Last night I slept in a different state for the 4th night in a row! That has to be a record for me! Thursday night was the last night of our family vacation in Maryland. Friday we drove to Melissa’s parent’s house in PA to spend the night. Saturday was a 5 hour drive back home to Long Island. Sunday I flew to Kentucky to film for a course I’m doing to help fitness professionals with their biz. I think this travel schedule makes me an expert in staying in shape on vacation.;0
The family vacation in Maryland was the toughest. You see it was an all inclusive deal which meant all you can eat. This doesn’t work well if you don’t have a ton of will power. I didn’t do terrible but there were definitely challenges.
The first step when going on vacation is the same as the first step for anything. Decide on what it is you want. This is where I fell short. I think I said I’d try to stay on track but it was extremely vague. I should have been more specific. How many plates? What kinds of foods? There wasn’t a solid plan.
The good news is I did have a plan with the exercise. I planned in writing that I’d workout everyday in addition to the activities we’d be doing during the day. I even planned the kinds of workouts. Two Strength. One trail run. One sprint workout and one class that they offered. The result was that I stuck to my plan. The lesson? Have a plan.
I know it’s really hard to stick with something on vacation. That’s why it’s so important to have a plan. The first day of my vacation the gym was packed. The last day I was solo. I wonder what the plan was of the people that started off so strong.
Be realistic with your plan. 3o minute sessions are much better than nothing. Or even 10 minute workouts? If you make good use of your time, you can find 10 minutes regardless of what your schedule looks like. Remember why you started.
As far as other healthy traveling tips, I’m a big proponent of bringing as much food as possible with. You’ll save time, money, and you know what you’re eating. I’m actually typing this on Sunday from the airport (Because I’ll be filming all day tomorrow) and I have 2 snacks and a full chicken salad meal that I made with me.
I know a lot of you will be traveling over the summer so I wanted to nudge you a bit to be proactive, even on vacation. Some people think that you shouldn’t exercise at all or have any concern for nutritional choices while on vacation. I couldn’t disagree more. Why would you set yourself back and lose momentum when there is absolutely no need for it? While you might not be crushing your fitness goals on vacation, you can certainly maintain.
Billy Hofacker – Owner/Coach at Total Body Boot Camp & Performance Center, BS, CSCS