Whether it’s sea swimming in Bundoran or Margaritas on the promenade in Albufeira, the holidays are looming over you and you’ve taken action… you’ve signed up to a six week bootcamp and stopped eating “bad” food. You’re miserable, sore and tired. If someone even thinks about asking why you’re eating broccoli for the third time today you’ll bounce the effing floret off their forehead. Not ideal for familial harmony, in my experience.
Fast forward 6 weeks and sure, you’ve made some progress, not as much as you’d hoped but it’s too late now as holidays are a go! You jet off, have a great time, make some memories and maybe get a little bit too much sun on the last day but overall it was a massive success.
You arrive home feeling refreshed and step on the scales “just to check”, the needle is a couple of points further to the right than it was before you left and immediately your post holiday glow has turned into a dark cloud of guilt and shame.
I can’t tell you how often I hear “I was SO bad on holidays” or “Yeah, I had a great time but I’ve just undone all the hard work I’ve put in”.
So how do you make sure your holidays don’t throw you off the wagon? Here are a couple of things you can do during and after your holidays to ensure you stay on track with your goals.
Drink! I’m not talking Moscow Mules here, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a couple of cocktails, but make sure water is your priority. Especially if you’re in a sunny country where dehydration is far more likely to occur quickly. My advice would be to buy a re-useable water bottle, you will be more likely to hit your water target (2.5 L water every day minimum), you can travel with these through airport security (empty) and are reducing plastic waste at the same time. Win win!
Move! Hit 10,000 steps everyday, all modern phones have step counting features now so make sure you’re keeping track of this on holidays. It’s also a great way to explore the local area, go on foot and you will barely realise you’re getting in all that activity.
Don’t stress over the scales. Yes, body weight can be a useful measure of how well your progress is going but it’s not the only measure of progress. After a week of eating salty food, drinking sugary drinks and sitting in airplanes of course you’re coming back heavier. That doesn’t make you a bad person and it doesn’t mean you’ve failed at fitness. I bet if we took body measurement sizes before and after your holidays there wouldn’t be a change in one week.
Get straight back to being consistent. One week of eating pizza and drinking wine won’t destroy your progress. Allowing that week to de-rail you for the rest of the year will. No-one ever got fat from eating one donut and by the same token no-one gets the body of a Greek Goddess/God by eating one salad. Body composition changes take time, consistency and patience. Find someone to keep you accountable (a friend, partner or friendly local trainer) after this holiday and you’ll be far happier in your skin and guilt free by holiday 2020.
Enjoy your holiday! Part of what we do at SOURCE is to prepare our members for life outside the gym. We want our members to be happy, healthy and strong in their daily lives, physically and mentally. Beating themselves up after a holiday doesn’t factor into their heads now, they’re straight back in the gym on Monday morning, a little more tan yes, but with the same consistency and dedication they left with.
If you are having trouble sticking to your training program, pop by to meet the team and see how we can help you today!