5 Tips For Staying Healthy on Holiday

HOW TO AVOID OVER-INDULGING ON HOLIDAY:

A few indisputable facts about going on holiday:

1. It’s fun!

2. It’s a hard time to stay healthy.

3. It’s a hard to go and exercise.

4. It’s an especially tricky time for balancing fun and self-care.

That’s why I have gave you 5 tips to stay healthy on holiday while avoiding — or at least managing — the impulse to over-indulge during this most tempting time of the year.

TIP 1 - MODERATION IS KEY

The holidays are time to relax and enjoy. To that end, I’ve found that while some alcohol and treats are a part of that, an excess of such is not. I simply don’t feel good otherwise. Being fit and healthy is not just about looking or performing a certain way. It’s about being in tune with your body so that when it ‘talks’ to you, you understand what it needs. The truth is an excess of alcohol or treats is a surefire way for my body to tell me that it’s miserable.

The same goes for workouts. Your holidays can be lazy, no doubt. So workouts give me the opportunity to create balance. Perhaps they shorten a bit to accommodate the extra things to do on holiday, but I still make time for it otherwise my body doesn’t feel good.

The other big motivator is that I don’t enjoy the feeling of needing to ‘get back into shape.’ Yes, there are cycles of training, but in general I don’t want to be so far removed from fitness that it’s not fun doing it, which can easily happen when you take a couple of weeks off coupled with unhealthy food choices. So, I keep this in mind, that I am avoiding that yuck feeling later, by staying consistent with training and nutrition during the holiday.

TIP 2 - KNOW YOUR ACHILLES HEEL

When it comes to your holiday and indulging, it’s really important to know your triggers and weaknesses. I’m not much of a savoury person so minimising that isn’t hard. Where I waiver is with chocolate and deserts.

I often eat a balanced nutrient dense and fiber rich meal at breakfast, lunch and dinner. This strategy curbs the appetite but means that I can keep eating in moderation. (It works for the sweet tooth as well.)

One of the biggest mistakes I see is that people don’t eat during the day so that the ‘calories in’ for the day doesn’t get too high. That strategy will give you a huge blood sugar spike and your body will, in fact, store more body fat because of it, which, I’m guessing, is not the desired outcome.

An excellent strategy for not overdoing it with libations is to drink a 250–300 Ml glass of water after every 1–2 drinks. Throw a slice of lemon/lime. This means that, just by pure volume of liquid, we can’t drink as much alcohol, and it also helps avoid the brain fog and hangover the next day — because dehydration is the cause of those headaches.

Set a limit of drinks that is manageable and stick to it. It’s known that drinking alcohol increases appetites and decreases judgment, so look for the high-nutrition snacks (veggie/fruit plate) rather than the fried food or fast-food choices.

TIP 3 - TIME MANAGEMENT FOR WORKOUTS

Finding fitness time is manageable, so streamline your workouts to include multi-joint and combination exercises to get efficient workouts in. A well-planned circuit of 8–10 exercises can give great results even in a 20-minute workout. Include upper- and lower-body multi-joint exercises as well as core and some kind of aerobic intervals. If there is more time, do an extra set or lengthen the interval time from 20–30 seconds. Understand that the act of changing your center of gravity often (getting up and down from standing to sitting to standing and lying down etc.) burns more calories and is more efficient training. Between circuit days have an active recovery day with a light walk, run or bike.

TIP 4 - PREPARATION IS KEY

First of all, I don’t want to be hypocritical. I indulge on the holidays, and as long as we don’t overdo it, a little bit of ‘going off track’ is a welcome break when relaxing with family and friends. That being said, it’s important to be able to get back track right away.

1. Track. Track. Track. I don’t care if you consume 5,000 calories in a day, track it in MyFitnessPal. Allow yourself some slips, but do not stop recording — that can lead to a slippery slope. When writing down what we take in we gain a perspective of how ‘out of control’ we are getting.

2. Create an exercise game plan. What can you do to stay active despite sunbathing, reading a book, a dip in the pool, etc.? Do what works best for you, whether it’s planning your workouts before hand, finding new activities to try whilst aboard via excursions. 

3. Don’t beat yourself up. Slip-ups happen, especially on holiday! Do your best to forgive yourself and continue on with your healthy lifestyle. Health and fitness is a journey, with ups and downs and bumps in the road and never linear.

TIP 5 - DISCIPLINE IS KEY

Once you put an absolute ’no!’ On any food it has the power to become a piece of forbidden fruit, which magically tastes sweet, but also ultimately kills you … or your health goals. So rather than having a hard and fast ‘no,’ ask yourself the question, ‘Do I really want this [insert your favourite forbidden fruit item here], or do I only want it because I am denying myself in some way in my life and I just want to feel better right now?’

If the answer is you want it, then one/some of it should be enough. But if you find that one slice of chocolate cake turns into 12, or one glass of wine turns into a multi-glass binge, then it’s time to ask yourself what else you’re missing that is creating this void. The answer might simply be that you need more sleep or more water. Or, it could be something more emotionally intimate, like you feel lonely or excluded. While sometimes it’s just a damn slice of chocolate cake, and you should eat it and enjoy every last bite, sometimes it’s not. To feel your best, it’s worth taking the time to ask yourself some of those more revealing questions so that you can use the best solution to address your needs.

---

Get a Free No-Obligation Consultation with me!