Follow Healthy Eating Tips Every Weekend or on Vacation

Going on vacation or weekend trips are awesome! You shouldn’t have to miss out on the fun because you are trying to eat healthy, lose weight and/or live a healthy lifestyle. Here’s a few tips that I use every time I’m on vacation to keep me on track so that I’m not having to run for hours when I get back.

Pack Healthy Snacks

Duh! Traveling encourages bad eating. Be prepared to fight the urge to buy that bag of Doritos. This simple tip can easily save you a few gained pounds!  Some of my favorites:

• Almonds
• Apples
• Oranges
• Natural popcorn already popped
• Celery and carrots with hummus
• Water
• Meal Replacement Shakes or bars (AdvoCare)

Be Smart About Alcohol Choices

Drinking is always a part of my vacations. For some reason people assume that because alcohol is “bad” it doesn’t matter what they are drinking. WRONG! Your alcohol choices alone could ruin your entire healthy eating efforts!

• Stay Away from High calorie mixers –Margaritas, pina coladas, long islands, white russians and daiquiris are usually all a really bad choice. They can pack up to 800 calories per drink!! AHHH! Unless that is all you plan on eating for the day, stay away from premixed anything, sweet & sour mix, any drink that has heavy whipping cream, soda, and sugar loaded juices. The only exception to this rule is when REAL fruit or fresh squeezed fruit juice is blended with ice.
• Make sure you are hydrated! You know alcohol dehydrates you! If you know you are going to be drinking later in the day make sure you are getting your recommended about (half your body weight in ounces) plus some! The same thing goes for the day after. You can also use electrolyte replacement supplements (rehydrate AdvoCare), this also happens to be a great way to get rid of a hang over!  Watch out for the sugar and calories in other electrolyte replacement drinks like Gatorade and Powerade they usually make you feel worse with a hang over. Another way to stay hydrated is to use water as your mixer. I know it doesn’t sound too tasty but with the right liquor it is fantastic. My personal favorite is Sweat Tea Vodka and water.
• Choose the right beers! Low carb, low calorie beers like Michelob ultra and miller light are good. Stay away from wheat beers and other heavy beers like Budweiser.

Eat Responsibly

Eating out is a big part of vacationing there are a few tricks that you can use to make sure that you are making the best choices.

• Stay away from bread!! – enriched flour is terrible for you. Think about when you were a kid, do you remember what you made paper mache paste out of?? FLOUR and WATER. Think about that for a minute……..now think of that pastes clogging your insides. GROSS!  Even wheat flour a lot of times is enriched watch out for the fake healthy options. I just stay away from all bread at restaurants.  If you want a sandwich just ask for no bun and eat it with a fork and knife.
• Opt instead for a protein and a vegetable. Fish, Chicken and Steak are all good options. Ask the waiter to hold the butter on the veggies. Even if its not on the menu I ask them to hold the butter. Yes, I’m that person!
• Obviously no fried foods. Do I have to explain this?
• Fake healthy salads are dangerous! A lot of salads are worse for you than a burger and fries! Pass on the cheese, bacon and croutons. Ask for a vinaigrette dressing on the side. Try to use as little as possible.
• Always drink water when possible!
• Share desert with the table.
• Ok it’s vacation…. If you really want that fry or that desert take a few bites to satisfy your craving….you don’t need to eat the whole basket of fries or a whole cheesecake!

Stay active – I know its time to relax but you can’t expect to lay in the sun all week long and stay in any kind of shape! Get up and move at least 30 minutes a day. That can be swimming in the pool or ocean, playing beach volleyball, carrying your own luggage up to your room, walking around the hotel, jogging outside, playing golf……you get the picture. Just move! If all else fails do some pushups, jumping jacks and crunches in your room.

Post Written by eFitness for Life Coach, Shanna Smith

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