Taking your Diet on Vacation:
How to Plan a Truly Healthy Vacation
(Eating habits and psychology: hunger control/grazing; Calories consumed/portion control and food choices)
A hard-earned vacation is a time to relax a little and enjoy yourself, and why not? On vacation, you deserve to feel good. And feeling good is good for your body. Studies show that stress and fatigue make weight loss an uphill battle. But just because you're going on vacation doesn't mean you need to put your healthy lifestyle on hold. To return home feeling energized and positive, it's important to decide in advance how you'll approach diet and exercise during your time away.
Before setting off on your trip, you may want to think about how you'll feel healthiest while traveling. If you regularly exercise, can you squeeze in a workout the day before or morning you depart? Can you pack an exercise video or your running shoes at the top of your luggage, ready to grab as soon as you arrive? There are people who plan vacations around strenuous activity, but for the rest of us, a moderate, enjoyable level of physical activity is a nice way to continue feeling good, and to balance out the occasional vacation indulgence.
To prepare for the onslaught of convenient foods that pop up on a trip, start off with a good breakfast-say, low-fat yogurt and fruit or high fiber cereal with low-fat milk. Pack wholesome snacks like fruit, whole grain crackers and vegetable sticks to avoid getting overly hungry, even when the itinerary doesn't go as planned. And try to anticipate your indulgences before you leave. Will there be a lot of decadent desserts or sugary drinks around? If so, then choose - Really. Make a checklist! What to forgo and what to enjoy. For those items you do choose as indulgences, decide how much you'll have: perhaps a single scoop at the gelato shop, but no sweets the day before, or a salty snack and a drink one afternoon, balanced by a big salad for dinner that night. Once you've made a plan, sticking to it becomes a daily reward.
Vacationing healthfully need not be a solo venture either: sure you may be the only one going to the salad bar at the fried seafood restaurant, but if you're away with friends or family, suggest taking a long walk to catch up, cook a healthy meal together, or research fun destinations like an outdoor produce market or pick-your-own farm to get everyone excited about all the fresh, wonderful produce available this time of year or in your sunny destination.
Of course it's unrealistic to think you'll be at your most virtuous at every moment. But remember that nothing undermines a basically healthy diet more than the feeling that you might as well stop trying because you've already broken a rule. Instead, anticipate those momentary lapses so that you can treat them as the predictable vacation occurrence they are. Feeling good for your whole vacation-and when you get home-means balancing special treats with healthier choices. When you find yourself enjoying both, then you're really vacationing well.
