It’s about that time again. Time to remove yourself from the stresses of daily life, book a hotel in an exotic land, and dust off the bathing suit. Then after you’ve stopped seizing from horrible experience—it’s time to relax!
Whether you’ve been working diligently to get your body bikini ready or you’ve finally just shed a few inches off that beer belly, it is not a planetary certainty that all your efforts must be sabotaged while on vacation. Although the number one thing on your mind while relaxing in paradise probably won’t be adhering to your diet or workout plan, come Monday when you try to squeeze back into those khakis it very well might be. So how do you avoid all the potential post-vacation stress?
Put down the margarita
It’s cute. It’s so, so yummy. It might even match your outfit, but it also has a WHOLE lot of calories. Just to give you an idea, the average margarita has 453 calories! That’s more than two slices of cheese pizza. Most of us underestimate the power of liquid calories in our daily lives (cappuccinos, smoothies, soda, etc). Alcohol not only has high calorie content but it also stimulates cravings for foods rich in salt and fat, thus making it a sure fire way to sabotage your efforts. So muster up all the will power you’ve got and try to limit drinks to special occasions, and if you do drink try to eat lots of high protein foods beforehand. There are many drink calorie calculators online to help you.
Pack a yoga mat
Here’s how to determine if you can do some simple Pilates or Yoga while on vacation. Ask yourself, is there a floor anywhere? If so, the answer is yes and you need to get off your lazy behind already! I suggest packing a yoga mat because you don’t want to be rolling around on a hotel room floor—hello, have you seen Dateline lately? There are so many workout programs you can find online that require nothing other than your body and a hard surface. Also, if you stay near the beach then you can just take a morning jog; it burns extra calories to run through the sand.
Count calories
Whether on vacation or not, your hands down, fail-proof way of keeping weight under control is to count calories. This is also the best option if you don’t want to eliminate any foods you love. It’s the only thing that has ever worked for me. If you think about it, all of the most popular weight control programs are centered around a 1,200 calorie diet. Fortunately, it’s so easy for people to do for themselves if they just have the right tools. For a woman who is trying to lose weight, an average daily calorie intake should be 1200–1500. Since it’s hard to count calories when you’re eating out a lot and away from your normal schedule, bring a pocket size calorie-counting book. You can pick these up at your local bookstore or online retailers for around six bucks. It not only lists the calorie content, but also the carbs and fat grams of every food imaginable. The more you do this the easier it will be for you to know how many calories you are consuming just by looking at certain foods.