I love vacation as much as the next girl, but gaining vacation weight and losing all of my progress… mehhh, not so much. I work really hard to eat healthy and stay in shape, so to throw it away in one weekend or a week long vacation never seems worth it. Now don’t get me wrong, I def splurge and enjoy myself, but not the WHOLE. ENTIRE. TIME. I don’t use it as an excuse to binge for 80 hours straight (hello, balance?). There is a balance here and it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Since I believe in a healthy lifestyle (not dieting), vacationing fits in perfectly with this. Most on a diet will stop dieting on their vacation and go crazy eating whatever, whenever because they have been depriving themselves for so long and see this as an opportunity they can justify. If your healthy eating is a lifestyle, then it carries over into vacation and does not get put on pause because you’re still “living” on vacation. Therefore, the healthy lifestyle continues. I know, take a second, I’m brilliant 😉
The hubs and I go on a good amount of vacations (both for business and just to unplug) and through these ventures I have come up with a few ways to make healthy eating as easy peasy and desirable as possible while on these trips! You’re welcome 😉
1. PREPARE! I think a healthy lifestyle in general and the determining factor of whether or not you will be able to stick with it is contingent upon how prepared you are! When we get hungry our blood sugar drops and then we feel starved in that moment and we will usually eat whatever is in sight because we feel like we are going to die #hangry. When this happens, most pull into a nasty a** fast food carline or run into an even nastier gas station- don’t even get me started. I have food on me all. the. time. Like if you open up my purse, it basically looks like a tiny convenient store for a super healthy little mouse. I usually have clementine’s, nuts, Quest Bars and Kind Bars. You might think it’s a tiny bit excessive, but when I get hungry, I just reach into my nutritiously yummy harness and I’m good to go for another hour or two, so I can get home and eat there or get to a restaurant with healthier options than a gas station hot dog (just saying). So, on vac-a I prep the same way. I have food on me and I pack snacks in my luggage. This just buys me time between meals, and just to get this straight, I don’t live on quest bars for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s just a snack. I also have these snacks before going out to eat sometimes, so I don’t show up to the restaurant starving and consume an entire breadbasket or all chips and salsa, which are set out for an entire family. My snacks will hold me off, so I can wait for my meal and not carb load on a bunch of empty, nutritious-lacking carbs. #olivegardenvictim
2. CHOOSING MY SPLURGES- Eating out on vacation is everything. Usually that’s where most of the packed on pounds come from. We all know the restaurants cook all the food with extra butter, oils, sugar and whatever. The portions are massive and we fill up to the brim.
What I have done for a while now is try to eat as healthy as possible at different restaurants most of the time. So, I get salmon and a couple of veggies verses Fettuccini Alfredo with an extra side of Alfredo. Now, there is a huge exception here and that is when dinner is more of an event. Example, when Tomas and I went to Puerto Rico a few months ago and were in this amazing little city called Old San Juan filled with a ton of little authentic restaurants, you better believe I went to town on that Puerto Rican goodness! It was an event and a once in a lifetime experience and I enjoyed every moment and didn’t feel guilty for a second! This would have looked way different if it was a Chili’s, where I don’t really care and would rather not remember. Get the gist? Experience = go for it! Casual typical restaurant = save it and go for a lean protein and veggie “hold the butter, thank you”!
3. CHILL OUT WITH THE BOOs- There are SOOO many empty calories in alcohol and most peeps end up making really flippant food choices during and after their alchy consumptions. I have mentioned before that I really don’t drink. It’s not a religious thing (my husband drinks from time to time) and mostly has to do with that fact that I feel like “ish” after. My stomach like hates me when I drink, even if it’s just a little! Also, I don’t like the taste, so to drink anything it has to be filled with a ton of sugar and 1,000 calorie drinks are just not my thing. I would rather eat my calories 😉 . But, if you do drink and really enjoy it, I would stick to the same rule as above, if it’s an event, go for it! If you’re out with your friends and it’s cocktail hour, go to town! But, if you are sitting in your hotel room consuming a six pack all by yourself – just don’t be that guy… or gal.
On that note, drink a TON of water. Most people vacation somewhere tropical over the summer and spend a lot of time in the sun and get dehydrated or are drinking their boos (which are a diuretic and cause you to become even more dehydrated). So, many times people think they are hungry when in all actuality they are just thirsty and dehydrated! So, drink up folks! (Water, that is..) 😉
4. GET ACTIVE- A lot of people use vacation as an excuse not to work out and become a paraplegic for a week. Why?!?! I am not saying you need to hit up the gym every morning at 6am and have a two-hour gym sesh. There are usually plenty of opportunities to be active without even going to the gym. Hike, swim, bike, walk around the mall 😉 , walk in general, just move! I do recommend getting at least a thirty min exercise in at least a couple of times. You’ll have more energy and feel a lot better! Plus most hotel and resort gyms are really nice and it’s good just to be in a different atmosphere while getting your sweat on! 🙂 It will make getting back into it, when you return back to real life, a heck of a lot easier! I hate to break it to you, but it’s SOOO easy to lose work out momentum and progress… sadly. #victim
5. 60/40-The important thing to remember when you’re on vacation and trying to eat healthy and workout, is that you need to be practical. Your schedule is different, what you have access to is different, the food is different, routine is different and just everything is freaking different. You have heard me talk about how I try to stick to the 80/20 rule in terms of how healthy I eat. So, about 80% of the time I strive to eat healthy and the other 20% is reserved for splurges and PMSing 😉 . On vacation, I make this a solid 60/40. I am not going to drive myself crazy looking for a Whole Foods in the middle of Belize! Sometimes it’s just not under my control and I have to eat an empanada… I will sacrifice 😉 . 60/40 is achievable for me and seems reasonable and way better then 0/100. If I try to do 80/20, I might feel defeated and throw in the towel and be whatever about it, so this works in my brain- don’t ask, but it works!
Clearly my goal is always balance and I hope you got that vibe from this little posty post! Also, I have gone on vacations and totally splurged 100% of the time. Splurged not binged and while I enjoyed every freaking second without a single regret, I did pay for it when I got back which is why I have tried to implement these things since. It took me forever to get back in the workout grind again and to undo from all the sugar, (which my bod was craving it baddddd). So, lesson learned and here I am 🙂 If you have some tips and tricks throw them my way!!! Enjoy your balanced vac-a’s, peeps!!!
