Healthy Eating During Vacation Period

Vacation is a time to decompress. A time to relax, unwind, and forget your daily stress. Often though, with that comes lots of temptation to eat and drink without any control. That could mean a big step back from your weight loss goal or maintenance plan….or not! Here are a few recommendations to avoid any weight gain, and at the same time allow you to enjoy yourself.

Use the healthy plate as your guideline. Start by piling up half your plate with vegetables. A quarter of your plate should be composed of a protein, and the other quarter of a starch. If you have a food plan, you should keep it in mind while on vacation. Ideally, you should also keep track with the help of a food journal.

If you are on the road or flying, pack dried or fresh fruit, nuts, and granola bars. This will help prevent you from opting for high-calorie and high-fat snacks like chocolate bars, muffins and cookies. Drink lots of water!

At the restaurant, avoid deep fried foods, breaded meats, or au-gratin style dishes. Better choices are baked, broiled, steamed, poached, or grilled meats. Choose lean protein like chicken or fish, and avoid pasta as your main dish. Remember that dishes that include cheese, creamy sauces, bacon and dressings will also come with lots of calories. When possible, look up the caloric value of restaurant meals. Opt for choices with less than 750kcal. Sharing a meal can also help cut down on excess calories.

When it comes to alcohol, give yourself a goal and try to respect it. Avoid fancy drinks like Margaritas and Daiquiris that come packed with extra sugar. For every alcoholic beverage you may consume, drink 500 ml of water.
Finally, eat healthy snacks in between meals. Fruit smoothies can be a good idea, but beware of portion size. Local grocery stores or even pharmacies usually offer fresh fruit and other healthy snacks like yoghurt and nuts.

Remember, if you keep track of what you eat during your vacation, at best you will stay on track towards your weight loss goal. If not, you should aim to maintain your weight during vacation. Getting back on track will be much easier if you don’t have to undo any weight gain at all! Finally during vacation, we have more free time to do some physical activity, which gives us place for some little treats without excess!

Have a great summer!
By Christina Timotheatos, dt.p

Healthy Eating During Vacation Period is a post from Nautilus Plus. The Nautilus Plus blog aims to help people in their journey to fitness through articles on training, nutrition, motivation, exercise and healthy recipes.
Copyright © Nautilus Plus 2013