How many times have you gone on vacation, had an amazing time and when you arrived back home you realized that those jeans were a bit tighter? *raises hand*
On vacation we tend to live the good life, eating tons of different, exotic foods and pretty much saying “YOLO” to the healthy eating regimen that you stuck so to well pre-vacation. When you add kids to the mix it becomes almost impossible to stick to any diet. Vacations are filled with buffet dinners, and plenty of all you can eat temptations. Never fear, I have five quick tips that will help you maintain your waistline before, during and after your trip.
1) Body weight exercises/YouTube: if you find extra time in the hotel room you can do a quick set of body weight exercises such as jumping jacks, push-ups, burpees, squats, lunges, crunches and more! If you don’t feel like creating your own routine you can log into YouTube there are hundreds of thousands of free workout classes. My personal favorites are from Fitness Blender.
2) Take an active tour(hiking, walking): When creating that itinerary for your trip be sure to include some walking tours and if possible schedule a hike! If your kids are old enough, hiking can be a really fun and fit activity.
3) Take advantage of on-site gyms: Kids are usually exhausted from the full day. Take that time to go to the on-site gym! Most hotel facilities are open 24-7 with your key card. Bonus: you might have the gym to yourself since it’s in the evening.
4) Avoid buffets: Buffets can be the kryptonite to any diet (and waistline!). If you you can try to go tot restaurants that serve you with individual meals, if the buffets are unavoidable fill up at the salad bar first, then go get treats afterwards.
5) Pencil in workouts to the agenda: We all spend a lot of time planning the perfect vacation. When planning, keep exercise in mind. For example, before that jungle tour at 9 am, schedule time at the pool, or a morning jog along the boardwalk.
Enjoy your vacations and don’t forget to keep fitness first!