2655: 7 Ways to Avoid Vacation Weight Gain by Emily Saunders with JillFit on Nutrition Advice & Healthy Living

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Health Daily, Episode 2655. 7 Ways to Avoid Vacation Weight Gain by Emily Saunders with JillFit.com and I'm Dr. Neal Malik, your host. Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or welcome for the first time if you're new here.

[00:00:16] This is the podcast where I act as your very own personal narrator and read to you from some of the most popular health and fitness blogs online. Alright, with that, let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:00:28] 7 Ways to Avoid Vacation Weight Gain by Emily Saunders with JillFit.com So, it's vacation time. You've planned and packed, strictly followed a fat loss diet and exercise plan to get ready for your new swimsuit, booked your flights, hotel and outings, and it's time to go.

[00:00:52] You arrive in paradise and enjoy a week of indulgence in buffets, unlimited cocktails and sweets and hours of nothing but lounging by the pool and come home feeling bloated and puffy and your favorite jeans that fit just a week ago

[00:01:07] are now extra snug, otherwise known as vacation hangover. What gives? I am currently enjoying a week of bliss in Jamaica and I'm happy to tell you that there is another way. My partner who's also a physique competitor and I are staying at an all-inclusive resort

[00:01:23] where we have 24-hour unlimited access to food and cocktails. Is it tempting? Of course! Is it manageable to live through the week without coming home feeling guilty for enjoying a vacation? Absolutely! The following are some key steps and pointers to make it through a week of vacation

[00:01:40] without feeling deprived while maintaining your fat loss lifestyle. 1. Prepare in advance When traveling abroad, it is next to impossible to prepare meals in advance and bring along massive quantities of food. Instead, we brought our normal supplements, a few containers of roasted unsalted nuts,

[00:01:59] protein powder and a handful of bars for any emergencies. This ensures that when all that is open is the beach grill offering burgers and fries at 4pm, we will have something to eat without waiting until dinner or indulging in a plate of fries and onion rings.

[00:02:13] We have made friends with one of the veggie bar workers who has enjoyed making wonderful post-workout protein shakes for us each day. He mixes our normal protein with fresh coconut water and a bit of fruit and it's super tasty. 2. Continue to follow your eating schedule

[00:02:31] It's hard to eat every 3 hours on vacation. Often, when I'm laying in the sun, the last thing I want to do is eat. The sun suppresses hunger especially when you're getting dehydrated. Drink your water and continue to eat small meals every 3 hours.

[00:02:45] The foods you are eating will inevitably have more salt than you're used to so water is that much more important. Also, pre-emptive eating is absolutely necessary on vacation where food is always at your fingertips. 3. Conquer the buffet

[00:03:01] It is so easy to overeat at buffets where there are countless options and so many things to try. Our resort serves all three meals buffet style unless you're eating at one of the restaurants that require reservations. A few tips.

[00:03:16] First, try to follow your normal diet as closely as possible. For example, breakfast is an egg white omelette and a small bowl of oatmeal or a few pieces of fruit and lunch is a large salad with a hefty serving of protein and veggies

[00:03:29] and a few bites of starch. Next, have a look at all of the options and make decisions about what you will have before going through the line and continuing to load up your plate. Most of us will clean our plates regardless of how much is on them

[00:03:43] Choose wisely and watch portions. And lastly, allow yourself a few bites of local delicacies. I'm loving several of the steamed greens that are offered here in Jamaica and they fit into the lifestyle. Today at lunch, they had fried conch,

[00:03:56] one of my favorite foods that I rarely get to have. I allowed myself one piece and moved along. Having a bite of indulgence allows you to enjoy vacation without feeling deprived or guilty. 4. Take the opportunity to slow down your meals

[00:04:12] Rarely do we have the time to sit down and actually dine. On vacation, our time is unstructured and we can sit and have a nice conversation while slowly enjoying our food. Several of the restaurants at our resort require reservations and serve 5 courses.

[00:04:29] The portion sizes are tiny so you have the opportunity to taste lots of flavors without overdoing it. For example, a ceviche appetizer might be 3 bites followed by a small bowl of soup and a 5-bite salad. The main course is also a small portion

[00:04:45] but with the leisurely pace, I'm amazingly full. Of course, the fat loss lifestyle isn't about eating less volume but on vacation this is definitely a great way to manage the constant access to food without feeling deprived. 5. Choose indulgences carefully Every year when we go on our tropical vacation,

[00:05:06] I'm amazed at how much some people drink. I've watched some individuals pound away 5 or more piña coladas over the course of the day by the pool. Wow! Remember to have either a drink or a dessert with dinner and to choose alcohol carefully.

[00:05:21] 1-2 glasses of white wine, vodka and club soda or spicy Bloody Marys are the only cocktails I will drink. I try to limit myself to one every other day. Other nights, I'll have a few bites of dessert. The first person we meet along with the wait staff

[00:05:36] asks us why we are drinking ice-tear water instead of an alcoholic drink. It is not the norm in a place like this but making the right decisions is unfortunately never the easiest way, especially on vacation. 6. Get your workouts in

[00:05:54] I am here as the group fitness instructor this week so for me this is mandatory. It's not easy to say, oh I'm on vacation, I just want to relax. 30 minutes of a high intensity interval training workout or a metabolic effect workout

[00:06:09] will keep your metabolism pumping through the day and make those little indulgences so much less damaging. Staying active with beach volleyball or soccer or walking on the beach or swimming and snorkeling will also help remind your metabolism to keep working.

[00:06:24] Try to work out in the morning before spending the day in the sun as it can really sap your energy. 7. Don't be too hard on yourself Remember, you are supposed to enjoy your vacation. Do not expect huge fat loss results.

[00:06:39] I like to think of it as a week of maintenance. My goal is to stay right where I am when I get there and nothing more. I come home feeling refreshed and my favorite jeans still fit. You just listened to the post titled

[00:06:58] Vacation Weight Gain by Emily Saunders with JillFit.com and I'll be right back with my commentary. Dr. Neil here for my commentary. When you're on vacation, of course we want you to relax and not have to stress about following the healthiest lifestyle but at the same time

[00:07:16] you don't want to come back from your vacation stressed for a different reason. You don't want to come back and feel as though you've undone all of the hard work you put in before the vacation. Just as today's author

[00:07:28] Emily described, we don't want to come back from vacation only to find that our pants no longer fit like they used to. Again, that can lead to another kind of stress altogether. So I loved Emily's suggestion that while on vacation, don't think about weight loss

[00:07:43] or weight gain. Just focus on maintenance. While on vacation, you won't have all of the comforts and resources of home we can do our best to remember to move our bodies, eat mostly nutritious foods with reasonable portions and of course, enjoy ourselves too.

[00:08:01] Alright, that'll do it for another edition of Optimal Health Daily. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for sharing this show with someone. I hope you're having a great weekend and I'll see you back here tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits.