I’ve talked about it before, but I definitely think it should be mentioned again: how to keep your sh*t together on vacation. So here’s the thing, I am literally flying home from Portland as I type this (falling asleep every 42 seconds because we were up at 3:30am), still thinking about all the delicious food we had while we were there, but not feeling guilty one bit. Portland is one of my favorite cities to visit, mostly because the food is absolutely phenomenal but also because the people are amazing, the landscape is beautiful, and the weather can be awesome. This was my fourth trip to Portland and it was by far my most active one. After previous trips, we knew we wanted to do something active every day so we could still enjoy our food without feeling too weighed down.
Vacation is about relaxation and experiencing new things and new places. BUT, we also have a life we have to go back to after vacation. And if you’ve been working out hard and eating healthy for months or even years, then you’ve probably seen some progression and seen your body change. So why throw that completely out the door for that one week out of the year? You should leave your vacation feeling relaxed, but you shouldn’t leave feeling regret or shame about what you ate or drank.
So here are a few things that have truly helped with my own vacations and keeping my sh*t together:
- Not going overboard on alcohol every day. I get a lot of emails from people asking how to lose weight and based off what I see at my own gyms and with my own friends, alcohol plays a big part in body composition. So if you are drinking heavily every day on vacation, the hangovers are gonna suck real bad, the poor eating habits will start first thing in the morning and the extra sugar you will be consuming will add up pretty quickly. Choose drinks wisely and wash them down with lots of water.
- Eat what you are craving while not eating to the point that you are uncomfortable. I ate completely gluten free on vacation and I recommend others do the same, even if you aren’t celiac (I’m not either, but I do have digestive issues with gluten). Gluten is just stupid, and unneeded. I still ate lots of rich food like some GF sandwiches and cinnamon rolls and muffins, but I never ate them to the point that I was uncomfortably full. The only time I felt that way was when I had 2 rich cocktails and I finished that night off with a 4 mile (slightly drunk) hike to work it off. Here in the US, our portions are usually too big and many of us were taught not to waste food. But I’m here to tell you that it’s ok. If your body is uncomfortable, it’s telling you that it doesn’t need that much energy and it’s going to store that energy for later. Mindful eating is often a skill that has to be learned and it took me about 25 years of my life to understand what the difference between satisfied and full was.
- Exercise in some way, every day. I know people won’t like this one and they have fought with me before when I talked about exercising every day during our wedding week in Jamaica, but I still believe in it. Here’s the thing: I’m not telling you to go to some tiny hotel gym and spend an hour of your vacation hating your life in there. If that’s what you like, then go for it! That’s what I did in Jamaica. But this trip to Portland was totally different. We spent our days hiking, walking, jogging, dancing, or doing a workout in the suburb streets. We just stayed active and enjoyed the scenery in the woods or on the beach. If you’re on vacation, you’re probably looking to enjoy the scenery, too. So get outside and explore, whether that’s on foot, on a bike, on a jog, or whatever else. Find some sort of exercise, whether is difficult or mild, and do something every day.
- Pack snacks! Sure, there’s always tons of food to be eaten on vacation and you may not need many snacks, but it’s nice to have some stuff for the inbetween hours when the stomach is grumbling. I always pack jerky, Rx bars, larabars, plantain chips, and Fuel For Fire protein packs. That way I always have something on hand instead of feeling like I need to go to a restaurant to get a snack or I’m waiting too long that I end up eating something crappy or too much of something because I’m so hungry. Snacks are the best, so plan ahead!
- Get your mindset right! Just because it’s a vacation doesn’t mean you have to throw all your good behaviors away. If you’ve been eating well and working out BECAUSE you are going on a vacation doesn’t mean it should end just because you are finally there. Keep up the hard work, remember that good behaviors like food choices and workouts continue to improve over time and become second nature. So if you can keep up with those behaviors on vacation, it will be easier to keep up with them once you get back home. You can still have an amazing & relaxing vacation even while getting a little workout in!
Now let’s chat about last weeks workouts!
Sunday – Barre Forte Lohi Class and wake surfing
Monday – CrossFit Broadway Class
20 mins to find a New 1 Rep Max Clean & Jerk – 150#
Then 9 min AMRAP Of:
9 C & J (135/95)
12 Toes To Bar
200m Run
I got 3 + 17 using 75#
Tuesday – CrossFit Broadway Class
20 minutes to find a 1rm deadlift – 222#
7 minute AMRAP (4,8,12,16…ladder):
double front rack KB lunges
burpees over KB
I got 16 + 10 using 2×35# Kbs
Wednesday – CrossFit Broadway Class
Max strict pull ups in 2 minutes – 20
Max deficit push ups in 2 minutes – 41 using 25# plates
3 rounds For Time Of (20 min time cap):
500m Row
30 Wall Ball
400m Run
I got 17:15 rx
Thursday – Travel day to Portland – 4 mile hike in Lake Oswego after dinner
Friday – 6 mile walk on Cannon Beach
Saturday – 4-5 mile walk/run in Lake Oswego with some lunges and squats in between
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Free Travel Workout:
21 burpees
21 jumping lunges (total)
21 hand release push ups
30 mountain climbers (total)
400m run
18-18-18-30-400
15-15-15-30-400
12-12-12-30-400
9-9-9-30-400
6-6-6-30-400
On Sale Fitness Apparel (plus last weeks finds – hover mouse over photo you prefer and click to be led to the site):
What I Ate in a Day:
Vacation was an absolute slam dunk when it came to the food. I mean, it’s Portland, Oregon so everywhere you turn, there are small restaurants with big flavor. Tomorrow I’ll be sharing a post with all the places I ate there so feel free to check that out tomorrow! In the meantime, let’s take a look at what I ate one of the days I was there! Remember, this was vacation and this isn’t food I would eat on a regular basis. I was able to stay completely gluten free in Portland, but I still ended up with a stomach ache most days since many meals were filled with all sorts of sugar and gluten free grains. I don’t recommend eating gluten free donuts or sandwiches daily or even weekly, but I do recommend enjoying them sometimes and not feeling completely deprived!
After a 4-5 mile walk/run in Lake Oswego, we headed over to Kyra’s Bake Shop to grab a couple donuts and some Stumptown cold brew coffee with coconut cream in it. I probably ate 1/3-1/2 of a cinnamon sugar donut and maple bacon donut. They bake their gluten free donuts and they are so so good! I didn’t end up drinking most of my coffee after because I was so over sugar.
Later on in the day, we headed to Groundbreaker for some lunch. We had a little prosciutto wrapped melon then ordered some corn on the cobb and shishito pepper. I don’t like eating corn on the cob because I don’t like having to dig food out of my teeth and I’m not a huge fan of the peppers, so I had 2 small peppers and no corn before our meal.
I ended up ordering the cubano sandwich there. This restaurant/bar is another place that is 100% gluten free so I ate most of the bread but kind of got overly full and sick of it towards the end so I tossed most of the bread and ate the meat.
After lunch, we hung out at the house for a few hours where I snacked on a few handfuls of glutino gluten free pretzels before dinner.
Since we needed a break from eating out every meal, our Kyra cooked up some eggs with spinach and spices and I cooked up a clean brand of hot dogs and we ate the rest with salami. Then I finished it off with MORE gluten free bread, this time a Against The Grain baguette slice topped with butter and jam!
At the end of the night, we went country line dancing and I had a pretty bad stomach ache from eating so many gluten free grains, so I just drank water all night long to help flush it out. Too many GF grains make Juli no fun.
I’m sad that my time in Portland was very limited (on a college tour!), but I would love to revisit sometime! Anyways, I never fail to workout every single day on vacay, and I love doing it in the morning because I can spend the rest of the day exploring this travel destination! Of course, indulging in your vices should be done reasonably. I like choosing what you can never find back at home!
You have inspiried me for a while now but its been two years since I have been paleo and every vacation I come back from I have either stayed the same or lost weight because I do all of the above! This past vacation I worked out almost everyday – I brought my jump rope and our med ball with us and I made up and wrote down workouts BEFORE I left that I could do right in our rental house. I also ate mostly what I normally would with a few indulgences. But I know how tough it is to come back from vacation and I don’t want to come back feeling awful and having to lose the same weight that I just fought so hard to lose just weeks before! Seriously though your advice has been life changing for me and I’ve seen results that I never thought was possible so thank you so much for all you do and share!