‘Tis the season of growing waistlines and stretch pants. This month, all will-power goes out the window and the strength to fight off an extra shot of rum in your egg nog dwindles by the day. After all the eating and drinking (and more eating and drinking) you have to board a flight home, but your swollen body barely fits in the seat.

Good news travelers: Studies show that exercise and stretching before a flight can make an uncomfortable seating arrangement seem a little more manageable. Take it one step further and get in a quick workout before boarding your flight – you’ll feel better at 35,000 feet and you won’t feel so guilty about skipping the gym in the morning.

Concourse Lunges. Drop the bags with one of your travel companions and lunge down the concourse. The lunge is a great lower body exercise that focuses on the thighs, glutes, calves, quads and hamstrings. Sure, people might look at you strange as you play chicken while lunging through the terminal, but you won’t feel so bad about that extra slice of pecan pie you devoured at midnight. For an extended workout, use items in your luggage as weights. Books, makeup bags and bottled water make great weights.

Terminal Push-ups. There are plenty of chairs in the gate area, so make good use of them. Before you park yourself with a good book until your flight is called, give your biceps a quick workout. A couple push-ups using the chair as a balancing device will burn enough calories to warrant an extra bag of peanuts mid-flight.

Sit-ups. Hit the floor and start crunching. Grab a t-shirt from your luggage and lay it down on the floor. Put on your iPod and start your sit-ups. Before you know it, you’ll be crunching your way out of last night’s calorie-fest.

If long layovers plague your travel plans this holiday season, don’t let the fast-food options and sugar carts at the airport be your downfall. There are plenty of healthy eating options at the airport that will satisfy your taste buds. Nuts are a great source of protein and fiber – consider a bag of almonds or cashews from the airport newsstand. If you’re looking for a heartier meal, grab a grilled chicken sandwich or the veggie option at airport diners. If your rushed for time and fast-food is your easy option, check out the most nutritional items on fast-food menus around the country.

Visit an airport gyms and fitness center and for a small fee, travelers can use the workout facilities before flights. Airportgyms.com (http://www.airportgyms.com) offers a comprehensive database of fitness centers at airports across the country. In addition, hotel chains including the Hilton and the Marriott have airport hotels with walk-in fitness center privileges for a fee. This price includes full use of the fitness facilities including showers, towels, lockers and saunas and steam rooms, if available.

©Cheapflights Ltd Melanie Nayer

About the author

Pleasance CoddingtonPleasance is a British travel writer and online content specialist in travel. She has written for numerous publications and sites including Wired, Lucky, Rough Guides and Yahoo! Travel. After working for six years on content and social media at VisitBritain, she is now the Global Content and Social Media Manager for Cheapflights.

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