Travel Fitness {Fitness Friday}

When it comes to staying on track while on vacation, I've been at both ends of the spectrum. I've gone on vacation and totally gorged myself on everything I could find. I've also gone and been conscious of my food decisions, which worked out much better.

On our honeymoon, we went to Cancun, Mexico and stayed at an all inclusive resort in August 2010. I weighed about 196 when I got married. I didn't go over 200 pounds, so I don't think I went too nuts on this trip. I don't recall even thinking about what I was eating, but I do remember being very active. We walked all over the place and swam a ton.



I went on a weight loss journey, and got down to 176 when we went on our cruise on the Oasis of the Seas in February 2012. I don't remember what I weighed when I got home, but I can tell you, I ate a lot of food, and drank a lot of pop. We each got a pop card and I drank a lot of it. We did walk a ton though, because that's what happens on cruises. After this vacation, I never really got back into the weight loss 'mode.' We decided to start to try for a baby after this one. I gave up completely on my healthy lifestyle, just when I should have been trying to be as healthy as I could have been. I ended up gaining all the weight back that I had lost. Back up into the 190s. What a thing to do!


On our babymoon in October 2012, I was up well over 200 pounds for the first time in my life. This vacation we hardly did anything. We relaxed by the pool and I ended up reading 5 books by the end of it. I did drink a ton of water, since I was pregnant and needed to be careful of over heating. I'm pretty sure I gained about 8 pounds on this trip alone. Not good at all!


January of this year I was a few months into my weight loss journey. We went on another cruise in the caribbean. This time I got a mocktail card, which ended up being better for me, because I only drank one or 2 a day, not 8-10 glasses of pop like on the last cruise. I drank a ton of water, and we walked a whole lot. I ate what I wanted, but I did it smartly. I stopped when I was full and didn't just eat things because they were there. I ate them if I liked them. I had a ton of veggies and salads during the trip. We were much more active this vacation. We went to dance class, mini golf, shuffleboard, zip lined, and much more.We were super active! I drank a ton of water. This time, I didn't gain a single pound! I was so happy about that! You can read about it here and here if you like.


So, as you can see, I've been on both ends of the vacation spectrum. I've done well and I've done really badly. I think I've learned how to go on vacation and have a great time, but not gain a ton of weight.

I'd love to share some of what I've learned.

My best tips for staying fit and healthy while travelling are:

- Walk. Walk. Walk.

- If you're on a cardio or weights plan, that you want to continue on vacation, check to see if where you're going has a gym. Pack your gym clothes and go!

- Avoid pop, drink water instead. It'll keep you hydrated, and make you feel much better than pop would!

- Fill up on vegetables. I love veggies, and the best part of buffets is they usually have a ton of great tasting veggie variety!

- Don't eat things just because they're there. If you go to the dessert buffet, so be it, but don't eat them if you don't love them. Like the food critic from Ratatouille says, "If I don't love it, I don't swallow." I wouldn't go that far, but you don't have to eat everything.



- Make it as active of a vacation as you can. If you're looking for excursions, choose the ones that will keep you active.

A great example of this is the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas has a Hotel Hike that takes you through the hotel, showing you all the awesome features of the hotel itself. Execrators are of limits! Pretty cool, eh!? This blog has so many awesome things to do in vegas that will help keep you fit at the same time! Check it out!

All of this talk of vacation makes me long for white sands and warm blue ocean! How long is it until January?!

Moving on to Fitness Friday with ALG Uninterrupted!

This week went okay. I ran a couple of times, did a couple of PiYo workouts, and walked a bunch. I think I overdid it when I did PiYo Sweat. My right leg hurt for a couple of days after. Not like the good hurt, but hurt to move it at all. Last night I went for a walk and then stretched it really well. It's feeling quite a lot better this morning!

I keep thinking that I should really get up early to do my workouts, but I seriously hate getting up early, and I don't mind exercising at night. I hope that won't become a problem in the future. I'm nervous about how I'm going to do with this and my working nights. We shall see!


ALG Uninterrupted

Comments

  1. Definitely why I love cruising so much; how active you can be!

    Paying attention to hunger signals is definitely something I struggle with the most and hope to fix going forward.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You've been on so many cruses! Buffets are hard - we just got back from vacay and I definitely had the "I'm putting it on my plate just because it's here" mentality and ate lots of things I normally wouldn't have - oops!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've only been on 2 cruises and 2 all inclusive resorts. We've decided were definitely cruise people!

      As for the bad eating, pick yourself up, and keep on going. A small setback won't define you!

      Delete
  3. Dropping by from the link up. Sounds like you have got the cruising thing figured out as far as keeping healthy...I love cruises. I think it is just important not to completely deprive yourself of treats, but at the same time you have to learn that balance and that can sometimes be soooo difficult for me. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree! Treats are important. I just don't need one of everything at the buffet! Haha!

      Delete
  4. I've been thinking more and more about doing a cruise. I'm terrified of being sick the whole time though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We LOVE cruising! We're going again in January! Tons of people wear the patches behind their ears and say that they make all the difference in the world. I grew up and live on an island, so sea sickness isn't something I worry about. For what it's worth, I only noticed movement on the Oasis one day. It was such a big ship that there wasn't much to be felt. The second cruise we did, on the Royal Princess I did feel movement a bit more, and saw a bunch more people with the patch!

      Delete
  5. I want to go on a cruise! Well, any vacation would be good at the moment ;)

    I'm the worst on vacation. Like escaped hostage bad. I'm going to try to take all your tips above and behave better when we go to New Orleans next weekend.

    Xoxo,
    Aubrey Leigh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We LOVE cruising! There's so much you can do, and it can be whatever kind of vacation you want! Social, active, or laid back. Or a little of everything!

      Good luck in New Orleans!

      Delete
  6. I've been in a hotel for months on a business trip, and I really need to learn that I don't need to eat something just because it's there. Thanks for the tips - I'm really going to think about them when I'm at the buffets.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That looks like so much fun! Cruises scare the hell out of me but that looks like a blast!

    Makeover With Aspen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why are you scared of cruising?? We love every second of being on these amazing ships! Soooo much fun!!

      Delete

Post a Comment