The ultimate goal of my healthy lifestyle is that I am able to prioritize my health and stay active while enjoying life to the fullest. I understand life is a give and take; I may not be able to have my cake and eat it too, but I want to come pretty darn close.
So, how do you travel and enjoy a vacation while staying on track?! Like many of you, I love to work extra hard in the gym and adhere to my nutrition plan a bit extra in preparation for a trip. When you put a lot of hard work in, you don’t want to lose all that progress while you’re away. I’m always striving to find that happy medium where I can enjoy a vacation yet not get totally off track.
Here is my ultimate guide to staying on track while on vacation…
OVERVIEW:
-Overall approach
-Workout plan
-Vacation Workouts
-Nutrition approach
Side note – there are many trips (correction – most trips) where I completely indulge and relax. I don’t worry about a thing I eat or drink, and I don’t even think about a workout. If that is the type of vacation you’re after… ENJOY! If you are interested in bridging the gap, keep reading…
Overall Approach:
To sum up how to stay on track while on vacation, I would say that I aim to stay active, keep my calories light during the day and indulge at dinner.
Workout Plan:
I aim to stay active in some form. Sometimes that is a walk on the beach or a body weight workout in the hotel room and other times, It’s a weight training workout in a hotel gym.
If I do plan on working out on vacation I follow this schedule: upper body, lower body, and total body.
Vacation Workouts
Here are no equipment vacation workouts that will give you a nice calorie burn while working your muscles
Upper Body Circuit (complete 3-5x):
15 reps- incline push ups (hands on bed, table or chair)
10 reps/side- alternating shoulder taps (high plank- alternate tapping shoulders)
5 reps- burpees
15 reps – dips
Max hold – plank
1-2 min – rest
Lower Body Workout:
Superset 1 (complete 3x)
30 reps- bodyweight squats
10 reps- squat pulses
Superset 2 (complete 3x)
10 reps/side- single leg lunges (back foot goes up on a bed or chair)
15 reps/side- high knees
Superset 3 (complete 3x)
10 reps/side- forward lunges
1 min- wall sit (sit in a squat against a wall)
Circuit 4 (complete 3x)
10 reps – sumo squats (very wide stance)
10 reps- close stance squats (feet together)
10 reps- squat jumps
Total Body Workout
Circuit 1 (complete 3x):
20 reps- jumping jacks
15 reps- crunches
10 reps- push ups
Circuit 2 (complete 3x):
30 sec- running in place
20 reps- glutei bridges
10 reps/side- side lunges
20 reps/side- mountain climbers
15 reps- reverse crunches
15 reps- plank in and out jumps
Nutrition Approach
This is the more challenging part for me while on vacation and also the more impactful component. My vacations are usually accompanied with more drinks and dining out than normal. Here is a very rough game plan of what I do….
Breakfast: eggs with bacon and sausage or an omelet
I try to keep this meal high in protein so it is filling and very light in carbs to save for later on
Lunch: chicken salad
Just like with breakfast, I aim for something that is packed with protein so it fills me up yet lighter in carbohydrates
Drinks: on a beach vacation, you can usually find me poolside with a drink in hand. My go-to drinks are a skinny margarita and a vodka club soda.
This is why I save my carbs 🙂
Dinner: for dinner, I like to enjoy! I’ll typically order some version of a meat (I love fish!), veggie and carb side. I’ll always enjoy bread on the table or a yummy appetizer and dessert is a go!
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