So many clients have come to me lately with concerns about how to eat while on their upcoming beach trips! It can be stressful to think that you’ve worked hard the past few months to get your beach bod, just to possibly blow it once you get there! Here are some tips that I take with me on vacation and definitely took to the beach when we went a few weeks ago!
Pack snacks! Even though you may not be able to control all of your meals, pack planned snacks to help you get by. The restaurants aren’t usually what gets me in trouble, it is the chips and cookies and JUNK that I allow myself to buy at the grocery store, using the excuse “we’re on vacation.” Pack healthy snacks that you would normally eat at home to save those calories and dollars in between meals.
Choose wisely. If your family is like mine, you are already planning which restaurants you are going to eat at when you get there. Luckily, at the beach there are usually some great steamed or grilled seafood options almost anywhere you go! Pull up the menus and go ahead and start deciding on what you will choose. Look for the healthier menu items most often, but also make up your mind on which restaurant(s) you might want to splurge at. There are certain things at certain restaurants that I just cannot resist. I simply plan my week around those items and on the other nights I choose the salad or grilled options instead. I encourage my clients to focus on choosing wisely at least 2 of the 3 meals everyday to help balance intake and calories.
Drink your water. I love some cold drinks on the beach, y’all! If you do too, just make sure to alternate alcohol and water. Be mindful of your drink choice as well. Frozen drinks can pack in hundreds and hundreds of calories each! Try spiked seltzer water or low calorie beer if you plan to have several. If you are dying for something sugar filled and frozen, see if someone will split that calorie-laden goodness with you or ask the bartender if there is a way to make it lighter.
Get physical. Play with your kids, go for a walk on the beach with your husband, take the stairs instead of the elevator, go shopping! Make sure to keep that body moving to help burn off some of the splurges you may have had during the week!
Bottom line is that a week of vacation won’t kill you.
The biggest mistake that we can make is throwing in the towel completely and splurging on everything. Choose healthy when you can, but enjoy yourself also. You didn’t lose all the weight in a week and you definitely won’t regain it all in a week either! Do not get on the scale as soon as you get home to see how much damage you have done. If you gained weight, odds are that a lot of it is fluid retention from being off your normal routine and taking in extra sodium and less water. Give yourself several days before even thinking about looking at that scale!
Just remember that vacation shouldn’t really be about eating. Don’t use it as an excuse to overeat everything in sight and don’t allow yourself to panic about every single calorie you ingest. Make the trip focus be on fun times with loved ones and you will be fine!