Travel Without Ruining Progress
One of the most frequent conversations I have with clients is, "I have a trip coming up! I don't want it to derail me!" You're making great progress at home, finding your groove, then WHAM - a business trip or vacation hits and you feel panicked that all progress will be lost. After just spending eight glorious days galavanting and eating my way around Ireland with two gal pals, here are a few strategies that kept me on track AND helped me enjoy the trip:
Stay active: "Active" might look different while traveling than at home, and that's OK! Maybe you're walking more steps than usual but not getting to the gym. We stayed at five different hotels in Ireland, and three of them had gyms. I got up early and squeezed in a shorter-than-usual strength session in each gym. My step counts were also elevated most days. My vacation activity looked very different from home, but I stayed active!
Eat a high-protein breakfast: Start your day with a high-protein meal to keep you satiated and protein-stocked for your day ahead. Some high-protein breakfast options include Greek yogurt, eggs, egg whites, turkey bacon, and sausage. Don't be afraid to have non-traditional breakfast foods in the morning... in Ireland, they served charcuterie meats and cheeses and beans with every breakfast!
Choose your indulgences: Choose a meal or a couple of meals on your trip to be "Have whatever I want" meals, rather than indulging at EVERY meal. Remember, the reason for your travels is likely not just enjoying food... it's seeing sights, enjoying company, or getting work done. Not every meal needs to serve as a "go all out" experience.
Expect the scale spike: When you're back from your trip, anticipate the scale to be up. It will be, even if you worked out regularly and ate in moderation. You likely ate more sodium than usual, retained fluids from flying, had different-than-usual bathroom schedules, and more. Trust that the scale will "settle" over the next few days after you're back home and back into your regular routines. See the attached chart for my scale logs before and after vacation. You'll see that the day after I got home, I weighed SIX pounds more than the day I left... but the very next day, after a full 24-hours being back into my routine, I was down six pounds. So, I maintained my weight on my trip, and thankfully didn't let that six pound spike worry me unnecessarily about lost progress.
Here are some additional resources on this topic:
“EmPowered Radio” podcast episode from July 23, 2021 titled “Tips for Staying on Track While Traveling”
https://www.asweetpeachef.com/how-to-eat-healthy-at-restaurants/
https://www.cookinglight.com/healthy-living/weight-loss/healthy-restaurant-choices
Question for you to ponder: When you travel next, what strategies will you implement to keep you progressing toward your goals?
