Fitness on the Road
I just got back from vacation on Monday, and I realized while I was on the road that a lot of people are going to be in the same situation I was in. You are on the road, need to workout, want to minimize the damage from the restaurants, but don't know what to do. I know you don't want to gain weight, so how do you do it? Today I have a story from one of my clients. She gives a lot of great tips on how she not only didn't gain any weight, but actually lost 4 pounds while on vacation!
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"The first thing my family does on any vacation is to get oriented with the place we have chosen. Last year we chose Banff, Canada mainly because we love the Rocky Mountains and love to hike and bike. We found where the supermarket was because I needed provisions for the week if I was going to survive my vacation without gaining weight... the vacation is from work not from healthy habits. I purchased water, fiber/protein bars, granola, nuts and fresh fruit and veggies like baby carrots and celery.
"While planning vacation, made sure my hotel had a fitness center. My plan was to make sure I got exercise each day so I packed my normal workout gear and several different exercise programs I could use depending on the equipment in the hotel(I am not very creative and have to have the guidance of an awesome personal trainer). While on vacation I exercised everyday including hiking, biking, whitewater rafting, climbing and an occasional gym workout. On days when I had a lot of physical activity I did not go to the gym on days when my activity only included walking around town I worked out in gym using the hotel equipment (which in this case was pretty good).
"Eating right when you are on vacation is very difficult I planned that also to fit with my acitvities. On high physical activity days I had heavier breakfast and on lower physical activity days I ate a lighter breakfast. I packed snacks sufficient to get me through to lunch without becoming overly hungry, so I would not binge at the next meal, and drank plenty of water all day long. At breakfast I ate plenty of protein, as lean as possible, and some carbs for energy I knew I would need for my active day. Breakfast was the easiest to stick to my normal diet so I did. Lunch and dinner were usually out; I find eating out to be very tricky so I had all sauces on the side and avoid cream sauces all together (cream sauces tend to have loads butter in them) and included a salad. I made sure that I stopped eating when full even if I had to leave food on my plate...better on my plate than my waist. I avoided alcohol with the exception of really good wine that was worth the calories and I drank water with and after each meal. I also made sure that I drank plenty of water all day long. I even split a dessert on one occasion; it was a special treat.
"My goal was to not gain weight on vacation what I found, to my amazement, upon returning home was that I had actually lost 4 pounds on one of the most awesome vacations ever!"