Help Youth Trips are killing me!

Last week I was at a youth conference and a friend walked up to me and said, "Jerry you should write a blog on how to survive on a youth trip" he was referring to our physical health. I immediately thought, that is a great idea! So here we go. As a youth pastor of nineteen years I have led between four to six overnight youth events per year since 1997, so somewhere around a hundred trips, and I know what it's like to go on a youth trip with no concern for my health, but more recently, I also know what it's like to be concerned and make adjustments to honor God.  Let me start by saying over the years youth trips were the times I treated my body worse than any other 3-5 day period of my ministry, but thankfully I have grown in my knowledge and desire to make adjustments on these trips.
So how do we have a great youth trip, with the focus on our students and at the same time do practical things to manage our own health on the trip?
  FitPastors an organization that I work with to coach church leaders from all over the country has a very simple illustration that we use of our bodies; That illustration is that of a vehicle. Just like our vehicle carries around the most precious people in the world to us; our family, our bodies carry around the most precious part of all creation; our soul.  I won't go into all the details here, but I want to use what we call the four tires, to help you make better choices on your next youth trip. What are the four tires? 1. Move 2. Lift 3. Fuel 4. Rest, and our goal is to balance all four of these tires so we can keep our vehicle (body) on the road in working condition, fulfilling God's call. Out of our four tires, There is one tire that I still haven't figured out how to balance on a youth trip, but it is a tire that can be and should be focused on right after the trip, and that's the Rest Tire. Trying to get rest on a youth event is like watching our students try to speak Spanish for the first time in mexico, yes they try but it's more amusing than it is effective. So my advise on taking care of your rest tire is it take two to three days off immediately following the event; I know there is a lot of work to do after an event, but I also know that you getting rest is way more important for your long term ministry, and if your church doesn't make you take days off (It Should), you let the leadership of your church know your need for rest, and start making it part of your post trip routine. So let's talk about the three other tires. How do we balance them on the trip, or do we also just push through and worry about them afterward the trip also? Absolutely not! You can and must learn how to manage these other three tires while on the trip, and this goes for any church leader at any multi-day conference.
  Let's talk about the fuel tire first. Depending on the type of event this could change considerably, for camp you are pretty much at the mercy of the camp, but you can make good choices and even be willing to bring some more healthy snacks with you to the camp. Stay away from the white breads, white pasta, and rice. Eat lots of salad but stay away from the creamy dressings. Example for a Mexican food meal: hold off on the rice, and choose Corn tortilla over flour or even better make a taco salad with meat, chicken if available, with beans and salsa. And always pick fruit over fries or tater tots. How about a youth trip where you are buying breakfast and eating out for lunch and dinner. First you have total control over the morning food so make sure that you say no to the Costco muffins (I know they use to be a staple in my breakfast too) and go for the boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, maybe a few whole grain cereals, whole grain bread and peanut butter, and of course fruit. When you choose places for lunch and dinner try to find an area that will give kids an opportunity to have options, a lot of kids if available will choose better options, and it will give you an opportunity to do the same. If your stuck at a fast food place like McDonald's or Burger King, here are some small hacks that will make it a little less toxic (bad for you). Choose no bun or take the top bun off and go open faced, get fruit instead of fries and skip the sugary or fake sugar drink and get water. Speaking of sugary drinks this is definitely the most significant change you could make. Get rid of all the sugary drinks and carry a water bottle and drinks lot's of water! There is one exception that I make to this and it's coffee, not black coffee that's great, drink up if your a black coffee drinker, I'm talking an annihilator at Dutch Brothers, Yes caffeine is a need and unfortunately I can't do black coffee yet. If you too need your fluffy coffee fix don't over do it, maybe that one for a morning pick me up, and cut out all other drinks besides water and drink lots of it. If the conference has a green room, be conscious of what you eat, most of them are filled with both decent snacks and snacks that have little or no nutritious value. The top rules are: grab a water, pick fruits and veggies, and stay away from the candy bars. I know it's tempting but just walk away!
 Now lets talk Lift and move tires which is Cardio and strength training. Now at first glance these two tires might seem tough; you can't run or lift weights at a youth trip, right? actually it is quite easy to keep these balanced if you are willing to be intentional. In the youth group bonding time this is happening, swimming, basketball, Ninja, and horse play all throughout the conference or camp. Then you can add, parking further away from the church, hotel or restaurant, so you have to walk, take the stairs instead of the elevators, or how about serving the ladies by having a small group of guys including yourself take their bags to the rooms. This one maybe a little tougher, but getting up thirty minutes early and hitting the gym if your at a hotel, I've been able to pull it off some mornings on some of the trips over the last couple years and I have never regretted it, one time I even got the boys in my room to join me. I realize that this is not an exhausted list but I guarantee you that you will come home feeling better and weighing less if you take time to implement these simple youth travel hacks to your next Youth trip.
If you would like connect or specific questions or comments that you would like to discuss I would love to connect with you, and help you reach your health goals. I am a certified personal trainer, weight management specialist, sports nutrition, DotFit Instructor, Certified health coach, with both Dr. Sears Wellness Institute, and Precision Nutrition, and Pastor who has a passion to see others succeed in every area including but not limited to their physical health.



If you would like to know more about coaching, email me at zaofit3@zaofit.com. Iwould love to help you reach your health goals.