Nutrition Tips While You Are On Vacation
It’s winter (still) here in Canada, which means it’s also vacation time here. Us Northerners can often be found flying South to warmer temperatures and beaches to escape the cold. While the benefits of a vacation, like relaxations, unplug and reset, sunshine (soak in that vitamin D baby!) and quality family time are well worth it for the grand scheme of life, vacations often reek havoc on your diet It’s so tempting to overeat, choose the “wrong foods” or over consume alcohol & sugary drinks.
To be clear, I do not believe in restrictions and often don’t count calories. I find this approach to not only feed into the fearmongering around diet culture, but can lead to eating disorders. I don’t believe there are “bad” foods out there, so if you want dessert, go for it! With that being said, there are better choices you can make while on vacation that will help keep you on track with your goals.
1. Balance Your Plate
Regardless of where you are eating, try to ensure each meal you have is balanced with a protein, carbs, healthy fats and fiber. Keep your plate colourful, mixing vegetables and fruits. Mix up your proteins at each meal, going for local fish and seafood (if you like it) and lean proteins like chicken or turkey. Add in things like rice, potatoes, legumes, beans and you are on the right track. Remember 45-65% carbs, 20-35% healthy fats and 10-35% protein (based on your goals, needs and body) and you should do great.
2. Drink Water
This is what I often find the hardest to do when on vacation, so I get it. We often pick more caffeinated drinks, high sugar drinks or alcoholic drinks when we are on vacation. I am by no means saying for you not to drink those (hello vacation time does allow for what brings you joy). However, you need to balance with water. Dehydrating yourself is not going to do anything for you but dry out your skin, cause headaches and body aches, cause inconsistent or poor sleep, along with so many other issues that are hard to manage when out of your regular routine to begin with. Try to drink at least 10 cups of water a day, more if you are on a very active vacation or somewhere very hot.
3. Eat 3 Meals A Day
Often, we can find ourselves on vacation in the moment and enjoying our day and next thing you know you have missed lunch. Now you are hangry, and this is often when we find ourselves not making the best decisions because we just need to eat. When you are away, try to stick to 3 meals a day. Bonus if you can do 2 snacks a day as well. Following this same pattern as you would at home, allows you to keep your blood sugars and hormones balanced, keep your energy up and avoid strong mood swings.
4. Give Yourself Grace
One week of eating however you want will not derail your progress. It is not a failure to your “diet”. Creating a healthy lifestyle is a long game. It’s continuous small choices that leads to big results. So give yourself grace when you are on vacation. Try the local food and drinks. Indulge in that sugary treat. Eat dessert or pizza. Have an extra cocktail (if that’s your thing). But remember, a healthy life is not all or nothing. It’s ups and downs so long as you get back on track and keep going.
