How Not to Derail From Your Health Journey While On Vacation
Do you struggle to stay healthy during vacations? When you’re not in your usual routines or eating your usual foods, how do you have fun and still prioritize your health?
When my husband, Kevin, and I go on vacation, we believe both of these things are important. We value health and we also value having fun. Here are some tips we’ve gathered that can help you with this balance too.
Tip #1 - Have a flexible mindset
Having a flexible mindset on vacation will really help you stay healthy. This tip is especially appropriate if you tend to have a rigid mindset and put strict rules on yourself. Often having strict rules can lead to binge eating because you have unrealistic goals and then can’t meet them. After a while, you feel miserable and just give up.
A mindset that has really helped me and Kevin is to think of things as a balance or an ebb and flow. We might make a decision that is more on the unhealthy side and then our next decision is healthier.
I think this is especially important when eating. A lot of people have a rigid mindset when it comes to healthy eating. They think, “I have to only eat salads. No, I can’t have a cocktail. No, I can’t have that cake or I will gain weight on this vacation.”
Thinking this way will most likely lead you to give up on day 8 or 9, if you even make it that far! I think most people would give up this rigid mentality on day 2 or 3. Having a strict mindset defeats the purpose of vacation. And it’s no fun! It’s not fun for the person who is rigid and usually it’s not fun for the people around them either.
Instead, have a flexible mindset and know that you can enjoy life, enjoy vacation, and still be healthy.
Tip #2 - Make sure you move daily
A good recommendation is to move for 30 minutes a day. If you can do 60 minutes, even better, but that might be difficult, especially if you’re not used to exercising this much in your normal life.
Thirty minutes of movement is a happy place where you are getting your heart rate up, getting the blood flowing, burning some extra calories so you can enjoy that cocktail or that cookie, but you’re not focusing your entire day around exercise. Daily movement is also really good for keeping your bowel movements regular during your vacation, since it’s easy to get constipated while traveling.
On our vacation in Maui this year, my husband and I decided to have fun with this 30 minutes per day rule. We mixed it up by playing beach volleyball (we deflated a ball and brought it on the plane!) and we took nice walks on the beach to see the town and enjoy our surroundings while still getting exercise.
I had planned to go on a run but Kevin accidentally dropped a water bottle on my foot as we were leaving! I had to apply that flexible mindset for the first week, so instead of running I went on walks and was able to play a little volleyball as well. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches! But you can usually still find ways to keep moving.
Tip #3 - Drink water
Kevin is a pro when it comes to drinking water. He drinks so much water that he actually brings our Brita filter on vacation! On our trip to Maui, we were stopped by the airport TSA for having such a weird item in our carryon. But even though you probably won’t bring a Brita filter with you, the point is that drinking water is so important and so under-prioritized by many people.
For example, when Kevin and I arrived in Maui, we went to Costco near the airport, along with other vacationers, to stock up on supplies for the week. I was shocked to see families with lots of kids buying only one package of water bottles. Since each package has maybe 32 sixteen-ounce water bottles, to get the minimum water needed each person would need about four of those per day. When you consider the whole week, and factor in the hot climate, one package of water is really only enough for one person.
As this goes to show, many people are dehydrated on vacation. You’re usually eating saltier restaurant food and you don’t drink enough water, so your hunger cues are off. You think you need more food but you are actually thirsty.
Kevin and I discovered that water is a good cure for nausea as well. This is good to know if you are going on a cruise or doing some kind of activity that tends to make you nauseous. We went on a snorkeling cruise and, even though I took nausea medicine, I still felt bad. The snorkeling guide told me to drink water and it worked!
Tip #4 - Buy things at the market
Set yourself up for success by buying some groceries and not eating out all the time. Not only is eating out every meal hard on your wallet, but it is also difficult for your body.
Kevin and I went to the market in Maui and got a platter of veggies and greens. We also got poke and made lettuce wraps. We didn’t have access to a kitchen and couldn’t cook, but we made due with what we had and it definitely helped us stay healthier and feel better during our trip.
Tip #5 - Eat the local food in moderation
When you go on vacation and don’t enjoy the local foods, you miss out on the fun of enjoying the culture in that area. You can still try many different foods. The key is moderation.
Kevin and I are huge foodies, so we always want to try a variety of local food. In Maui, we ate spam, poke, and shrimp, drank Mai Tais, and bought a chocolate macadamia nut pie. We loved it!
So what does moderation look like for us? One thing we did is we shared a lot of dishes. And even though we tried a lot of things, sometimes we didn’t finish our food, so we would bring it back and put it in the fridge for later. We also don’t necessarily try everything. It’s easy to still enjoy lots of different dishes without getting every item on the menu or getting dessert every time.
I think that bringing up this idea of moderation touches on a deeper issue in our culture in general, especially in California where I live. To be honest, I think we’re a spoiled culture and don’t know how to say no to ourselves. It’s the idea of always doing what makes you happy. I think this culture is actually poisonous because it doesn’t teach you how to have discipline and how to say no to things.
So, as you’re thinking about eating local foods, you also have to have discipline. You have to ask yourself, “Did I move today? Did I eat vegetables today? Did I drink enough water?” You have to learn how to say no to yourself if you already ate sugary desserts that day or if you already had two piña coladas. It’s about learning to have discipline and balance.
I hope these five tips help you know what to focus on so you can stay healthy while enjoying your vacation!
If you are in need of a coach to help you along your wellness journey, you can email me at cktan@verticalmovementwellness.com. Or send me a message on Instagram @verticalmovementwellness. I’d love to help you and answer any questions you have!
Your Health Coach,
Dr. Cindy Kimmi Tan