I go through various phases with my commitment to health & fitness, I’m generally healthy but LOVE my food. In normal life I’m fairly good with my diet but when it comes to a vacay it’s not a matter of exactly what I eat, but in what volume and how regularly. I find, as most of you would, that holidays are particularly difficult to find balance – delicious food is everywhere and there’s a tendency to over indulge.
So, before heading off on my European adventure I decided to enlist the help of a good mate of mine to offer some profesh advice! Tom Baker is a PT and Health & Fitness Coach from the South Coast and his advice can be broken down in to these 7 tips to avoid holiday blowout;
“The first thing I want to say is that I want you to acknowledge that you are on holidays and are meant to enjoy yourself, so I don’t want you to feel bad for eating bad foods, instead I want you to recognise it happening and try to manage it through exercise and some simple strategies…
Strategy #1
Try not to binge eat 3 times a day, try to space out your meals into 4 or 5 smaller meals.
Strategy #2
The less processed the better – for example, instead of salami have chicken.
Strategy #3
Avoid adding butter; a lot of European countries have bread as a side – try having it plain or with avocado.
Strategy #4
Rent a bike! Go for a ride, experience the culture up close and burn a few excess calories while you’re at it.
Strategy #5
Research before you go. Find out what there is to do there & find some fun activities that involve human movement. Kayak, hike, swim, dive, take a walking tour, there’s always something to do to incorporate sight seeing and exploration.
Strategy #6
Always remember; just because your on holidays doesn’t mean it’s not real haha, you will still have to get rid of any excess weight when you get back home.
Strategy #7
If your eating out a lot aim to stick to the meats (proteins) and vegetables, avoid processed carbs…”
It’s really great advice and these simple strategies can go a long way to helping curb the excess. At least on this trip I know that there has been plenty of activity, (and if you follow me on snapchat you will have seen plenty of the fun) including hikes in Sommaroy, bike rides in Tromso, kayaking in Dubrovnik & long walks exploring Santorini’s coastline, among other things. The key for me is to be ever so slightly strategic with meals, don’t get me wrong I’m not going to miss out on anything BUT, I have been sensible… I’ve made the most of eating healthy at the included hotel breakfasts, have snacked on fresh produce – the locally grown fruit and veg is delish in Greece and you can find road side stalls all over the place. And, where we have a big lunch, we have a light dinner or vise versa and if it so happens to be a big day/night of eating out then I’ll do my best to avoid 3 courses of ALL OF THE CALORIES. I can also admit that for the first time EVER, I used the hotel gym in Dubrovnik – I’m not one for gyms on holidays but I can tell you that I felt HEAPS better for adding a just a couple of runs in the mix!
A final note from Tom;
“The thing I want to leave you on is regardless of what you normally do, what your hobbies are etc. try to incorporate some form of cardio or training into your travel (I know what your thinking, I want to enjoy myself, not train) This is fine but what I’m talking about is renting a bike and cruising around or going for a swim, or hiking, surf lesson, morning walks etc. Chances are your body is getting flooded with terrible (albeit delicious) foods, help your body with some movement, it will thank you!”
Follow Tom on instagram or visit his website & check out his Men’s & Women’s 6 week program – it’s kick ass!!
Also, don’t forget to add me on Instagram @calmlykaotic and Snapchat – nickylark – to join me for all my vacay shenanigans!
N x
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