-->5 Tips to Lose Weight on Vacation
You’ve read my headline and you’re rolling your eyes, right? I want to relax! I want to enjoy myself! How dare you suggest I lose weight on vacation. Here’s the thing: every time I go on vacation I lose a pound or two. It’s easy to be active when you’re not tied to a desk. Here are some tricks that will let you enjoy your vacation and not hate yourself when you get back home and step on the scale.
Walk everywhere. Try to book a centrally located hotel that will let you walk around from place to place. This works great in cities. If you’re in a more country area, drive as needed but make sure you walk around a lot to the attractions you’re visiting. You can easily sneak three to five miles of walking into a day without really knowing it. That’s roughly equivalent to 300 to 500 calories.
Strategize your lunch. Don’t eat empty calories from a crappy lunch in an amusement park. Choose a deli meat sandwich or a grilled chicken sandwich if you can’t get a salad. Remember, you don’t have to eat all of it either. Skip the chips and sugary drinks and opt for water. If you’re hungry later, a small ice cream cone is okay.
Enjoy your dinner. Get the steak, eat the lobster, have the chocolate cake for dessert. Relax and enjoy your meal and don’t feel even an eensy bit guilty! I would suggest sharing the dessert, but really if you want the whole thing, go for it. The idea is on vacation you get to eat amazing meals at amazing restaurants. You should indulge yourself and your taste buds and enjoy it to the fullest. The healthy breakfast and lunch and all that walking will help offset your high calorie meal.
Schedule one “athletic” activity every other day. There is so much to do on vacations; plan a hike, go cycling, run along a scenic route, play with your kids in the pool. Incorporate a fun one to two hour activity every other day to get your cardio in and have fun with your family while doing it.
Do crunches in the morning before you leave for the day. I swear by this. A few crunches on the floor, maybe some oblique twists too, and you’ll have your head on straight for the rest of the day. The crunches themselves aren’t really doing that much, it’s more to set the attitude of healthiness for the day. When you’re looking at that big wad of fried dough, you’ll remember the crunches and take a pass instead.
That’s it. You’ll have fun, relax, and maybe even find an oh-so-cute outfit to buy while you’re on vacation. What do you do to stay healthy when traveling for pleasure?
Lisa
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I exercise like a fiend on vacation. That’s what our vacations are: an excuse to spend the day outside running, swimming, sea kayaking, skiing etc.
Unfortunately, I also drink like apocalypse is imminent.
The drinking also has this nasty habit of weakening my willpower to restrict calories. As a result, I have a habit of gaining about a pound a week, but after getting home I go off booze for a few weeks and it all goes away.
I went on a three day cruise with my wife a while ago and this ship had the best food I’d ever experienced. My wife was taking a course and was busy from 8-noon each day and so I spend those hours running laps around the ship and doing weights. Although I was burning about 5,000 Calories a day I still gained about a pound of fat on that trip.
Something about being on vacation just turns me into a drunken glutton. Sigh.
James
LOL, thanks James a funny story. I guess only a pound when you’re doing that much damage isn’t all that bad. And you’re right, if you gain a little while you’re away you can always work it off when it’s over …
Lisa
1) Don’t arrive to the airport starving. This can lead to awful food choices, which is especially disheartening when you planned to have a “healthy” vacation. Bring along fruit, nuts, or pretzels.
2) As you said, walk as much as you can. Even though I was recently in San Francisco and eating out a lot, all the walking (on those hills, especially!) helped my husband and me keep off the pounds.
3) Drink lots of water. It’s easy to not hydrate, especially when you are excited to be in a new place and not thinking of it. Drink water before you even feel thirsty — it keeps you feeling better and prevents you from running to sodas when you suddenly realize you are super thirsty.
4) Get enough sleep. There is always lots to do on vacation, but remember that this is “time off” — don’t stress yourself out with too many plans. When we travel, we always try to split the right balance between exploration and resting up.
-mikki