With a little planning, you can travel and stay on track with your fitness and nutrition goals, while still enjoying the perks of vacation!
Check out these simple strategies to help you stay on track when traveling or vacationing:
- Choose foods wisely when eating out, meaning, aim for a protein and vegetable at most meals, which will help keep your calories in check along with keeping you feeling satisfied and full after your meal. One easy way to do this is to have a salad or greens bowl every day topped with a protein of choice. These options are becoming more popular these days. My favorite lately is at CAVA; I love the super greens bowl with grilled chicken because it leaves me feeling full and satisfied.
- If you’re traveling and have a cooler or hotel fridge, have some foods available you can snack on to stay ahead of hunger and keep you feeling satisfied, such as, natural jerky, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, raw nuts, fresh fruits, protein bars & powders (you even could take a portable blender). Staying ahead of your hunger has a lot of advantages. It keeps your blood sugar from crashing and you experiencing hanger. When you wait too long to eat, you can end up feeling desperate/starving and eating a lot more than you want to. Remember, it takes about 20 minutes for your brain and stomach to register that you’re feeding it, so, if you do go over your time frame and find yourself feeling like you can’t get enough food in when you do sit down to eat, slow down, chew your food well and be intentional with your meal.
- Stay hydrated! Keep water intake up throughout vacation and traveling. Aim for half your body weight in ounces per day. This will keep hunger down and energy levels elevated. It’s great for digestion and overall health. Water is life and essential for survival. While we might think it’s common sense to only drink when you’re thirsty, that’s not the case. You will actually experience increased thirst once you begin to drink more water daily.
- Stay active. Explore and walk while taking in your new destination. Maybe drop into a CrossFit class, hit the hotel gym and /or try a workout app? Staying active will help balance everything out and leave you feeling better overall. If you work out hard on the regular and need more of a de-load week on vacation, that works in this scenario too. I know for me, I like to walk on vacation. Then I come back refreshed and ready to go!
- Unwind & unplug. Be mindful & take some time for yourself. Maybe taking a few slow intentional walks while taking in nature and consciously not rushing to get anywhere. Maybe give technology a break by putting away your phone or computer to help you renew and recharge, which will leave you feeling more fulfilled. Technology is a great thing at times, but breaks are necessary for better mental health. And lastly, be present and enjoy the moments that are happening that will inevitably become memories. Tune in to your life.
Make sure you enjoy a few fun meals out and splurge on whatever you’re craving. For me, this would be burgers & ice cream! When we do this, it helps keep our relationship with food healthy and positive and prevent binging and obsessing over the food we may think are off limits. Restricting all the foods you enjoy all the time is a bad idea. Make “moderation” your mantra for vacation.
Finding a balance in the strategies listed above can prove to be a great way to enjoy your vacation while staying on track with your nutrition and fitness goals