You know what it’s like – you’ve just promised yourself for the umpteenth time that you’ll get in shape. Your new eating regime is going really well, you’re hitting all your fitness targets and you’re feeling great…then the family summer holiday comes along and derails everything. Often, it’s even more black and white with people starving themselves into a bikini for summer, only to go back to binge eating on holiday and putting themselves back to square one at the end of their holiday and undoing all the hard-earned progress.
One of the things that keeps my clients awake at night is managing their health while they’re away. For most of us, holidays are great; they’re an opportunity to let our hair down, enjoy some treats by the seaside, perhaps have a little alcoholic beverage, a lie in and a rest from physical and mental stressors.
But there are also those holidays that really make us worry. When I’ve got a big race coming up, planning a weekend away or some downtime with family can be really tricky. Nutrition makes a big difference in sport – not just what you put in your mouth during and directly before the race, but what you fuel with leading up to it and what you use to fuel the sessions in preparation. It can also be a stressful time if you’re trying to get in shape and develop some new habits.
BUT, it doesn’t have to be an anxiety-inducing experience and you can in fact keep on track while you’re away…
1. What phase are you in?
The first thing to consider is whether you actually NEED to be losing weight or watching what you eat on holiday. If you’ve been religiously calorie counting and following a strict exercise regime for a number of months, you’re seeing consistent progress and you’re happy with that, it might actually do you some good to ease off a little. We all need to give our brain a break and it also means you’re not going to be a complete kill joy by scanning every barcode in sight to study your macros in detail and check whether blueberry or vanilla ice cream is going to fit your needs better. So if you’re not in a key phase of your journey, then relax a little, but perhaps read on and learn to be mindful on your holiday so that your new found habits aren’t lost completely and you’re ready to rock and roll again when you get home.
If on the other hand, you’re at the beginning of your journey and your habits are not yet entrenched or you’re not seeing the progress you want, there’s a tough decision to make. You do need to enjoy your holiday for the break you need it to be, but you also need to acknowledge your goals and decide what’s more important right now. If you’re right at the start of your journey, letting yourself go can be a trigger that spirals out of control and leads right back to starvation and binge behaviour, just like you’ve done before. If this is the case, then read on to find out how to enjoy your holiday while simultaneously staying on track.
2. Be Mindful of Movement.
At the end of every triathlon season, traditionally I take a week long beach holiday. I become a lazy beach bum for a week. Save for a small excursion to the local site of interest and perhaps a couple of shopping trips and café mornings, I spend my time moving from breakfast, to sun lounger to sea, to sun lounger and then onto whichever local restaurant takes my fancy. I need a break. I’ve worked hard, physically and mentally. And for some of this, this is necessary. But you can bet that at the end of the week, I’m in need of some training again! I miss it! Having a week’s complete rest is great if it’s required. But if you’re in the midst of trying to achieve a goal like losing weight, getting in shape and improving your health, then movement is your friend. So think about how you can incorporate this into your holiday. You don’t have to go out running at 5am!! Think about things you can do with the family – walking, hiking, swimming, snorkelling, maybe try something new like horse riding, paddle boarding, surfing, maybe Nordic walking… Think about things you can do and see that will keep you on your feet – local gardens, clifftops, beaches, woodland. Explore off the beaten track and you’ll find things everybody else missed because they couldn’t be bothered to go and find them… It might be that you DO need to do some things on your own. If you’re following a new training programme, think about what you can do while you’re away. Getting up early before the rest of the family are awake can be a great time to train – perhaps there is a hotel gym or pool you can use, or perhas you can pack your own trainers and resistance bands to get a variety of different workouts in. Whatever you do, before you go away, if you have training sessions to do, PLAN IT. And include your family in that so they know you need some time on your own. You’ll be surprised how understanding they are – they probably want a break from you too…
3. Make smart food choices, even if you don’t count calories.
Okay so we know that the only way to lose weight is calorie deficit. But when you’re not able to accurately track your food or you want to take a break from it, you can still stay healthy and avoid losing all progress by following a few simple tips.
Try and choose foods based on their “naturalness”. What does that mean? Well base your meals and snacks around fresh fruits and vegetables and other plant foods. Wherever you go on holiday, you can usually find a local produce store which will often have amazing fruits and vegetables in it. There’s often something new to try and the locals will appreciate you trying their local delicacies – even in Somerset we like you to try the cider… Remember that foods local to their place of origin will usually hold the highest micronutrient profile so will do you the most good and tend to taste the best too. Choosing these types of foods will stop you reaching for the crisps, pastries, donuts and sweeties during that mid-afternoon lazy time when everyone seems to either fall asleep or have a snack…
Also focus on choosing proteins at meal times. Local cheeses, meats etc with fruits and vegetables over the carb heavy but nutritionally poor meals are always going to leave you feeling less bloated, more satisfied and probably healthier and happier as a result. And if you do want to indulge in that cinnamon danish over breakfast, then why not get some exercise done first and then refuel with your simple carbs afterward to make sure they don’t go straight to your liver??
The important thing to remember is, we all need a break. You will work hard for results and consistency is important. But what’s also important is acknowledging life is too short to spend all of it beating yourself up about what you have and haven’t done. Don’t lose faith if things don’t go as you wanted them to and you overindulge a little, but remember that all actions have consequences and if you DO slide backwards a little while on holiday, you can get back to former glory, but it will take hard work and help.