My favorite word. VACATION! Yay!
Let’s face it. Last year sucked. Who didn’t have a carefully planned great vacation derailed because of COVID 19? Rules have relaxed this year with restaurants and tourist attractions reopening. People want to make up for what they didn’t get last year, a great vacation!
You have made your plans, the reservations, and mapped out your trip. You know what time you have to leave the house to get to the airport or on the road. You may have already decided what you will wear and pack, with vacation still a month away. Then you remember that you made a commitment to a healthy life-style and you want to lose weight. That is almost a buzz kill for the whole vacation. Almost.
But wait. There’s hope. First you will need to decide a goal for your weight loss journey – do you want to maintain and not gain anything? Or do you want to try to lose at least a pound while vacating? Who wants to make goals during vacation? Sounds counterproductive. But I promise, set this goal now and make it a part of the planning process, just like packing, and you will meet your goal with a few things to keep in mind.
Let’s say you want to maintain your weight while on vacation. First, let’s plan to bring healthy low-calorie snacks for the journey. Did you know that ¼ cup of raisins has 80 calories? You can store them in a small package making it easy to carry and a perfect snack. My sister Julie hated raisins, and maybe you do to. But guess what? You don’t have to have raisins – you can choose other snacks. I have made a list of some that contain 100 calories or less: 10 unsalted pecan halves, 25 baby carrots, popcorn (no extra butter), 14 almonds, 6 whole grain pretzel sticks, banana, 1 cup grapes, 20 pistachios, 1 apple with 2 teaspoons of peanut butter. You could also try 1/3 cup edamame, or 1 cup jicama sticks with salsa. Most of these could be pretty handy in carry-on luggage or in a small bag with you in the car with the exception of the jicama sticks with salsa. This vegetable has only 54 calories with lots of crunch. I have never tried it before, but hey, its vacation, let’s try something new.
Also decide ahead of time that you will do your best to eat healthy when eating out. You can still choose salads most anywhere, but you will want to watch for the extra toppings. A salad on the menu does not always have the lowest calories. Use your smart phone to look up calories if the restaurant doesn’t have it listed on the menu. Try to stay away from fried food.
Let’s say you plan to go to your favorite restaurant at your favorite vacation spot. Or you decide to go to a restaurant that someone has highly recommended. You have looked forward to this meal for a long time. You can still enjoy guilt free by making wise choices. But what if you can’t pass up that favorite dish? Go ahead and order, you don’t have to finish it all. You have permission to splurge and waste just this once. Or you can ask the waiter for a to go box with your meal. Immediately put half in the box and you can enjoy the same meal later.
You will want to drink lots of water. You can drink up to half your weight in ounces of water a day. That means if you weigh 150 pounds you can drink 75 ounces of water a day. Drinking your water through a straw helps with drinking more water. We talk a lot about the benefits of water in our book Imagine Not as Much.
You will want to limit your sweets and treats. Some people don’t have issues with sweets, but I do. I have found that I actually prefer the smaller size. Try ordering the smallest size, you won’t feel deprived nor icky.
But what if you really want to stick with your plan? Great, make up your mind before that you will not fall back into unhealthy habits. You can follow most of the same ideas previously mentioned with a few tweaks.
Instead of having a special meal every day, limit it to one or two in the week. Plan that day carefully. Know what you plan on eating at the special time and then plan the rest of the day. If you plan on a huge breakfast with all the “fixins” then know you probably will not eat again until late in the afternoon. Make that a lighter meal with veggies. Or if you intend to eat a big meal later that day, then choose to eat a light breakfast. Make sure to eat foods that will fill you up. Remember you might could eat a whole bag of potato chips, but not a whole bag of apples.
Think seriously about packing your scales, don’t weigh several times a day, but perhaps every morning or every other morning to keep yourself on track. This will help you to hold yourself accountable if you know you will have to face the cold hard truth.
If you seriously want to lose weight while on vacation, then more than likely you will stay serious about your workout. Pack your workout gear. If flying, you may not want to pack your weights. However, many hotels have a gym. Even airnbs have some kind of machines available. Make a plan daily on when you will exercise. I love walking on a beach. If you love it too and do it for exercise, expect a workout. You may not walk as fast on sand, however you can get your heart rate up with the exertion of walking in sand for 30 minutes or more. You could also take your favorite workout DVD or stream your favorite work out.
Allow yourself one treat, either a sweet or a meal. After all, you don’t want to feel deprived while on vacation. You have to remain cautious with your treats on vacation. You have to decide if you will consider your vacation like a Las Vegas type of vacation where anything goes, or a reasonable staycation maintaining complete control, or somewhere in between. It’s your vacation. You get to decide.
These few tips should help you to maintain or maybe even lose weight while on vacation. You can do this. You can enjoy the vacation that you have worked for and looked forward to. The one good thing that came out of the pandemic is it caused us to focus on the most important things in life. You had a rough year. Enjoy your vacation and stay healthy. You’ve got this!
Thanks for the post. I enjoyed reading this.
You’re welcome, and thank you for the encouraging words.