Vacations. You work out hard for a month before leaving, watch your portions, listen to your body, and lose a few pounds!! You are feeling wonderful, so you reward yourself with food the entire trip. When finally returning home from that vacation, you discover that ALL your pants have shrunk! Pesky dryer??? Or did you AND your eating habits take a little vacation?
Is this scenario a little too familiar? Travelers seem to use the excuse, “so what? I am on vacation!” in order to justify binging on the local foods and ordering dessert every night. This is all fine and good until you come home and feel guilty, discouraged, and hopeless because you have gained 5 pounds and your clothes are snug.
I would never encourage anyone to completely deprive themself while away on vacation. However, I do want each of you to find a balance between all the appetizing foods and keeping healthy. Although this may seem intimidating and boring, give me a chance!! I have come up with 5 of the best ways to help you manage your pant size while away in paradise!
1. Exercise. The mere thought of exercising on vacation can make some stomachs churn. Who really wants to get up early to hit the hotel gym? Although for some people this might be the ideal situation; perhaps you don’t really sleep in and 30 minutes on the treadmill wakes you up. GREAT! If not, how else can you squeeze in exercise?
My suggestion? How about making it fun? While in San Francisco, Brandon and I were active (to say the least). We walked and biked everywhere! We are not really sedative people; we could never spend a whole day just laying in the sun. We like to explore and what better way than with our own two feet?
No matter where you are vacationing, look for active events and activities; something that will leave you invigorated! A bonus? It’s so much easier taking in the sights by foot rather than by car! We saw so much more!!
Your bum will thank you later!!
This spot was where the family of Full House were picnicking and running through the grass in the theme song. I just had to mimic it!
2. Pick your “poison.” On every vacation, there is going to be some restaurant or local vendor offering something too delicious to pass up. My best advice? While I don’t want you to plan out each meal meticulously, perhaps you might try to designate one meal or snack as your “splurge” and then keep it light at your other meals. It is all about balance. “Splurge” on foods that you cannot get at home!!
(Erin Coates definition of “splurge:” Choose your favorite food and savor each morsel that enters your mouth. You will probably find you reach satisfaction without demolishing the whole thing! BUT, if you do finish it all…forget about it and move on!! You can be healthier at your next meal!!)
For instance, each morning of our vacation we were presented a huge breakfast buffet that offered waffles, eggs, sausage, bacon, muffins, etc. But they also offered whole grain cereals, non-fat plain yogurt, fruit, and bran muffins. Each morning I ate as I normally would. I knew that this might be my healthiest meal of the day AND since there was nothing spectacular or original about any of the unhealthier choices, I stuck with my usual; oatmeal and fruit. I was not tempted by the other fair because I knew there was probably something more tasty waiting for me later in the day! Observe:
After our 17 mile bike ride, we stopped in for some Ghirardelli ice cream! We split a hot fudge sundae! Probably the BEST fudge I have ever tasted and definitely something we cannot get at home!!
After this afternoon delight, we headed back to our rooms to shower and relax before going out to dinner. At dinner, I ordered exactly what I wanted: Crab cakes and fresh veggies. I left simply satisfied, listening to my body, and that was that!
I ordered the veggies without butter or oil and ate almost two crab cakes. They were so amazing!! I highly recommend this restaurant if you are ever in the area!!
We loved this place! Great seafood and service!
- About to dig in!! Photo first!!
3. Snack Up!! I am the type of person that is constantly eating throughout the day. My stomach grumbles without fail every 2-3 hours. Brandon gets mad that I don’t fill up more at each meal but I just don’t like the feeling of being stuffed. So what do we do to keep hunger at bay and prevent us from being too hungry to make healthy choices? Bring snacks!!
For the plane ride, I packed Kashi granola bars, an almond/walnut/raisin mix (which I left on the plane and am still salty about), and we bought oranges and bananas to keep in the room! On our walks, we also grabbed fresh fruit at the farmer’s market stands sporadically located throughout the city! It was great! Snacks are also the best time on vacation to sneak in fruits and veggies!!
Ferry Building Market: A fantastic place for fresh, organic produce and other healthy foods!
At $2.50, we split an organic peach. Probably the richest, juiciest fruit I've ever tasted!
This was a little stand that was selling homemade thin crust pizzas for $10. We split one for lunch at the Ferry Building Market, I forgot to nab a picture but they were super fresh and tasty! Made to order in ~8 minutes!
4. Not every hour is happy hour. Believe it or not, you don’t NEED alcohol to have fun and you will actually save money if you only order water at restaurants! Brandon and I only drank water throughout this trip (minus Napa…obviously), but since we were so busy throughout each day, hydration was what we craved.
Now, if you are the type that loves a glass of wine with dinner or a beer during happy hour, go for it! Just stick to one or two drinks and reverting back to point #2: pick your poison. If you want to have a local beer…go for it! Just try not to have beer, dessert, AND the fettuccine alfredo. Your waistline will thank you when you get home!
Remember this picture?
Our "poison:" We got ice cream...again. I only had a few bites though, it was not the best ice cream in San Francisco (sign was deceiving haha)!! I could have bought it at the grocery store. Blah.
5. Moderate and Enjoy. Having a good time on vacation usually involves food too. I want you to enjoy yourself in moderation!! Taste the foods that are original to the area and pass on something like French fries…you can get them anywhere!! Enjoy the unique foods and have a drink or two, just try not to over do it!!
Napa: apparently this is the best bakery in the United States. We HAD to go in!! We sampled a strawberry croissant. It was very rich but amazing!! Love little bites of bliss!
A fun little pub in Monteray Bay! Lots of fun seafood choices!
At the pub I ordered a grilled shrimp wrap and a salad to replace the French fries. The order came with deep fried tortillas as well, which I skipped. The wrap was one of the best I've ever had but because there was so much sauce throughout, I could not even finish half. When I originally ordered, the waitress said it was a very light coating...hardly. Brandon is a sucker for fish and chips. I couldn't sway him otherwise.
So this was our third trip for ice cream. We HAD to get another sundae from Ghirardelli before we left! We split one after a day of walking through Monteray Bay. Who knew when the next time we would get one would be!! Yum!
Vacations are meant to be a time for relaxation and a break away from your normal routine (including eating). Relish in the fact that you are away from the stresses of life and savor the moments that are making fond memories! They will last a lifetime! I hope these 5 tips will help YOU on your next vacation!! Have fun!
Final thoughts: Did I gain weight on this trip? Who knows. My pants fit the same but I still don’t think I’ll be weighing myself for a while. I enjoyed myself, ate mostly what I wanted, and did not stress over fat, calories, or cholesterol. I just did my best to be my best self and that’s all one can ask for right?
Question: How do you eat on vacation? Do you weigh yourself immediately when you get home?
haha….i do NOT weigh myself immediately when i get home cuz i know it won’t be pretty. usually i give myself at least 3 days :p
it’s hard to eat healthy on vacation (obviously) but i don’t believe in stressing about it either. you’re on vacataion – you’re supposed to have a good time! i say you can worry about it when you get home
I have a hard time with that also and almost always gain a few pounds on vacation. Something I am trying to prevent in the future!!
I definitely allow myself to splurge on vacation…but I still fill my days with a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. I always bring granola bars or other snacks along so I’m not stuck eating ice cream or fried food when I’m hungry for an afternoon snack. What a great post this was…I loved hearing all your tips and they are all spot-on!
The only time I ever weighed myself was when I was pregnant. The numbers just never do good things for my head, so I go by how my clothes fit instead.
I totally agree with your thought about eating local gems — if you’re going to splurge a little, make sure to do it on something special that you can’t get anywhere else! I will totally treat myself if I find a truly interesting new food or something I love but can’t usually find, but I always feel bad if I indulge just because I’m in “vacation” mode. And when I’m out at a restaurant, vacation or not, I always try to remind myself that when I order healthier options, I always feel so good afterwards because I took the opportunity to take good care of myself.
Ooh, great post! This past February was the first time I’d gone on vacation since working with my dietitian. I made myself a rough plan ahead of time and used some of the tips you wrote about. I basically had a treat per day (either a drink or dessert), but otherwise stuck to my regular diet. I felt so much better coming home, knowing that I hadn’t gone overboard. I weighed myself when I got home, but I weigh myself daily, so that was normal for me.
Great tips! I always like working out by just going for walks to explore wherever I am. Also, love the thought of picking your splurge. I always know for our beach vacations i will have heavier dinners so I keep my other meals lighter.
I used to go insane on vacations and holidays and just binge and gorge. But I’m learning that being moderate and truly eating only the things I really can’t get at home is the best!
hahaha I literally burst out laughing with your comment!! Oh Uncle Jesse. What a stud
I have a bad habit of going a bit overboard while on vacation but looking back my vacation pictures is must say this year’s travels were A LOT more healthy than eg. our trip last year to all inclusive paradise in Turkey, were there was food available 24/7 and not only healthy options.
This year I found myself craving more and more fresh vegetables, salads, less meat (!!!) and a lot of ice cream
it helps when it’s really hot, I can’t eat heavy meals when it’s +35C!
My biggest mistake was not having snacks with me all the time. It happened a few times that we were walking around somewhere (we walked A LOT) and I got a bit hungry and by the time we found a restaurant I was not talking to my bf anymore (I get so crumpy when my bloodsugar drops) and ordered way too much food. Next time I’ll know! (and I should already know this, I’ve lived with this hunger for 26 years
).
Anyway… I’m rambling! great tips, Erin! I loved seeing your holiday pictures
My faves – pick your poison and not ever hour has to be happy hour.
So glad you had a marvelous time, fantastic pics!
I love your vacation fit tips!! I usually don’t stress too much about exercising on vaca…you need to rest a week every few months, so I call that my “rest”–unless I REALLY feel I need it, like if I am going away for almost a week, then I try to sneak a sesh in here or there. usually our trips have A LOT of walking involved, so it’s a nice change from the gym!
I do lots of walking and try to get in other forms of exercise: running, swimming, gym at the hotel, etc.
I agree with you though, you need to splurge on vacation, but it doesn’t have to be every meal and it doesn’t need to be ridiculous. Split a dessert, maybe have a drink every other night, etc.
I don’t go on vacation much, so when I do I like to enjoy it!
I love the pic of you running through that field! If only Uncle Jesse were there with you!
I like to go for runs and do a LOT of walking when I’m on vacation. Usually my vacations don’t affect my waistline. usually