5 Ways To Stay FIT On Vacation

As much as vacations present themselves to be the prime time to chill out, indulge, and treat yourself, they can also be discouraging when you have fitness/wellness goals that you want to maintain. Nobody wants to destroy their weeks of well earned gym progress by not getting their workouts in, or by failing to track their meals while away. Whether you are headed on a vacation to the tropics, a business trip, or road trip to visit family for a few days, these easy tips are sure to make your trip a little less daunting. Don’t sweat the small stuff right?

1. Stick To Your Diet As Best As You Can.

Although it can be so tempting to indulge in every single item on the all inclusive buffet, or your personal business allowance credit card was generous enough to gift you 5x more than you would normally allow yourself to eat, know your limits, and eat within them. What does the average day of eating look like for you? For example, many of us have staple breakfast meals, that can easily be recreated with some simple hotel buffet supplies, or are already on the menu at a local cafe.

Try and stick to your ‘normal,’ as much as you can throughout the duration of your trip. What foods work best for you at breakfast, lunch and dinner? What food options are there that you enjoy, but will also give you significant energy, and leave you feeling full throughout the day? Eat within that, but of course like always, its okay to treat yourself.

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A lot of people like to follow the 80/20 rule. Meaning, 80% of your diet is healthy, nutrient dense, and as close to your normal diet as possible, while the other 20% allows for your guilty pleasures which may include; an extra beer with dinner, that home made ice-cream, or your favourite slice of cheese cake. (YUM)

2. Pack Your Bags With Your Belly In Mind

If you’re going somewhere that you know will be hard to stay on track with your diet, purely because your destination has limited food choice options, why not pack some of your favourite go to snacks in your luggage?

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Examples:
Protein Bars – High protein, bars are quite small and easily packable. Protein bars offer quick and easy nutrient dense fuel and will help to cure those mid-day belly rumbles.
Protein Powder – If you’re someone who regularly takes protein as a supplement, take some in a smaller container/vacuum packed bag to mix in various things such as; water, almond milk or yogurt.
Crackers/Trail Mix – By putting these things in a vacuum packed plastic bag, you’ll be able to have snacks on hand any time of the day.

*The good thing about packing snacks is that you’ll have more room in your suitcase to bring things back with you! Who doesn’t love a good shopping spree. Am I right?

3. Pack Your Bags With Fitness In Mind

While packing all of your essential items, make sure to leave some room in your suitcase for your workout gear. Just because you are on vacation, doesn’t mean that your physical health has to take a vacation too. After all, most workout gear is extremely easy to pack, and the majority of hotels and resorts have complimentary fitness centres. If all else fails, most day passes to a local gym are around $10.00, and some places will even let you try out their facilities, free of charge.

Although it may seem stressful to try and get a workout in while on vacation, even if it’s as little as 30 or 45 minutes every second day or so, your body will be so thankful. Schedule time to do your routine workouts, even if you do decide to cut them a bit short. ‘Mini,’ or regular workouts throughout your vacation will make it so much easier to get back to your regular routine once you come home. When we fall out of our routine, especially if we go haywire on the physical and nutritional aspects of our life, we end up losing significant strength, body composition, energy, and confidence. Not to mention, those gym days become so much harder once we get back home.

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*If you have planned your itinerary with adventures that are within walking distance, of your venue, WALK! This is an easy way to get exercise, soak up some vitamin D, and save a few dollars on transportation expenses.

*Take the STAIRS as much as possible. Taking the stairs is a great way to get some cardio in while building body strength!

*If you have a delayed flight, or a long layover, take yourself on a tour of the airport. It’s always good to get some circulation flowing in those legs before sitting in a tiny airplane seat for hours on end.

4. Drink Plenty of Water

This may be an obvious one, but keeping up with your water intake is so crucial and important, not just while on vacation, but in our everyday lives as well. Not only does water help keep us hydrated, and regulate our body temperature, which is definitely important when hanging out under the sun all day. Water also plays a significant roll in so many other things, including:

-Improving your overall mood/boosting energy
-Relieving fatigue/headaches
-Aids in boosting your immune system
-Aids in weight loss
-Flushes out toxins, (alcohol lol)
-Aids in keeping out skin clear and healthy.

If you find water on its own difficult to drink, there are many aspartame free options, often with few to no calories that you can mix into your water to ensure you stay hydrated. Stay tuned for a blog post entirely dedicated to this topic, but in the mean time, BCAAS(Branch Chain Amino Acids,) tea (hot or iced,) and natural sweeteners such as fresh fruit are all excellent ways to make your water a little less boring.

*Be especially sure to stay hydrated while flying! The change in air-pressure when up thousands of feet in the air dehydrates us quicker than when we’re on the ground. Drinking a minimum of one cup of water per hour can significantly decrease your next day jet leg feel.

5. Have Fun!

Although it may be overwhelming to leave home/work for a trip, the worst thing you can do for your body is over think and/or stress. Stressing too much has been linked to weight gain, breakouts, poor digestion, and many other things.

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If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by your trip, take the time to calm your mind so that you will be able to make the best of your vacation. Some great ways to calm your mind include:

-Mindful breathing exercises
-A warm shower/bath
-Going outside for a walk
-Yoga/exercise

I hope that reading this has brought some peace to your mind, and has you looking ahead to your next big adventure! Travelling is one of the best things we can do to grow as individuals. After all, we were never meant to spend all of our time in the same place.

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Thank you for reading, so much love to you!

xoxo,

Shae