifestyle choices go by the wayside. And as long as you don’t make it a full-time habit, I think that’s A-OK.

Because we had (warning: bad cannon joke ahead) a blast.

What’s your favorite way to let go while on the road? And can ya’ll help me brainstorm ideas for other things I can eat out of a fritos bag?