Ep. 60 How to Stay Regular on the Road — Avoiding Travel Constipation Without Resorting to Drastic Measures

Hey Friend,

You’ve packed your suitcase, your passport, and your favorite shoes for exploring… but did you pack a plan for your digestion?

If you’ve ever gone on vacation and found yourself feeling bloated, uncomfortable, and waiting for things to move—you’re not alone.

In this week’s episode, I’m sharing the real science behind why travel constipation happens so often—especially for women 35+—and what you can do to prevent it.

🎧 Listen to the full episode: How to Stay Regular on the Road

Inside the episode, I break down:

• The top 5 reasons your gut slows down when you travel (and it’s not just the food)
• The supplement “Travel Gut Kit” I never leave home without
• My top nutrition and lifestyle hacks for keeping things moving while on the go

Because travel is meant to be enjoyed—not remembered for the digestive drama that came with it.

Your body loves rhythm, even when you’re far from home. Let’s make sure your trip memories are about joy and adventure… not bloating and discomfort.

In health & hormone harmony,

Tracy Erin

✨ Join The Balanced Hormone Solution Today!

If your digestion, energy, and hormones feel out of control and you don’t know where to start, this is for you.

Inside BHS, you’ll learn how to test smarter, eat for hormone balance, and restore the kind of energy that makes travel (and everyday life) so much more fun.

Transcript

Speaker 3: 0:09

Welcome to the Balance Hormone Solution Podcast. If you're a woman 35 plus feeling exhausted, struggling to lose weight, and wondering where your libido went, this is for you. I am Tracy Aaron, a functional medicine practitioner who helps women balance their hormones naturally. Without prescriptions, guesswork, or trending Nonsense.'cause here's the truth, your symptoms aren't random. They're signals. And if you know how to listen, you can fix the root cause and start feeling like yourself again. If you're ready for real solutions, let's get to it.

0:50

Ever notice how the minute you leave home, your digestion seems to pack its bags too? Let's talk about the science behind why travel constipation is so common and the simple realistic steps you can take to make sure you keep things. Moving. So welcome back to the Balance Hormone Solution podcast. I am your host, Tracy Aaron, and this is where we ditch the guesswork, decode your body, and get you feeling vibrant Again, I'm a registered nurse, integrative health practitioner, functional medicine hormone specialist, and your go-to travel companion when it comes to keeping your hormones and digestion on track. So last month I was in France. Right eating baguettes the size of my forearm, walking cobblestone street, soaking up every ounce of joy. But there's a not so glamorous side to traveling that nobody posts on Instagram about, and that is constipation. Even though I know all the tricks, I still had a moment of. Wait a minute, we're on day two and nothing is happening. So here's the truth. Constipation, while traveling isn't just about food, it's a whole mix of factors that mess with your gut's, natural rhythm. And for women in perimenopause, our digestive system is already more sensitive to stress hormone shifts and routine changes. So let's talk about the factors that go into this and how we can prevent it on our next trip. So number one, why travel constipation is so common. Well, here's the low hanging fruit. Easy answer. You just disrupt your regular routine. Because your gut thrives on that rhythm. You might be waking up later, skipping your usual morning coffee ritual, eating different foods, eating different times of day, and all of this throws off that brain gut connection. Also, you might have changes in movement or posture if you had a long overseas flight or unusually long car rides, or even just sitting more can slow that intestinal motility. And hydration changes. Airplane air is awfully dehydrating and we tend to drink less to avoid those constant bathroom breaks. But less fluid overall means harder stools, and this adds up over time, but also the stress hormone spike. Okay, even good stress from travel can increase your cortisol, which diverts your blood away from your digestion, and ultimately slows things down. And not to mention dietary changes, right? Like new foods, less fiber, more refined carbs, or even the addition of alcohol can all add to the slowdown of the motility of your digestion track. So what do we do about it? Here's some supplements that can save the day. My favorite by far is magnesium. I love magnesium glycinate. This is relaxing overall to the body, but if you're really just needing to double down on the, uh, constipation factor, the form of magnesium, that's magnesium citrate. Can work as well. It's just not as absorbable in terms of helping mag, uh, the other systems of the body that Magnesium does. So I just like to double up on glycinate'cause it helps the overall calming sensation too. But just so you know, citrate will work as well and this helps support your bowel movements and relaxes those intestinal muscles. So. If you're not sure where to start, I would say 200 max, 400 milligrams right before bed. And when you wake up in the morning, you should see some movement. You can always increase that or take more doses throughout the day. The next thing is digestive enzymes with your meals. These are not a bad idea. Traveling no matter what. Because you wanna make sure that you're grabbing all the nutrients you can from the food that you're eating. Plus, because you're likely doing all the things I just talked about, eating different foods, different times of day, maybe more or less. Mobility. Enzymes just help break down food. So if you've got heavier or unfamiliar meals, it's going to reduce the overall bloating and gas. Another thing that can help is probiotics. Of course, you're traveling, so you need to get some shelf stable, something. Um, keep your microbiome balanced by. Having a daily dose of probiotics, choose a broad spectrum brand. If you're wanting to know some of my favorites, just shoot me an email or, um, find me on Instagram and I'll be happy to send you over a list of probiotics that I love. This is something that's super easy and overlooked, but electrolytes okay, like minerals. We need lots of sodium and potassium to help our stools stay soft, and electrolytes aren't just for energy. That's where they really shine in terms of traveling and helping us go regularly. Alright, so you wanna make sure you're rehydrating and you don't need a bunch of sugar, so make sure you choose a good one. Also, vitamin C, higher doses. Can have a laxative effect in addition to immune support. So I personally love to use this when I'm traveling because I want both at the same time. Now, outside of supplements, there's always some lifestyle things that you can do. Number one, hydrate strateg. Strategically, what do I mean by that? Drink a full glass of water first thing in the morning. And before every single meal. Sometimes when you start eating, you're not wanting to take breaks or it just doesn't feel like the right, you don't want to dilute the flavors and the textures in your mouth. I totally get that. So an easy way around that is to make sure you're getting a full glass of meal before every single meal and first thing in the morning. That gives you a minimum of four glasses a day. If you're hydrating in between meals, you've got enough water on board to keep your stools moving. Now moving daily, some vacations, this is really easy and you're hitting more steps than you ever do at home. But if you're in a vacation, like you're at a conference, you've got a work thing and you're not getting the steps that you normally get, you wanna make sure that you're getting a 10 minute walk after meals. This is really going to signal to your gut to get moving. Okay, now stick to your morning ritual. So whether that's. Morning cup of coffee, lemon water, like I teach my clients, or even just a couple minutes of deep breathing, it can cue your body that it's go time. So whatever you normally do at home, try to keep that same routine when you're traveling. Another idea is to pack some portable fiber. Things like chia seeds, flax packets, or fiber powder can be added to things like yogurt or smoothies when you're out and about. And here's a fun tip. Eat some pea foods daily. What pea foods am I talking about? Things like prunes, pears, papaya, pumpkin. These things naturally encourage your bowel movements and are great to have on hand. Always, always, always mind your stress. Things like deep breathing, stretching, pausing before meals. A quick meditation can help keep that cortisol from blocking digestion. Alright, so before your next trip, just create a little travel gut kit. Put a little magnesium, some digestive enzyme, probiotics, and even single use electrolyte powders together. Combine that. With one hydration habit, one morning cue, and you're gonna give your gut the best chance at staying on track next time you are away from home. So just remember that travel was meant to be enjoyed, not remembered for the bloating and discomfort that came with it. So with a little bit of planning, you can keep your digestive moving and feel your best the whole trip. So just keep this in mind. Your body loves rhythm even when you're far from home. I'll see you next time on the Balanced Hormone Solution Podcast.

Speaker: 9:25

That's it for today's episode of the Balanced Hormone Solution Podcast. If this resonated, don't just listen. Do something about it. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you know another woman who's tired of feeling like a stranger in her own body. Send her this way for more support. Check out the show notes. I've got resources to help you get started. Just remember, your body isn't broken, you just need the right tools. See you next time.