Maintaining your health while on vacation... I promise it can be done!
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2 weeks before vacation/1 week into vacation
Traveling is one my favorite things!!! We live in a BEAUTIFUL world, and there is nothing more fascinating to me than experiencing God’s incredible creation. I think of it as a gift of the tiniest glimpse into heaven. My husband and I just celebrated our 2 year anniversary in January, and between our honeymoon and last summer’s diving trip, we’ve been able to experience some pretty exciting trips. Vacation is meant to be a time of celebration, adventure, and relaxation. And that’s exactly what we did!
A year-round health and fitness routine is something that I strive for. I don’t like the mindset of “lets get ripped right before a vacation” while ignoring a healthy lifestyle the other months. Sure, I may zone in a bit more leading up to vacation, but a healthy lifestyle is at the front of my mind all year long, EVEN while on vacation. Enjoy your vacation the way that you want! But this is what I do to make sure that I maintain the health that I work on all year long.
STAY ACTIVE: Get that daily movement in. Even if it’s walking for an hour a day on the beach, move your body. Our last trip over the summer was to Belize and the focus was scuba diving. We did a total of 14 dives in 5 days, but I also made sure to get 3 bodyweight beach workouts in (which I will describe below). If you don’t have access to a gym during your vacation, I promise you can get some great workouts in by simply moving your body.
EAT YOUR PROTEIN AND VEGGIES: I make sure I have protein with every meal, along with veggies or fruit (whatever is available). For breakfast and lunch, I usually skip on the extra carbs and choose to double up on the protein instead. I’m a bit more lenient at dinner. That’s typically when I let myself get whatever I want.
EAT UNTIL 80% FULL: This one is a game-changer. I know vacations are usually full of delicious food you might not normally have while back at home. And please, if you’re wanting those delicious foods, have it! Just don’t have ALL of it. Make sure you’ve got your protein and veggies in, and then if you want to have some delicious vacation food, go for it. Just do it in moderation, and stop yourself when you are 80% full. That means you might have to slow down so your body can recognize when it’s satisfied instead letting yourself get to the stuffed point. Following the 80% full rule will keep you from over-indulging.
DRINK LOTS OF WATER: I make sure to start and end my day with 16 oz of water, while also having another 16 oz filled with electrolytes daily. Of course I stay hydrated throughout the day as well, but starting and stopping my day like that along with the electrolytes, ensure that I wake up feeling refreshed and hydrated each morning.
HAVE THE TREATS: This goes hand-in-hand with the 80% full rule, but have the treats if you want. Many times complete restriction leads to over-indulgence. If you are in a place like Italy, or on a once-in-a-lifetime-trip, please don’t keep yourself from experiencing some of their amazing food. I LOVE fry jacks, so while in Belize last summer, I made sure that I had them one morning for breakfast. I just didn’t have it every day. I did the same with alcohol. If I wanted a cocktail, I had one. I just made sure to limit them in a way that would’t leave me feeling sluggish the next morning.
Those healthy habits I followed sustained my weight all throughout vacation. You do not have to fear gaining weight while on vacation, or when you go through short periods of inconsistency… as long as you focus on maintaining healthy habits.
Here are the beach workouts I did when I did not have access to gym equipment:
WORKOUT 1:
3 rounds:
10 lunges
15 pushups
20 stretch crunches
4 rounds:
20 alternating jump lunges
15 air squats
10 jump squats
15 no-pushup burpees
20 (2-count) mountain climbers
6 min abs:
1 min hollow hold
4 sets of 30 sec right side plank/30 sec left side plank
1 min hollow hold
WORKOUT 2:
50 burpees
50 airsquats
50 pushups
50 alt sit-ups
50 lunges
WORKOUT 3:
4 rounds:
15 bulgarian split squats + 10 bulgarian split squat hops (right leg)
15 bulgarian split squats + 10 bulgarian split squat hops (left leg)
50 lunges
15 chair dips
4 rounds:
1 min wall sit
20 stretch crunches
