How To Get The Most Out Of Your Sanctifly Membership - 2024 Edition

The Sanctifly app helps our members to enjoy the journey and not just the destination. We have always been about wellness, and our goal is to help you develop better travel habits. While on the road, you may find yourself asking, “ How do I find sanctuary while travelling? Where can I eat freshly prepared food? How can I make better use of my travel downtime?” Well, Sanctifly is the solution to answering all these questions and many more! Here are quick tips on how to get the most out of your Sanctifly membership.

1. GO PREMIUM

As a premium member you can use Sanctifly points to gain exclusive access to lounges, spas, gyms and pools at airports around the world.

Visit one of our 600+ premium airport lounge partners or 140+ Airport spa locations ready to give you a massage and ease away stress on your next journey. Escape from the overcrowded areas of the airport and relax in a quiet, luxurious space.

Melt away the stress and tension of traveling with one of XpresSpa’s exclusive relaxing massages, facials, nail and/or waxing treatments. An amazing way to enjoy your airport downtime, and it certainly beats sitting around by your gate!

Become a member today to enjoy all the above and more!

2. GET ACTIVE

Spend your airport downtime working up a sweat at one of our gym partners, then freshen up with a shower before your next flight. Our gyms are all located within a 5 mile radius of the airport.

You need to use your points to access premium locations, always comforted in the fact that points are at least 50% better value the walkup rate at lounges and the exclusive access we offer at hotel partners.

Is there anything better than a swim to energise between flights? Use your Sanctifly points to go for a dip at one of our 3000+ Specialist gym and pool partners at any of our 200+ locations including the Hilton Boston Logan Inn, Le Meridien Dubai, TWA at JFK.

Get ready for your next flight, by recharging your body.

3. FLIGHT DELAY BENEFIT

Flight delayed by 2+ hours? Any disruption of 2 hours and your lounge, gym or spa visit is on us!

Simply register your flight, we’ll monitor it and if delayed, we will automatically credit your membership with 100 points. This is equal to a free pass to use immediately at over 90% of our premium airport locations. Enjoy a trip to a lounge, have a workout or unwind by the pool during your delay time.

Members can also keep the points for the future they don’t need to be used straight away.

Tap the tile ‘Flight Delay Benefit’ under the activity section on the App home page to register your flight.

You can register up to 16 flights a year included in your membership. Some terms and conditions apply.

4. UNWIND AT ONE OF OUR RECREATIONAL PARTNERS

Long layover? Get out of the airport and relax in comfort. We are delighted to announce 200 new hotel partners for recreational use. Enjoy a meal, simply relax or chat in beautiful surroundings away from the hustle of the airport. As lounges are getting busier, we felt the need to add more landside options. This option is perfect if you have yet to check in and have plenty of time to spare before your flight. 

The even better news is that no points are required to visit these locations. You are also welcome to use the hotel's complimentary shuttle service. Hotels prefer if you use the book now an option in the app so they can manage numbers.

Download Sanctifly App to explore more.

5. BEAT JETLAG

Traveling to a different time-zone and worried about jetlag? We’ve got you covered! Minimize or eliminate any jet lag with Timeshifter. Your first use is FREE. Then, use your Sanctifly points to get an annual membership. Timeshifter enables people to proactively “shift” their circadian clock quickly or “shift” the timing of an activity to the optimal circadian time to improve their safety, health, and performance.

6. EAT AND SNACK BETTER

When we are traveling, we are bombarded with many fast-food chains at the airport, or many of the airport restaurants do not freshly prepare the food onsite. Often the food arrives to the restaurant pre-made. Sanctifly guides our members to healthy food options, where the meals are prepared freshly onsite. Our app also contains content on healthy snacks you can bring for your journey.

7. UNLIMITED ACCESS

Get unlimited access to exclusive Sanctifly library. We have tons of easy-to-use fitness videos, only 10 minutes long, which can be completed either in the airport or at home. Our videos cover various topics, from exercises for circulation to core strengthening and aerobics. You can also try our meditation exercises which can be completed anywhere. There are lots of blogs on topics such as how to find sanctuary at the airport, healthy travel tips and what healthy snacks to pack for your trip.

Join the club today! Download the Sanctifly App and select the video tab to see all that match.

8. STAY HEALTHY WHILE FLYING

Use 100 points from your Sanctifly account to redeem a $32 Voucher for Get a $32 FLIGHTFUD Voucher. Created by a former Flight Attendant, FLIGHTFUD’s Flight Elixir is the all-natural travel aid designed specifically for flying. Drink this to feel great when you arrive at your destination and get the most of your travels. FLIGHTFUD uses a megadose of travel-supporting ingredients formulated to reduce travel bloat, support circulation, replenish hydration, manage jet lag and support immunity.

9. TAP INTO YOUR WELLNESS NEEDS

Let Sanctifly's Wellness Travel Coach, Sahara Rose De Vore, help you tap into your wellbeing needs so that you can choose the best wellness activities and experiences that turn your business trip into one of purpose, meaning, relief, and personalized outcomes. Use your points to book a 30-minute session with Sahara Rose today!

10. OVER 100 AIRPORT GUIDES

Sanctifly members get access to our carefully curated airport guides. These guides are broken down to separate time blocks, so we can recommend something for you, no matter how long or short your layover is.

11. THE SANCTIFLY TRAVEL WELLNESS GUIDE

A comprehensive guide full of expert advice and tips to develop good travel habits for the future. The guide covers topics such as:

• Navigating the new normal

• Movement and fitness

• Eating well and nutrition

• Sleep well and jet lag management

• Managing travel stress

• Resetting your mindset

Download your free copy of the guide today. 

12. TAKE A WALK

If you have a long layover at an airport, we recommend you get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Our app recommends over 160 parks and beaches all over the world, all within a 5-mile radius of the airport. Go for a walk, run, stretch in the park, meditate or enjoy a book out in the open. Don’t feel like leaving the airport? We also have many other free recommendations such as meditation rooms, observation decks, or art exhibitions. BWI airport even has its own 5.7km indoor walking trail.

As you can see, you never be bored or stressed on a journey as long as you are a Sanctifly member! With tons of free and premium options to spend your downtime, Sanctifly is the essential membership for today’s traveler.

Join Sanctifly today to explore our content and start building your healthy habits on the go with Sanctifly.

More Options added to Sanctifly!

36 New Lounges Added to Sanctifly

We are very excited to announce 36 new premium lounges added to Sanctifly, 25 of which are available to use right now. Located across USA, South America, Europe, South Africa and Asia, Sanctifly members can unwind in these luxurious lounges. Amongst these new lounges are 5 Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse lounges, 3 of which are available right now at JFK, SFO and IAD.

Enter these premium lounges today for amazing value. With Sanctifly, it only costs $25.00 on the pay-as you go membership to enter – or less than $15 on our premium plans. The best value on the market, anywhere.

Sanctifly Partners with Runnin'City 

We are delighted our new partnership with Runnin'City . Runnin’City is an innovative app providing its users with curated and narrated walking & jogging tracks at over 1900 locations globally. Sanctifly will be promoting Runnin'City's running & walking tracks at locations all over the world. This partnership will particularly benefit Sanctifly members who have a longer layover at the airport. Runnin'City members will also have the opportunity to purchase Sanctifly at a discounted rate.

Download Sanctifly Today

Download the Sanctifly app to explore all the facilities available to Sanctifly members.

Not traveling for a while? No problem! Purchase your membership today and wait to activate on your phone until just before you travel. Your 12 months starts on activation, not purchase.

No long term commitments. All memberships are backed by our 30 day no quibble money back guarantee.

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Sanctifly Membership

The Sanctifly app helps our members to enjoy the journey and not just the destination. We have always been about wellness, and our goal is to help you develop better travel habits. As we begin to return to travel, you may find yourself asking, how do I find sanctuary while travelling? Where can I eat freshly prepared food? How can I make better use of my travel downtime? Sanctifly is the solution to answering all these questions and many more! Here are TEN quick tips on how to get the most out of your Sanctifly membership.

1. GO PREMIUM

As a premium member you can use Sanctifly points to gain access to our exclusive options such as access to gyms, spas and top quality lounges. Our members typically receive at least a 50% discount to the walk-up price.

Visit one of our premium lounge partners on your next journey. Escape from the overcrowded areas of the airport and relax in a quiet, luxurious space.

Melt away the stress and tension of traveling with one of XpresSpa’s exclusive relaxing massages, facials, nail and/or waxing treatments. An amazing way to enjoy your airport downtime, and it certainly beats sitting around by your gate!

Spend your airport downtime working up a sweat at one of our gym partners, then freshen up with a shower before your next flight. Our gyms are all located within a 5 mile radius of the airport.

Purchase your membership today to enjoy all the above and more!

2. TAKE A DIP

Is there anything better than a swim between flights? Use your Sanctifly points to go for a dip at one of our 42 pool partners, including the Hilton Boston Logan Inn, Le Meridien in Dubai or the Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre at London Heathrow. Feel energized and ready for your next flight, not to mention swimming has lots of mental health benefits.

3. BEAT JETLAG

Traveling to a different time-zone and worried about jetlag? We’ve got you covered! Minimize or eliminate any jet lag with Timeshifter. Use your Sanctifly points to get an annual membership. Timeshifter enables people to proactively “shift” their circadian clock quickly or “shift” the timing of an activity to the optimal circadian time to improve their safety, health, and performance.

4. EAT AND SNACK BETTER

When we are traveling, we are bombarded with many fast-food chains at the airport, or many of the airport restaurants do not freshly prepare the food onsite. Often the food arrives to the restaurant pre-made. Sanctifly guides our members to healthy food options, where the meals are prepared freshly onsite. Our app also contains content on healthy snacks you can bring for your journey. Through our partnership with AtYourGate, you can even get healthy food delivered directly to your gate!

5. UNLIMITED ACCESS

Did you know that Sanctifly premium members get unlimited access to exclusive wellness content? We have loads of easy to use fitness videos, only 10 minutes long which can be completed either in the airport or at home. Our videos cover a wide range of topics, from exercises for circulation to core strengthening and aerobics. You can also try our meditation exercises which can be completed anywhere. There are lots of blogs on topics such as how to find sanctuary at the airport, a return to travel Covid 19 series, or even what healthy snacks to pack for your trip.

6. PODCAST

Listen to our Traveler Reset: Redefining Healthy Travel series. Sanctifly experts discuss healthy travel topics with industry leaders. Health and wellness are a top priority and should be a key consideration when we fly again. We want to help travelers to prepare for their first flight in 2021 and make healthier choices while they are on the road. Let’s make healthy travel part of the conversation so that we don’t go back to our old unhealthy routines.
You can watch or listen to the full series today.

7. OVER 100 AIRPORT GUIDES

Sanctifly members get access to our carefully curated airport guides. These guides are broken down to separate time blocks, so we can recommend something for you, no matter how long or short your layover is.

8. THE SANCTIFLY TRAVEL WELLNESS GUIDE.

A comprehensive guide full of expert advice and tips to develop good travel habits for the future. The guide covers topics such as:

• Navigating the new normal

• Movement and fitness

• Eating well and nutrition

• Sleep well and jet lag management

• Managing travel stress

• Resetting your mindset

Download your free copy of the guide today. 

9. TAKE A WALK

If you have a long layover at an airport, we recommend you get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Our app recommends over 160 parks and beaches all over the world, all within a 5-mile radius of the airport. Go for a walk, run, stretch in the park, meditate or enjoy a book out in the open. Don’t feel like leaving the airport? We also have many other free recommendations such as meditation rooms, observation decks, or art exhibitions. BWI airport even has its own 5.7km indoor walking trail.

10. GET A RIDE

Sanctifly recently announced an amazing partnership with SIXT. Our members can now get up to 15% discount on SIXT Car Rental at participating locations.  When booking rentals in category P (Premium), L (Luxury) or X (Special), our members receive complimentary access to the exclusive SIXT operated Diamond Lounge at selected locations around the world. Our members also get an exclusive 8% discount on SIXT Ride, meaning you can book chauffeur driven vehicles and airport transfers for less! If you have a long layover, treat yourself to a chauffeur driven experience and explore your surroundings in style!

As you can see, you never be bored or stressed on a journey as long as you are a Sanctifly member! With tons of free and premium options to spend your downtime, Sanctifly is the essential membership for today’s traveler. Download the app today to explore our content and start building your healthy habits at home with Sanctifly.

For more information on our membership types, click here.

Ten Tips To Help You Start Running

Exercising regularly can feel like a daunting task. Not only do you have to deal with the physical strain as you build up your fitness levels, but you also have to contend with the mental strain of creating a new habit. The positive impact of exercise can feel uninspiring when you are feeling tired or sore or unmotivated. That is why it is so important to work on building habits slowly and from the ground up. We can’t just wake up tomorrow and decide to be avid exercisers. We need to slowly build up our fitness levels, so it becomes easier on our body and we need to slowly build the habit, so it becomes easier on our minds.

When it comes to creating an exercise habit you should be focusing on three things: cardio, strength, and flexibility. Let’s focus on cardio for this blog post as we explore why running or jogging is a great option, especially for frequent travelers.

Why is running good for you?

There are so many reasons running is a great exercise to get into. Let’s start with the health impacts. Running is a great cardio exercise. It gets our blood pumping through our body, helping to strengthen our hearts and energize our muscles. Improved cardiovascular health also positively helps to reduce blood pressure, regulate blood sugar, and strengthens your immune system.

Running also has a positive effect on your mental health. Studies have shown that running can enhance your mood, relieve stress, and ease the effects of anxiety. Running also helps to improve and regulate your sleep which has a positive impact on your mental health.

A popular reason people avoid taking up running is the perceived impact it has on our knees. However, that is not exactly proven. In a study published in 2016, researchers found that people that ran regularly were less likely to suffer from knee pain. The key to protecting your knees from damage is to exercise and stretch your knee specifically. This will help build strength and protect from injury.

Aside from all the physical and mental health benefits, there are lots of other reasons running is a great exercise habit to form, especially for frequent travelers. Firstly, you do not need any specific equipment to run other than a good pair of running shoes. You also do not need to go anywhere in particular to run, i.e. you don’t need to go to the gym to run, all you have to do is step outside your door and start running!

Now that we have explained why running is such a good habit to get into, you may be thinking about giving it a go. That’s great! But it is also important to do it right. If you are not a runner it is highly unlikely that you will be good at it right away. We’ve put together a list of tips and advice to help you get started and to help you keep going when you feel like giving up.

Here are ten tips to start (and keep!) a running habit.

1. Use the run/walk method to get started

You need to build both physical and mental stamina when starting to run. The run/walk method helps you to slowly improve your fitness levels and build your physical stamina. Simply alternate running and walking, slowly increasing the amount of running time and decreasing the amount of walking time. The Couch to 5K training schedule is a popular and effective routine to follow that incorporates the run/walk method.

2. Start slow

Building the stamina to push past the mental blocks is as important as improving your physical stamina. However, pushing past mental blocks becomes a non-issue if you physically can’t go any further. In the beginning, make sure to start at a slow pace so that you can focus your energy on overcoming that voice in your head that says to stop.

3. Make sure you stretch so you are not sore

Running can be tough on your muscles and you will feel sore after a good run. Even experienced runners need to stretch after running to help loosen out their muscles. Check out this quick 10-minute post run stretch from Sanctifly’s Travel Wellness agent, Sara Quiriconi. Save it so you can stretch after your next run.

4. Try running in different places

If you feel you are not looking forward to going out for a run, not because it is hard but because it is boring, you may want to change up your routine. Yes, the fact that you don’t need to go anywhere in particular to run is a great benefit, but that doesn’t mean you have to run right outside your house. Perhaps running on a treadmill while watching something on your phone works better for you. Or perhaps you would find trail running out in nature more interesting, although we recommend getting some basic experience before attempting trail running. The point is if you feel uninspired to run, change up your surroundings to make it more interesting.

5. Try different things to listen to

This is a similar point to the one above. What you are listening to can help distract and motivate you while you are running. Perhaps a podcast or audiobook will work better than music. Perhaps you run better when you don’t listen to anything and instead use the time to process your own thoughts. Find out what works for you and change it up every now and again to keep it interesting.

6. Eat smart

The food you eat is an important part of your exercise routine. What you eat has a direct effect on your energy levels and can even impact your mood. Make sure you are eating energy food that is high in carbohydrates such as bananas and nut butter. Avoid stodgy, low-energy foods that are high in fat and processed carbs such as white pasta and pizza.

7. Stay hydrated

This is important all the time, not just while you are running. If you make sure you are adequately hydrated on your off days, you will have an easier time while you run. When you are running make sure you sip water rather than gulp it down. It can be tempting to drain your water bottle when the thirst hits you try to refrain. Running with a stomach full of water is not comfortable and may even make you feel ill.

8. Run with a friend

If you find yourself making excuses and avoiding going for a run, try to find a friend to run with. Having an accountability buddy is a great way to build and maintain healthy habits.

9. Finding it hard to find the motivation? Sign up for a 5k.

Having a tangible goal with a deadline to work towards can help with motivation. Signing up for a 5k is another great way to keep yourself accountable and make sure that you put in the work. 5K is a good starting point as it is very achievable.

10. Record your progress so you can see how far you have come

We build healthy habits over time, they become part of our regular routines. The goal is to make a healthy habit become the norm so that it no longer requires effort. Although this is the desired result, we often lose sight of how far we have come as we slowly build the habit. Keeping a record of how far and for how long you can run each week is a great way to see your progress.

 At Sanctifly we are here to support travelers build healthy and lasting habits. Even though we are not flying right now, maintaining healthy routines is still important. Although most of the content on the Sanctifly app was designed for traveling, it is applicable and helpful in all walks of life. Building good habits around exercising both at home and on the road is one of the main pillars of support we offer our members. Find exercise and stretch videos, fitness tips, and more in the Sanctifly app today and start your journey to better health and wellness.

Download the app today to explore our content and start building your healthy habits at home with Sanctifly.

For more information on our membership types, click here.

5 Tips For A Healthy Heart

Tips to keep your heart healthy

1. Floss

2. Cardio

3. Eat a balanced diet

4. Manage stress

5. Limit alcohol

Over the last year our health and wellness have been at the forefront of our minds. However, because of Covid-19, the spotlight has been largely focused on our lungs. Though the Covid-19 pandemic is still with us and still a significant worry, it is equally important that we remember that there are other aspects of our health that need looking after. February is heart health month and with the added stress and anxiety of the past year, it is more important than ever that we look after our hearts. So much of our daily routines impact our heart health. According to the CDC, heart disease is one of the leading causes of death among Americans. Some of the leading contributing factors towards poor heart health are high levels of stress, poor diet and lack of exercise. All these are challenges that are faced by frequent travelers every time they are on the road and, as we look back over the last year, they are challenges we have all been facing in our new normal. Our exercise, eating, work and travel routines have all been disrupted in 2020 and many of our previous healthy habits are no longer practiced. So let’s start building up some healthy habits again that are good for our hearts (and the rest of us!). Here are 5 tips you can introduce into your daily routine to help keep your heart healthy.

Floss

According to Harvard medical school, and countless other studies, there is a significant link between your gum health and your heart health. Although the exact cause is still debated, whether it be the prevalence of bacteria in the mouth or some other cause, the fact is the state of your mouth is an indicator of how healthy your heart is. So make flossing and good oral hygiene part of your everyday routine and you can reduce your risk factor for cardiovascular problems in the process.

Cardio

Cardio exercise gets the blood flowing and the heart pumping. Your heart is a muscle, and like any other muscle in the body if you do not build it up and make it strong it will not work as well as it could. Cardio exercise helps to improve circulation, lower your blood pressure and helps to regulate your heart rate, all elements that contribute to a healthy heart. Examples of cardio exercise are running, cycling, jumping – anything that gets the heart pumping.

Does the prospect of going for a run seem completely daunting to you? I get it, believe me. Running was never particularly appealing to me, even though I know it is a great (and free) way to get in some cardio exercise. My block against running was as much mental as it was physical. I could make sense of the fact that I would need to start slow in order to build up my fitness, but how do you overcome the mental challenge? When my mind was shouting, ‘Stop running!’ even though I was more than capable of going further? The answer for me was to follow a Couch to 5K running schedule, developed especially for beginner runners. It is a 3-week plan that helps introduce you slowly to running and build up your stamina. There are lots of apps you can download to help you keep track of the schedule, the C25K app is definitely one of the best. Download it today and start running!

Eat a balanced diet

They say you are what you eat and when it comes to your heart, it’s kind of true. If you stick to a stodgy, fatty diet with little variety it will take a serious toll on your heart and overall health. A healthy balanced diet full of fruit and vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats is the best option. 

Here is a great tip to get started towards a healthy diet. Learn how to use fresh herbs in your meals. Herbs bring lots of flavour with little negative side effects. If you are someone that often adds salt or butter to meals for that added flavour, incorporating fresh herbs is a great replacement. Also, it is much easier to chop up some parsley and add it to your pasta sauce than sit down and eat a whole plate of vegetables. If you are not a vegetable eater, trying to force yourself to eat too much in one go will only have negative effects and turn you off. Start with some small wins by adding more fresh herbs to your next meal.

Manage stress

Stress can play a significant role in poor mental and physical health. According to this 2017 study, persistent emotional stress not only makes us more susceptible to risky behaviour such as smoking, drinking and other bad habits but the part of the brain that is activated by stress has a direct link to cardiovascular events. We are living in stressful times and unfortunately, it is unavoidable and out of our control. However, how we react to stress is within our control and the methods we use to deal with stress can have a direct effect on our hearts.

Here are some ways to help deal with stress.

1. Breathing exercises are a great way to calm racing thoughts and focus your attention on the present.

2. Exercise is another great way to focus your mind and body on the present moment.

3. Meditation has so many great benefits and the ability to process stressful events in a calm and controlled manner is just one of them. Check out this article for some tips on getting started with meditation. 

Limit alcohol

The idea that a glass of red wine now and again is good for your heart has been around for a long time. While it is true that the antioxidants found in red wine are good for you, a direct link between red wine and heart health has never actually been found. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up your glass of wine. At Sanctifly we don’t believe you have to go all or nothing when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. Have your drink and enjoy it! The key point to remember is to enjoy it in moderation. Limit your alcohol intake (especially when you are on the road!) and your heart will be happier and healthier for it. 

Looking after your health and wellness has never been more important than it is right now, whether you are traveling or staying at home. Now is the time to work on building up those healthy habits so that when we do return to normal we are better equipped than ever to deal with life’s challenges. Sanctifly is your guide to building healthy habits and resetting your mindset in 2021 and beyond. We are committed to helping you to make your health and wellness a priority. We have lots of helpful advice and tips in the Sanctifly app, most of which is as relevant now as it will be when we return to travel. Become a member today and get exclusive access to fitness, meditation, stress management and nutrition content from leading experts in the field to help you on your journey towards a healthier you.

Download the app today to explore our content and start building your healthy habits at home with Sanctifly.

For more information on our membership types, click here.

What Snacks Will Keep You Feeling Full (In A Good Way!) The Longest?

How to stop overeating

1. Choose high fibre food so that you feel full for longer

2. Avoid sugar and processed carbs

3. Drink water before your eat

4. Know your triggers and address them

As we hit the restart button on a new year, now is the time to challenge any bad habits we may have let slide over the last few months and make health and wellness a top priority. Eating the right types of food and the right amount of food is incredibly important for maintaining your health and wellness. If you have felt it has been all too easy to overeat and reach for that snack cupboard over the past few months, this is the post for you! We are going to dive into what different types of foods do for you, which ones make you feel full and satisfied and which ones make you feel like eating more. We will provide some helpful tips to reset your mindset when it comes to eating and start building some healthier habits around what goes on your plate. And we will share our favourite healthy and filling snacks that keep up satisfied for longer and stop us from reaching for junk food. Whether you are on the road or staying home you need to be aware of what you are putting in your body and how it is making you feel.

How the pandemic affected our eating habits.

During 2020 we all experienced significant changes to our daily routines and as a result, we have seen a significant increase in weight gain. Forced inactivity due to working from home and lockdowns combined with increased stress levels and increased boredom all contribute to us eating more in terms of quantity and also eating more comfort foods. Often we reach for a snack not because we are hungry but because we are bored or stressed. Eating a poor diet of junk food can cause a drop in energy and mood which makes putting in the effort to squash those bad habits that much harder. Whether on the road or stuck at home it seems like we are battling the same demons when it comes to unhealthy eating. Boredom, lack of choice, stress and for some, lack of time due to added responsibilities all contributed to the development of poor eating habits in 2020. With vaccines being administered all over the world and the end of the Covid-19 pandemic finally in sight, now is the time to address these unhealthy habits and start eating healthy again.

How to stop snacking.

Ok, that’s enough talking about the problem, let's start talking about some solutions. How do we stop reaching for the snack cupboard and overeating?

First, take a long drink of water.  Today, the body often confuses thirst with hunger.  A good tall glass of water before eating or even deciding on what to eat can help with the quality and quantity decision making.

Next, you need to acknowledge and address your triggers.

You first need to figure out what triggers the desire to get a snack. This will require some inward reflection as for many of us the desire and action have become automatic. We have our heads in the snack cupboard and are pulling out a biscuit before we even realize what we are doing.

Every time you feel yourself going for a snack, ask yourself, why do I want to eat right now? The answer is likely to be one of these three: I am bored, I am stressed out or I am genuinely hungry. If you are bored or stressed you need to work on finding better coping mechanisms for managing those feelings. Perhaps you could start a new hobby or learn some breathing exercises. Check out these articles for tips and advice on how to build healthy habits and how to use mindfulness to achieve your goals.

If you are genuinely hungry, it is likely that you are not eating the right foods. Processed carbs, such as white bread and potato chips cause your blood sugar levels to go up fast which triggers a surge in insulin. The insulin’s job is to clear the sugar from your blood and store the energy. Because the energy has then been stored away, it is no longer available and so your body cries out for more food so that it can create more energy. This is why we often feel a crash in energy after eating these types of foods.

Sugar also has an effect on appetite, although it works in a slightly different way. Sugar triggers your brain’s reward system. After we eat, the area of the brain that drives that need is satisfied and calms down. However, according to research conducted by the Yale University School of Medicine, when we eat sugar that part of the brain remains active and so we still have the urge to eat.

What you are eating has a huge effect on your ability to stop overeating. If your body and mind are telling you that you need more food to feel full and energized, of course, you are going to eat. Choosing the right snacks will help you overcome this trick of the mind and make you feel full and satisfied for longer. The key to feeling full is to choose high-fibre foods. High-fibre foods such as whole grains, vegetables, nuts and seeds take longer to digest and therefore make you feel fuller for longer.

Here are 7 healthy snacks that will keep you full for longer.

Pears

Pears are one of the best fruit sources of fibre. You can expect to get 5.5 grams of fibre in a medium-sized pear.

Bananas

Bananas are rich in many minerals and vitamins and though not as high in fibre as pears, you can expect about 3.1 grams of fibre per medium-sized banana, they are a greatly satisfying and healthy snack.

Raspberries

Raspberries are the best fruit option when it comes to fibre intake. You can get 8 grams o fibre from just 1 cup! Raspberries are also a great snack for traveling because they produce zero waste.

Carrots

While vegetables tend to be a great source of fibre, they do not tend to be great for snacks. I am not sure about you, but the thought of biting down on a raw head of broccoli is not very appealing. Carrots are a good option for snacking as they are not only relatively high in fibre (approx. 2 grams per medium-sized carrot) but they are also full of natural sugars that can satiate your sweet tooth.

Popcorn

If fruit and veg are not your idea of a good snack, popcorn could be the best option for you. You can expect to get 13 grams of fibre per 100 grams of popcorn. Make sure to opt for air-popped popcorn so as not to introduce too much fat into your diet.

Almonds (or other nuts)

Nuts are a great source of both fibre and protein. A handful of nuts will make you feel fuller for much longer than a cookie will. You can expect to get 3.5 grams of fibre from a handful of almonds.

Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate is surprisingly nutritious and can be very beneficial for your health. Make sure to opt for chocolate that has a high cocoa content so as to get the full benefits. You can expect to get 11 grams of fibre from a 100-gram bar of dark chocolate with 70-85% cocoa content.

At Sanctifly we are here to support travelers build healthy and lasting habits. Even though we are not flying right now, maintaining healthy routines is still important. Although most of the content on the Sanctifly app was designed for traveling, it is applicable and helpful in all walks of life. Building good habits around eating both at home and on the road is one of the main pillars of support we offer our members. Find nutritional facts, healthy meal plans and more in the Sanctifly app today and start your journey to better health and wellness.

Download the app today to explore our content and start building your healthy habits at home with Sanctifly.

For more information on our membership types, click here.

How To Use Mindfulness To Break Bad Habits

The new year is all about building new healthy routines and breaking old, bad habits. With the increased focus on our health and wellness in 2020 and a return to frequent travel on the horizon, many frequent travelers have been forced to reassess their usual travel habits and ask honestly, do I look after my heath while on the road? For many people going to the airport and getting on a plane is a once or twice a year event. We are going on holiday and it is exciting and many of the rules we apply to our everyday lives, such as eating healthy, getting 8 hours of sleep and only having one glass of wine with dinner are ignored as we let loose and enjoy ourselves. Engaging in this type of behaviour once or twice a year is not going to be hugely damaging to your health. However, for those that travel frequently, heading to the airport is more of a routine and can happen multiple times a month. Why then, do frequent travelers still entertain bad habits while on the road? Why would the usual healthy eater eat a greasy burger just because they are at the airport? Or why is having a drink an acceptable way to spend a spare hour? Frequent travel is notorious for building bad habits. Because the experience is often stressful and boring, we let our usual rules slide and take on a ‘it doesn’t matter, let’s just get through this’ type of mentality. And with the next trip to the airport often only a few days away, it was difficult to find the time to interrogate our habits and routines and put effort into changing them. 2020 has given frequent travelers a unique opportunity to reflect on their past experiences and make more conscious decisions to work toward a healthier travel routine. But realising the need for improvement and making the decision to change is only half the battle. Breaking old habits is not easy, however with the right tools and support it will get easier. We would like to introduce you to an incredibly useful tool that will help you in your journey, and that is mindfulness.

What is mindfulness?

It is likely that you have heard the term mindfulness before. Meditation and mindfulness have been popular in the wellness space for a long time. We asked Silvia Vizzoni, founder of Trip Unwind to explain what mindfulness is. She says…

‘Mindfulness is all about training the mind to become more aware of what is happening, as it is happening. It cultivates awareness of your thoughts, emotions and body in the present moment without judging, teaches skills to become less reactive to outside unpleasant experiences, and helps to develop self-awareness and to nurture growth, emotional intelligence, creativity and innovation.’

How can mindfulness help break bad habits?

Practicing mindfulness can greatly improve our ability to break bad habits. Habits are automatic and routine. We do them almost without thinking and this is often why they are so hard to break. Because we do not consciously intend to do the action, figuring out how to stop ourselves doing it can be tricky. Mindfulness helps to focus our attention on the present moment and acknowledge and create intent around the actions and thoughts that we often do automatically. We develop self-awareness as we become more mindful and this allows us to more easily identify and act on bad habits as we are engaging in them. If we commit to actively stopping the bad habit as well as acknowledging it, those bad habits will eventually be broken.

Another key aspect to mindfulness is the lack of judgement. This element can be the hardest part to wrap our heads around, especially when using mindfulness to address bad habits. Judgement is an automatic response if we find ourselves doing something that we consider a bad habit. And, because we don’t want to spend our free time being judgemental and feeling bad about ourselves, we inevitably stop thinking about what we are doing, and the bad habit continues. Mindfulness teaches acknowledgment without judgement. This is often one of the biggest stumbling blocks when it comes to mindfulness and requires effort and practice to get right, and needs to be mastered in order to effectively use mindfulness to break bad habits. Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes when it comes to breaking bad habits, however, once you have mastered the technique, it will become much easier.

How to use mindfulness to break bad habits.

Here are some steps to follow on how to use mindfulness to break bad habits on your next trip.

1. Awareness: First you need to understand what your bad habits are and when you engage with them. Make a note of every time you engage in a bad habit, what triggered it and how you felt directly before and directly after. For example, if you are bored while waiting for your flight do you automatically head for the bar? 

2. Mindful Pause: Once you have a clear understanding of your bad habits and triggers, the next step is to introduce a mindful pause before engaging in it. When you come across a trigger for a bad habit, take a moment to stop, take 5 deep breaths and then ask yourself, ‘do I really want to do this?’ If the answer is yes, then go for it without judgement.

The idea behind this stage in the process is not to force yourself not to engage in the bad habit but to create a separation between the trigger and the reward (engaging in the habit). The mind follows an expected pattern, trigger, behaviour and then reward. By introducing a moment of self-awareness and acknowledgment after the trigger, it breaks the automated response and makes the action more intentional. And it is much easier to stop ourselves doing intentional actions rather that automated ones.

3. Identify Alternatives: Ok, now you understand your bad habits, your triggers and have introduced a mindful pause. Next you need to identify alternative activities for when you encounter your triggers.

First, separate your triggers into two categories, avoidable and unavoidable. For example, an avoidable trigger is boredom. You will have time to kill at the airport but that doesn’t mean you have to be bored. Have activities ready to go to avoid the feeling. Perhaps you could call a friend you have not spoken to in a while, or you could read a couple of chapters of your book. My personal favourite is to set a step goal for my waiting time. I will walk the terminal, listening to a podcast and taking in the sights and sounds. Plus, it has the added bonus of wearing you out, so it makes it much easier to get some sleep on the plane. 😊 An example of an unavoidable trigger is stress, you cannot control what it going to happen while at the airport and you cannot leave if it becomes too stressful. Have some relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises or relaxing stretches to help relieve stress. The Sanctifly app has lots of helpful travel wellness content to help with travel stress, including videos on breathing exercises, guided meditations and more. Download the app today to see more.

4. Choose an Alternative: Now that you are aware of your triggers and have a go to list of alternative activities you can engage with, the last step is to choose those alternatives over your bad habits. The most important thing to remember as part of this step is to be kind to yourself. You may not always succeed in choosing the healthier alternative and that is ok. Be kind to yourself and make sure you keep trying. Consistency and not giving up are the best methods for breaking bad habits.

How can Sanctifly be a support to travelers returning to travel.

At Sanctifly we are committed to supporting travelers as they return to travel. However, we do not want to return to the old ways. 2020 has thrown a spotlight onto health and wellness and the travel industry and frequent travelers are taking note. Access to wellness facilities to help counter act bad travel habits such as unhealthy eating and sedentary behaviour are no longer a nice to have but a need to have. Sanctifly is here to support this shift in mentality by providing access to wellness facilities such as airport gyms, pool, spas and lounges all over the world. With a Sanctifly membership you can spend your airport downtime doing something good for you. As part of your membership, you also get access to exclusive travel wellness content, airport guides and more. For more details on how a Sanctifly membership can help you navigate your return to travel, check out our membership options here.

Building A Fitness Habit – Tips and Advice On Where To Start

As we say goodbye to the holiday season and hello to a new year, it’s time to think about our resolutions and goals for the coming months. With health and self-improvement type resolutions top of the list for most Americans, I am sure most of you, like me, have a fitness-related goal or resolution on your list. And, with 2020 upending most of our routines, a lot of us are starting from scratch. The latter half of 2020 and particularly the holiday season was not very fitness-focused for me. This blog post explores some easy ways I am slowly reintroducing exercise into my everyday routine and working on rebuilding the habit that has been slightly neglected over the last few months. This is not a blog post for fitness aficionados. This is for the people that have spent too much of last year sitting at a desk and haven’t even thought of exercise over the holiday season.

Here are 4 helpful tips to help you reintroduce exercise into your routine.

1.       Set a daily step count.

Walking is an excellent type of low impact cardio workout and a great option for building back up your fitness habit. Often the thing that makes working out feel like such a chore is the level of effort it requires. Doing intense exercise when you are not very fit or have not done it in a while is really hard. Walking is a great way to kickstart the exercise habit again without having to work that hard.

Set a daily step count goal to help make walking part of your everyday routine. Many smartphones will have pedometers built-in and if not there are lots of pedometer apps you can download. Using a smartwatch to track your steps is even better as you can wear it all day. Yes, walking to the kitchen to get a coffee counts towards your daily steps!

The target number of steps you should be aiming for will be different for everyone. I would recommend tracking your steps over a few average days, see how many steps on average you take doing everyday activities, and then add 3,000 steps to that number. If you are easily hitting that target, add another 3,000 or 5,000 and so on.

2.       Incorporate stretching into your routine – it’s easy!

Stretching is another great low impact exercise that can help slowly and easily build up fitness. Not to mention it feels really good to get in a good stretch, especially if you have been sitting at a desk all day. The best thing about stretching is that it is relatively easy. You are not going to get sweaty or uncomfortable, if you listen to your body and follow curated routines, you are only going to feel good. 

Stretching is often overlooked as a form of exercise with most people associating it with warming up or cooling down after more intense forms of exercise. However, not only does stretching help improve your flexibility and range of motion, making other forms of physical activity much easier, but it also helps to improve your posture which helps prevent back pain, increases blood flow which helps increase your energy levels and it can be great for stress relief. If we are stressed we often tense our muscles, particularly in the neck and shoulders, causing everything to feel tight and uncomfortable. Stretching can help to release that tension and reduce stress.

Follow a quick stretch routine in the morning and evening and you will feel more energized and ready to take on more exercise in no time. The Sanctifly app has lots of follow-along stretch routines available to members. These are quick and easy stretches, originally designed for time-conscious travelers, but can be easily adapted into a daily routine. Download the Sanctifly app here to find out more. 

3.       Make your workday work for you.

Restarting an old habit or building a new one requires time and effort. The best way to get started and to have a better chance of succeeding is to try to fit it into your current daily routine, rather than trying to add it on. For many of us, our workday now consists of staying home and sitting at a computer or on the phone for long hours. While the best version of ourselves might get up an hour early to do a workout or go for a run on our lunch break, that is not the reality, especially post-holiday season. Instead, make your workday work for you! Incorporate some form of physical exercise into your normal daily routine. This could be standing whenever you take a phone call, standing at your desk if possible, or sitting on an exercise ball while at your computer. Replacing your office chair with an exercise ball forces you to engage your core muscles throughout the day and helps to improve your posture. It is often given as advice on how to be more active while at the office and can seem like an easy win that requires little effort. However, that is not completely true, it requires some work. You need to actively engage your core all the time or else it could have some serious negative effects on your back. Check out this great article on the benefits of replacing your office chair with an exercise ball and how to do it properly without risking injury to your back.

4.       Make a habit stack to help get back into it.

Habit stacks are great ways to make habits stick. The concept refers to the idea of grouping new habits with old ones to make them easier to stick to. For example, do you love a cup of coffee in the morning? Only have your coffee after you have drunk a glass of water. Do you love listening to podcasts? Only listen when you are out walking or doing something else physical. There is a great article on the Sanctifly blog all about how to build healthy habits and using habit stacks. Read all about it and get some expert tips here.

The start of a new year is a great time to get serious about building healthy habits. There are two main pieces of advice I follow when trying to either restart an old habit or form a new one.

1) Use SMART goals. Create a measurable way to track success. Arbitrary goals such as ‘I want to get fitter’ will never feel as it they have been accomplished. Setting a daily step count is a great example. It is clearly defined, and you know exactly what you need to do to achieve it.

2) Don’t be too hard on yourself! Habits, especially healthy habits, take time to build and effort to keep. The above tips are examples of easy ways to incorporate more exercise into your daily routine and start to build an exercise habit. Nobody can wake up one morning and decide ‘today is the day I am going to run 10K’ or ‘from now on I am going to work out 5 times a week’. Start small and be nice to yourself and you will achieve great things, it may just take a little longer than you had originally imagined.

Do you have any tips or advice for incorporating more movement into your everyday routine? Let us know!

Download the app today to explore our content and start building your healthy habits at home with Sanctifly.

For more information on our membership types, click here.

How To Build Healthy Habits At Home And On The Road

A habit is a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. It is difficult to give up and therefore becomes an ingrained part of our lives. When talking about habits, we often hear people talking about bad habits. That’s no surprise, we love to talk about the negative and skim over the positive and when most people think about habits, they think about breaking bad ones. But building and maintaining good habits is just as important as breaking those bad ones and building good habits is especially important if we want to stay fit and healthy. If we work toward creating good habits that focus on fitness, healthy eating and our mental health, then maintaining these routines will become like second nature to us and in return; it will be much easier to stay healthy.

Travel is a great disrupter of routine and can cause normally healthy people to practice some pretty bad habits. Being away from home and our regular routine can make it all too easy to say yes to bad food, lack of exercise and excise of things we manage better when at home. At Sanctifly, one of our core missions is to help frequent travelers build healthy habit so that being on the road does not affect their health and wellness. Building those healthy habits always starts at home. While it may take more effort and more planning to continue with those healthy habits while on the road, starting off with that base of familiarity makes it so much easier. We know not many are traveling right now but we will travel again and when we do, health and wellness will be even more of a priority. Now is a great opportunity to start building those healthy habits at home so that you can easily take them on the road when travel resumes.

How do habits work?

By understanding the structure of habits and the way habits are created and broken, we can better understand how to create and stick to healthy ones. According to Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habits, habits can be broken down into the following categories:

1. The Cue – This is a trigger that predicts some kind of reward. These can be internal or external that signals to your brain that it is time to exercise the habit.

2. The Craving – The desire to act in order to receive the reward

3. The Response – This is where you complete an action that can be described as the habit.

4. The Reward – This is where your brain receives some kind of reward for completing the action. The reward satisfies the craving and becomes associated with the cue, therefore developing the habit.

What makes habits to difficult to build and break is that these processes are subconscious. We do not actively say ‘I am craving this reward’ or ‘I need to do this in order to get the reward’. Our minds process this information so fast it can seem impossible to pinpoint each category and make positive changes. However, by understanding this structure, we can take an outside view of our own habits and intellectually breakdown how they are formed. We can identify common triggers and work to avoid them and identify rewards and work to build better habits that provide them.

That’s all well and good for breaking bad habits (which is definitely a must for most frequent travelers!) but what about building new ones? This post is all about building healthy habits now, while we are at home, that you can take with you on the road when travel resumes. So, before we get into some examples of good, healthy habits that work for home and travel, here are some expert tips on how to create and make them stick..

Tips for making habits stick

Make a habit stack

Habit stacks are great ways to create new habits by building on one’s you already have. Choose a habit that you already have and incorporate the new habit before or after it. This will make it easier to stick to the new habit because it is associated with something you already do without thinking. For example, if you wanted to get into the habit of drinking more water, you could create a habit stack with your morning coffee. I.e. When I pour my morning coffee I will also pour a glass of water.

Know your why

Get ahead of your excuses by knowing the WHY behind your effort to create a new habit. This may sound trivial, but in those moments of doubt or when the excuses tend to pop up, your WHY will direct you back to the reason and mindset for choosing this healthier lifestyle and path. Really work to understand why you want this new habit to be part of your life and, when things get hard, remind yourself of that reason.

Make your goals small and achievable

One of the main reasons we fail when we try to incorporate improvements into our lives is because we set our goals too high and become disheartened with the lack of progress. Having a clear end goal to work toward is important, but you should also set smaller, more achievable goals so you can feel like you have achieved something along the way.

Record your progress

It’s takes an average of 66 days for a new behaviour to become automatic. This is why it is so important to build your healthy habits at home and not while you travel. At home, you can be consistent and take action every day and truly create a lasting habit. Then, when you are traveling, the habit will be sore ingrained you won’t even have to think about doing it. Recording your progress so you can track how many days you have performed to habit and how many days you take off will give you a sense of how close you are to creating the habit.

Examples of healthy habits that will help you when you return to travel

Get outside and go for a walk every day

Lack of exercise is a huge issue for frequent travelers. Busy schedules, disrupted routine and unfamiliar surroundings do not create the best environment for working out. If you work to build the habit of going for a walk every day, you won’t be able to live without it when on the road and you will automatically get some exercise while you are away from home.

Create a sleep routine

Getting good sleep is another common problem that troubles frequent travelers. Again, busy schedules, disrupted routine and unfamiliar surroundings are to blame. If you get in the habit of a sleep routine at home, this can help to settle you into sleep while on the road. Choose a couple of actions (that don’t involve looking at your phone!) and do them every night before bed. These could be stretching, reading or mediating, for example. When you perform this routine while on the road it will subconsciously tell you body and mind that it is time to sleep and help you to wind down.

Stimulate your mind

Travel is incredibly stimulating for the mind. When we travel to new places we are forced to deal with new surroundings, new cultures and new languages. Navigating these unfamiliar situations helps to keep our minds sharp and in focus. For frequent travelers that are suddenly grounded, this can be a shock. If we get into too comfortable a routine while at home, returning to travel will be mentally draining. Work to create a daily habit of stimulating your mind so you are more prepared for getting back on the road. This could be reading or writing every day or perhaps using this downtime to learn a new skill.

Meal prep

A great benefit of being home more is that we get to cook our meals fresh each day and therefore get more variety in our nutrition. For many this has meant there is no need for meal prepping. This could cause problems when we return to travel. If we are not in the habit of meal prepping, we will not dedicate the time to prep lunches and snacks for when we travel. We will then be forced to eat food provided at the airport and on the plane (a lot of which is not very good for us). Try to meal prep a couple of times a week so you get back into the habit of making lunches.

Sanctifly is here to help frequent travelers make the most of their airport downtime and build healthy travel habits. We help travelers maintain their healthy routines while on the road by providing access to healthy activities, such as gyms, pools and spas all over the world. With so many frequent travelers still grounded, we have been working hard to help you build those healthy habits at home. We have added lots of new wellness content to the Sanctifly app. There are lots of healthy tips, fitness routines, nutritional advice and more, all available on the Sanctifly app today.

Download the app today to explore our content and start building your healthy habits at home with Sanctifly.

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