How To Eat Healthy On Vacation

A lot of people right now are heading out the door for that one last vacation before school starts, but you want to stay true to your health and fitness goals and this begs the question, “how to eat healthy on vacation”…

You are away from the house, away from your dvd player, away from your day to day schedule that is so easy to follow. You are amongst friends and family that are not really on the same page as you when it comes to taking control of your health and fitness. They are not where you are at in wanting to make the change…YET 🙂 You are not cooking the food, your options are limited and you end up planning on having to make a few compromises.

The Biggest Mistake – How To Eat Healthy On Vacation

I know how this plays out because I have been there. You see the overwhelming circumstances stacked against you and your goals, so you PLAN on having to compromise your food choices while you are on vacation. Hopefully these tips on how to eat healthy on vacation will help you realize that you can PLAN on staying on track the entire time!

The key word in all of this is PLAN.

If you fail to PLAN, then plan on failing!

Whatever you plan on doing, 99 times out of 100…your plan will pull through! So why plan on compromising your nutrition just becasue you are camping, or you are at your grandma’s house halfway across the country and she would be offended if you didnt eat her chicken fried steak and sausage gravy for breakfast everyday???

Instead, PLAN on sticking to your nutrition no matter what! Grandma will understand if you tell her that getting healthy is very important to you. Your camping buddies might poke fun at you, but trust me…they will be asking how to make the change too when they see your progress!

But HOW do you plan on how to eat healthy on vacation when all the odds are stacked against you…or at least they seem to be?

 

How To Eat Healthy On Vacation

Like I said…its all about planning! Here is what I will cover on how to eat healthy on vacation!

1. You plan when and where to workout each day (this is important for nutrition…see why below)
2. You plan what you will eat BEFORE going out to the restaurant
3. You plan on what to tell your family members to ease the “offense” of your healthy choices
4. You plan on how to eat/snack smart when away from home

#1 Planning your workouts – This is simple! Just because you are not home does not mean you cant workout! Hotels have gyms and you have workout sheets! There is also portable dvd players that you can take camping or download the workouts to your tablet. There are way too many options to have an excuse NOT to workout on vacation. Working out on vacation usually will help encourage you to stay on point with your nutrition since you dont want to screw up all the hard work you put into that workout! Plan the time, Plan the place, Plan the media!

#2 Planning when eating out – I have written a full article on how to eat out, but this can be as simple as checking out the restaurant menu BEFORE going to the restaurant. Most places have their menu online! Choose what you will order BEFORE going, enter it into your nutrition tracking app and make sure it fits into your targets. Also, dont be afraid to ask for something that is not on the menu, like grilled chicken (without all the butter and sauce) and steamed veggies. YOU are the customer and you can have whatever you want! Dont be afraid to ask!

#3 The offended family – Here is something to remember. When you make a lifestyle change like committing to working out and eating healthy…lots of people are going to try and discourage you because they themselves are convicted and they know they should make the change too. Rather than acknowledge that, they will try and tear you back down to make them feel better about their own poor choices. Family is really good at this. Explain to them your WHY. Tell them why this is so important to you and why you take it so serious. The loving family, however disgruntled…should understand. Just stay your course…this is YOUR journey and YOUR health!

#4 Snacking smart on vaction – This one bites most people on vacation! You are away from home and usually pretty busy so you are just trying to grab what you can to eat in between your main meals or there is simply a ton of food available at all times. This can really put a choke hold on your progress! We are a very social people and love to involve food in our activities. Camping is a big one (food all over the place)! Instead of being at the mercy of what’s available, pack PLANNED snacks like jerkey, protein bars, fruit, veggies, cheese sticks…I have an entire article on how to snack smart.

 

How To Eat Healthy On Vacation – Conclusions

As you might have gotten already…planning is sort of important when it comes to how to eat healthy on vacation. Plan your workouts, Plan your restaurant meals, Plan how to deal with naysayers, Plan your snacks. If you do these things, then you are going to stay on course with reaching your goal and wont have to experience the discouragement of coming back from vacation only to find that you have lost all the progress you made the weeks leading up to it.

Most importantly…ENJOY yourself! Dont let your nutrition or workouts dominate your entire vacation. Enjoy your increased energy, enjoy not being bloated and lethargic, LOL. Get out there a DO STUFF with your family and friends. Have fun and enjoy the journey to reaching your goals!

Now its time to BRING IT and inspire others to do the same…

Coach Todd

PS – Was this article on how to eat healthy on vacation helpful? If so, be sure to LIKE & SHARE it! Also, post in the comments below how you stick to your goals on vacation! Where is your favorite spot to vacation! I want to hear more from YOU! Post below in the comments!