10 Tips for Sticking to Your Weight Loss Program While on Vacation

Vacation is time to drop the rules, drop the routine, and experience the freedom. However, if you’re in a weight loss program, you may not want to lose the momentum. It can be a difficult battle, particularly when you’re faced with exotic food choices, endless buffets, and tempting tropical drinks.

You already know that excess calories are tucked away everywhere, and now you’re outside your typical, safe choices. So what can you do? You’ve already tapped into some inner self-discipline to get started. You know it’s there, so you need only add some new tips and strategies to your weight-loss arsenal. Today we offer up 10 tips to help you stay on track during your well-earned time away.

Hype the hydration

Keep that water flowing to curb cravings and counteract warmer-than-usual vacation climates. Drinking plenty of water remains healthy for you in so many ways that it may be the best single habit to extend through your vacation period. Pick up a souvenir refillable bottle to stay motivated about hydration.

Maintain the muscle

Next to water, the increased activity from a daily workout is a habit you don’t want to let slide. The key to making it work on the vacation trail is tucking it away. If your resort offers a 24-hour gym, forget about midday workouts and instead pack a light routine into the morning hours or evening, keeping prime time for vacation activities free and clear.

Un-rapid transit

You’ll see more and earn unexpected insights when you see your vacation destination on foot. You’ll save money on cabs or car rentals. Unlike tour buses, you have complete control over where you stop and what you see. You’ll have the chance to set new personal records on your step counter, too. Seek out bike rentals for destinations that stretch past walking distance.

Market up

If you find a market while you’re touring on foot, load up with fresh, healthy snacks. Avoid the local versions of the dietary culprits that haunted you back home, carb and sugar-heavy choices that, while delicious, drag your diet down. High carbohydrate drinks like "fruit smoothies" and "fruits" may sound healthy but if you have insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, diabetes type 2 or metabolic syndrome they can stop your metabolism in its tracks.

Meal machinations

Vacation is a time of impulse, but you can temper the effects on your weight-loss program by bringing a bit of planning to meals. There’s no need to arrive with a rigid eating plan in place. Take in the local options and plan your eating the day before. Must-have visits with to-die-for desserts can co-exist with light and healthy breakfasts and lunches.

Research your eating

Enlist a search engine on your hotel’s free Wi-Fi to bolster your healthy eating plans. You may be able to identify restaurants that specialize in healthy fare, farmers’ markets, or even grocery stores from which you can stock your room with healthy and low-cost between-meal options.

Leave it on the plate

Whether you order a meal in a restaurant or load up at a buffet, make it a practice to leave food on your plate. Focus on the feature protein and tread softly on the supporting starch. When you start the meal knowing you’ll leave some behind, you won’t fall victim to oversized portions.

Avoid emptiness

Empty calories, that is. You already know that alcohol has a huge calorie load with few nutritionally redeeming benefits. Keep it to one drink (or less) daily, and, if you’re at a tourist locale that features fishbowl-sized drink specials, hunt for a more modest alternative. Chase your libations with more water if your activities leave you parched.

Enlist an aide

Whether a family member or fellow traveler, having a partner in healthy living activities is a fantastic way to stay motivated while challenging and supporting each other in these unfamiliar surroundings. You’re less likely to let healthy habits slide if you’ve got a co-conspirator in the weight-loss game.

Avoid fast food

It might be comforting to hit the local version of your favorite burger slinger from back home, but fat and calories translate to every language and your waistline will understand the excess just fine. Challenge yourself to find the healthiest – and tastiest – local options.

As with any aspect of weight loss, planning pays dividends. Contact Carley Family Care for additional weight-loss support.

#carleyfamilycare #weightloss #vacation