How I Survived My Summer Vacation
I love summer vacation!! Ever since I was a little kid, the idea of spending days in the sunshine getting a tan (I know more about skin care now than I did then!), hanging out at the mall with my friends when it got too hot outside, going to someone’s cottage, and even though my family weren’t really big on road trips, I just loved the idea of it!! Summer is full of adventure and fun and frivolity! And food!! I would indulge in allll the joys of childhood summers: popsicles, ice cream cones, lemonade, bowls of chips on the doc, hot dogs & hamburgers all the time!
But when I was young, I could get away with daily ice cream cones. Not so much today! And I’m not alone. I recently came back from a little holiday on an all inclusive cruise to Alaska. The same week I was away, my bestie was at a cottage with her fam. But while I came back feeling refreshed and energized from my vacation, she came back happy with her time, but also exhausted, sluggish, and having put on a few pounds over her week.
Why the difference? Well, we chatted and it seems that, whereas I indulged on my trip, she may have overindulged! LOTS of junk food, pretty much a constant flow of drinks from the afternoon into the evening, and staying up/sleeping in every day.
I used to be the same way! Worse, in fact. When I used to go to an all inclusive, I made it my goal to “get my money’s worth” and eat and drink as much as I could. Buffet? I was making 3 or 4 trips. Drinks? Yes please! But it always threw me waaay off track. So now I do things a bit differently!
Now, I focus on quality, not quantity. Rather than trying to get in as much as humanly possible, I take my time and try to enjoy what I’m eating! I still have dessert, but not every single dessert, every night! And when I started doing this, I found my overall enjoyment went WAY up! Plus, it didn’t throw me off track.
Here’s a few tips:
Focus on quality, not quantity; Rather than getting in as much as you can, try to create a wonderful meal. It can be hard to track your macros when you’re not the one doing the cooking, but whether it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet or a backyard BBQ, you can still build a nice plate! Just make sure you put an emphasis on veggies and protein if possible.
Start each meal with fibre. If you can, before you dig into your main course, load up on fibre! I’m a big fan of the Big Salad! First, you’ll be getting some great micronutrients in, but we also know that fibre helps us feel fuller, faster! It sends satiety signals to our brain, which will help us from overeating.
Opt for mocktails and, if you are indulging in alcohol, set a limit and stick to it. Be careful though! Sometimes the effects of alcohol can lead us to make… poor decisions shall we say? Meaning that after we’ve had our limit, we decide to throw that limit out the door! Lately I have more and more been focusing on mocktails and really limiting my alcohol significantly. I think if you are going to indulge, give yourself a one-drink limit and see how much better you feel afterwards!
Don’t forget your water. When you’re at home, or at work, it’s easy to be set up well for hydration, but we frequently forget when we’re away from home! Make sure you’re starting your day with a glass of water, and keeping your water bottle close by. Bring it to the buffet and fill it up before you leave!
Don’t have sugary desserts every day. Over my 7 day cruise, I had fruit for dessert every day, but indulged in a sugary treat as well on 3 of those days. One of the things I noticed was that I actually tasted the desserts! When I used to grab a whole plateful, I wouldn’t even notice the flavours… I’d just be getting a sugar rush!
Have a Come Back plan for when you get home. For me, I usually spend the first 3 days back doing a “cleanse” where I take in lots of my super-nutrient dense Simone’s Smoothies to make sure my body is getting all the nutrients it needs to help get back to where it needs to be. The fibre helps any of the junk I have indulged in make its way out; the fruit and berries help give my body a ton of antioxidants along with vitamins and minerals, and the healthy fats help bring down any sugar/alcohol-induced inflammation.
If you implement all of these, or even some of them, you’ll be in much better shape after your vacay. But by far the biggest change I made when on vacation was to my mindset. I remembered that I want to be a woman who keeps commitments to herself. And one of my commitments is that I care and nourish my body and give it everything it needs to thrive! As soon as I shifted my mindset and started realizing that a lot of my vacation behaviours were actually going against my personal goals, everything became WAY easier!
Change is hard at first. Change makes us feel uncomfortable and this is normal. The only way to become the new version of yourself is to practice becoming her every day, and that means getting a bit uncomfortable. But the interesting thing is, over time, that new version of you becomes the new normal, and you’ll actually feel uncomfortable in your old habits!