The Perpetual Tourist

I would not call myself a health nut, but I am fitness conscious. The gym is part of my daily routine and my fridge is stocked with items that taste great and also won’t make me feel guilty about eating. But if I let myself skip too many days of exercise, or indulge my sweet tooth too much, it can be a real battle to get back into my healthy habits — which is why vacationing can be dangerous.

Certainly it’s great for my mental health to take a trip, but all that eating out and all that lounging around can really wreak havoc on my fitness agenda. After all, it’s sort of a vacation tradition to stop at Cracker Barrel and Hardee’s and munch on m&m’s and salted peanuts in the car. Then of course sampling the local flavor is never as enjoyable when you only allow yourself to get the salad. Forcing myself to diet while on vacation is never successful or fun, so instead I just make sure to work healthy choices into my travel agenda.

If you’re staying in a hotel, you probably don’t have the option to cook for yourself, and even when you do, it’s more likely that you’ll be eating your meals in restaurants anyway. It’s fine to eat what you want — you are on vacation, after all — but don’t lie to yourself about what you’re doing. In the past, I’d rationalize my gluttony by promising myself to work out twice as hard and really watch what I eat when I get home. I think a lot of people do this — but when you spend a week or more overindulging, it’s damn near impossible to turn the willpower back on immediately. When you get home, you’re going to have to play catch up at the office and probably catch up on some sleep, too. Does that really leave time for extra exercise?

My parents go on a lot of cruises. They eat like kings and laze around all week, then come home ten pounds heavier. Dad throws himself into exercise and cuts himself off from any but the healthiest foods, and sheds the weight by the end of the week. Dad is not a real person. Real people are like my mother, who comes home more exhausted than when she left, and spends the next week complaining that she can’t be more like my father who can lose his vacation weight almost instantaneously.

So back to those healthy choices. Most people gain weight on vacation, but as long as you aren’t a complete pig, your vacation doesn’t have to be a huge fitness setback. A nice thing about vacation is that you do have plenty of opportunity to have fun and be active at the same time. In your day-to-day routine, your fitness time probably isn’t the most enjoyable part of your day, but when you’ve got 24 hours a day to plan any way you like, you can work exercise into your day without having to go to a gym. Do some sightseeing on foot to casually and enjoyably burn off the calories from your hotel’s breakfast bar. If you’re at the beach, go swimming in the ocean, or take surfing lessons. If you’re in the mountains, go for a hike with your camera around your neck. Do whatever you want — it’s easy to work active activities into your itinerary, and you won’t have to guilt yourself about what you’re eating or lie to yourself about what you’ll do when you get home. Plus, keeping active while on vacation will make it easier to get back to whatever fitness routine you practice at home.

The key to a great vacation is finding a balance between indulging yourself and making enough healthy choices that you don’t regret it all later. Eat what you want, have fun, and stay active. You may come home a little bit softer around the middle, but it will be easier to get back on track physically as long as you don’t completely let yourself go in your time away.