How To Lose Weight While On Vacation

I am absolutely excited to say that now that the pandemic is over, I am going on a family vacation to Universal Studios Orlando Resort! I’ve had a lot of questions on how to lose weight while being on vacation or at least how to keep the weight off. When going on vacation, you don’t have to put your weight loss goals on hold and can even continue to lose weight! Listed below are some tips to help you to maintain your weight loss goals:

1. When traveling, pack your own snack baggies

It’s tempting when driving or flying to rely on fast food restaurants, gas stations, and convenience stores when you start to get hungry. However, by packing healthy snacks you can keep your portion sizes, as well as ensure you are staying within your calorie deficit for your snacks. Some snacks you could pack are: pre-portioned trail mix, unsalted popcorn with various nuts, and triscuits with grapes or tomatoes.

Make some meals in your hotel room. By making your own meals, you are able to determine how many calories you are consuming. Make some of your meals in your hotel room to help you keep a negative calorie intake. Easy meals you can make are: whole wheat turkey sandwiches with fruit, salads, or egg whites with avocado toast. Most hotel convenience stores have basic food items you can make in your room, however a cheaper option is to use Amazon Marketplace and have food shipped to your hotel room.

2. At restaurants, look for foods cooked in these specific ways:

Food that is poached, steamed, roasted, or broiled tends to have less fat than other methods of cooking. Before ordering grilled or baked foods, ask your server how the food is cooked to ensure they aren’t putting extra fat on the food to keep it moist when cooking. Always ask for your salad dressings and sauces on the side. For more information on eating healthy while dining out, check out April’s blog.

3. Fill half of your plate with fruits and vegetables during lunch and dinner

This will keep you from eating an excess amount of calories throughout your day.

4. Pack a resistance band

Resistance bands are extremely portable and allow you to add extra resistance to your workouts besides using bodyweight. Resistance training helps to change your body composition to mostly fat free mass which helps you burn more calories throughout the day. Make sure to incorporate resistance exercise into your workout plan when traveling. Exercising in the morning allows you to make sure you get your workout in before the day starts, preventing you from missing your workout due to spontaneous plans during the day or because you do not feel like it by the time the evening comes around.

5. Avoid the “All or None” Mindset

You’re on vacation and your kids want to go to an ice cream parlor. What do you do? Do you sadly watch them eat their ice creams while you gulp down a water? Of course not! Enjoy treats throughout your vacation, however plan for one treat a day. Avoid thinking that “Oh, since I had ice cream right now I blew it and can eat whatever I want.” Nutrition requires balance and flexibility in order to keep us consistent so enjoy the ice cream, but make sure that you pair it with a healthy dinner.

6. Make sure you are staying hydrated

Drinking water allows your body to keep running efficiently. Aim for half of your body weight in ounces (for example if you are 160lbs, you want to have 80oz of water). Add at least an extra 8oz of water if you are exercising that day.

7. Set daily, small nutrition goals to keep you on track

In order to keep you on track, but provide yourself flexibility, keep small, nutrition goals daily. Find a small nutrition goal you can implement on vacation that does not feel daunting and have an idea on what you are doing to achieve that goal daily. For example, my husband is trying to eat one fruit and one vegetable daily (it’s a start). While on vacation, he has determined that he is going to eat a piece of fruit in the morning with breakfast and a vegetable either during lunch or dinner meals.

8. Increase your NEAT

NEAT is an acronym used to describe all physical activity that you do that is not considered exercise. For example, walking from your car into a store. NEAT is the second biggest factor in determining how many calories your body burns in a day. So make choices that increase your NEAT! A few ideas are: going on a hike, parking further from a store or walking to shops, or walking as much as possible when in a theme park (as you can see I really have Universal Studios on my mind).

You can be successful in keeping your weight off while on vacation.

However, you have to be diligent and develop a plan that works for you that will help you to succeed. Take a few of these strategies (or all of them) and figure out how to incorporate them into your vacation. It is important to note that these strategies shouldn’t consume all of your time and energy. Enjoy your vacation and spending time with friends and family, just make sure you are being aware of the choices you make and how they can help you towards your weight loss. Where are you traveling to this year?