Good morning,
I hope you had a fantastic weekend.
Ivy and I just wrapped up three months of traveling across Asia. Philippines, Thailand, Bali, Singapore, Japan. Fifteen-plus flights, a different country or island almost every week, and we cooked exactly one meal the entire time. Every other meal was eaten at a restaurant. So I wanted to share what that actually looked like and what we learned, because I think there are some lessons in here that apply whether you’re traveling the world or just trying to stay consistent through a busy season of life.
The first thing people ask is how we stayed in shape. And honestly, the answer isn’t that exciting. We trained a minimum of three times per week, sometimes four or five depending on the location and what gyms were available. Some gyms were incredible, like Titi Ubud in Bali where you could work out, eat a post-workout meal, jump in the pool, use the sauna and cold plunge all in one spot. Other gyms were tiny, expensive, and packed during lunch hour like the one in Singapore where you had to wait for equipment because the entire business district shows up on their break. We adapted to whatever was in front of us and didn’t try to maintain the perfect routine we have back home.
The nutrition side was more interesting because eating out every single meal for three months is a real test of whether you actually understand what you’re doing or if you’re just following a plan someone gave you. Ivy weighed almost exactly the same when we got back as when we left. I’m probably around the same weight with slightly different body composition, which I expected since we weren’t doing as much cardio. But the point is, neither of us gained a bunch of weight eating out for 90 straight days, and we weren’t restricting ourselves either. We had vegan donuts, macarons, ramen in Japan, gyoza, mango shakes in the Philippines. We ate well and we enjoyed it.
What made it work is something we teach every single client. You don’t need to be perfect at every meal. You need to know how to win the next one. When we had a heavier meal or indulged a bit, we didn’t spiral or try to “make up for it” the next day. We just made a solid choice at the next meal. That’s it. No drama, no guilt, no overcomplicating it. Micro-calculating without obsessing, knowing roughly when we were overdoing the calories and naturally scaling back without turning it into a whole thing.
The biggest lesson from this trip had nothing to do with food or training, though. It was about rest. Ivy and I were changing locations almost every seven days, which sounds exciting until you factor in that we were still working the entire time. This wasn’t a vacation. We had coaching calls, content to create, and early on some of my meetings were at 2 or 4 in the morning because of the time difference. We’d work in the morning, go explore or do activities in the afternoon, walk the streets of Tokyo at 10 p.m., and then wonder why we were getting sick and snapping at each other.
The pattern was always the same. Travel days were the hardest. You’re tired, you’re hungry, you’re dragging luggage through airports, and then you land somewhere new and you want to explore immediately. That’s a recipe for arguments, bad food decisions, and burning out before the trip even gets going. So we figured out a system that saved us every time. When we landed somewhere new, we’d get picked up at the door, no shuttles, get dropped off at the Airbnb, leave the luggage unpacked, and go eat a real meal immediately. After that, we’d order water and groceries for delivery, and call it a night. No activities, no meetings, no trying to be productive. Just eat, hydrate, rest. The next day, everything was better because we weren’t making decisions from a place of exhaustion.
I think a lot of people do this in their regular lives without realizing it. They’re running on fumes, making food choices when they’re tired and stressed, skipping workouts because they’re depleted, and then blaming themselves for not having enough discipline. It’s not a discipline problem. It’s a rest problem. You can’t build a body you’re proud of from a place of constant exhaustion, and trying to push through it doesn’t make you tougher. It just makes every decision harder than it needs to be.
The other thing this trip gave me, and I’ve been writing about this more on my personal Substack, is permission to simplify. Not just travel logistics, but everything. The business, the content, how I show up as a person. I used to carry a lot of weight around what people thought, especially being someone whose life is pretty public online. You put out a book and most of the reviews are incredible, but a few people say it’s too simple or there are too many personal stories. And then you read the good reviews and people are saying they love it because it’s simple and the stories are inspiring. The exact same things. You literally cannot please everyone, and trying to is exhausting.
Somewhere during this trip, I stopped operating from a place of caring or not caring what people think, and just started operating. Being me without the filter of wondering how it would land. I bought glasses I’ve always wanted but thought people would find weird. I volunteered to fight a sumo wrestler in front of 40 strangers and was a complete clown about it. I bought a piano on a train from Osaka to Tokyo because I’ve always wanted to learn and I was done waiting. None of those things are revolutionary, but they represent something that I think a lot of people over 50 especially will relate to. At some point, you’ve spent enough of your life playing small or waiting for the right moment, and you realize the right moment is just whenever you decide it is.
Ivy said something that stuck with me. She said this trip brought me back to a younger, more fearless version of myself, but with more maturity and wisdom. I think that’s what simplifying actually does. It doesn’t make your life smaller. It removes the stuff that was keeping you from being fully yourself. And that applies to your health, too. Most people aren’t struggling because they need a more complex plan. They’re struggling because they’re overcomplicating a process that works best when it’s simple, consistent, and enjoyable.
I hope this week’s message serves you on your journey.
I appreciate you and I hope you have a fantastic weekend.
Sincerely,
Maxime Sigouin
Co-Founder & CEO, Mavy Wellness Host, Forever Fit Podcast · Author, Forever Fit
PS. Every month, through our coaching business I donate to support a cancer patient on their journey. This month we're supporting Judson https://gofund.me/b3af3c00e
PPS. Here are the latest videos and podcast episodes you may have missed: 3 Months Traveling Asia | Full Recap with Ivy Ep. 443
