How To Lose Weight While On Vacation

The key to travel planning is careful preparation and mindset.  It can be easy to get off your protocol if you go in with the wrong thoughts about your vacation and do not have a strategy.   This is a situation where a good offense is essential.  By taking control of the travel you will feel more confident and empowered to stick to your protocol, and ultimately stay on your weight loss plan.

Mindset Is Everything

When you set out on vacation, really think about the purpose of the vacation.  For many of us, it is a time to regenerate ourselves and spend time with family.  We seek to feel renewed and refreshed.   It is part of taking care of ourselves and creating new memories. 

When you go on vacation and eat completely off plan with sugary foods, how will you feel?  Likely drained of energy, depressed, and angry when you come home and have gained weight.  Is that the memory you want of your vacation?  If you want to have the feeling of being renewed and refreshed, what do you need to feed your body while on vacation to get the result of those feelings?

In this way, having the view that this vacation is about nurturing your body and soul will dramatically change your mindset.  Part of practicing self-care is feeding your body high quality foods that will nourish it, and give you the energy to enjoy your vacation. 

The First Day – Travel

Usually the first day of any travel involves either a plane or long car ride - after all that is the point of traveling!  For the first day, really plan ahead to have all of your food prep planned.  If you are in a car, this is much easier, as you can take a cooler.  I typically pack my traditional salad for myself in a Tupperware container, just as I do when I go to work.  For the kids and husband I pack either a sandwich or salad, which ever they want.  A great way to pack a sandwich for the kids is to cut a roll in half and add meat and cheese in the middle.  Wrap in parchment paper and freeze overnight.  When you take it out the next day, it will slowly thaw, and be ready to eat at lunch time.  I bought some mayonnaise packets off Amazon, so I throw a couple of those in.  You can also pack some additional items such as cheese, nuts, or cut up veggies.  On our trips everyone takes a water bottle as well that can be refilled so no one is thirsty.  Planning in this way will keep you from pulling over for fast food, and starts the trip off on a positive note.

What if you are flying?  When flying, you have less flexibility due to not having a cooler, and not being able to take liquids.  This should not stop you from planning your first day breakfast and lunch.  On my most recent trip, we had to leave the house at 4am for a 6am flight, and flew all day.  My strategy is to fully plan out the first day ahead of time.   As we got up before 4am, we did not immediately eat breakfast.  Being fat adapted, breakfast is not necessary immediately upon waking up.  I packed hard boiled eggs for everyone that I had cooked the day before and refrigerated.  I also packed a semi-nutritional breakfast bar for each kid (If I was really great I would actually bake something low carb, but thats not always possible).  At the airport before boarding, I got a Breve latte at Starbucks, and had my hard boiled egg, the kids ate their eggs and breakfast bar.   

For lunch, I grabbed Lunchables for the kids.  We never get these except when flying, so they are a great treat.  For myself I have frozen meat and cheese roll ups that de-thaw nicely by lunch time (or in a pinch the P3 protein packs will work).  I also bring a bag of cut up apple slices and a bag of snap peas.  These work as great snacks and sides to lunch for myself and the kids, and also last a half day without refrigeration.   We also all pack an empty water bottle, which we fill in the airport water bottle filling stations prior to boarding.  This is a great way to stay in control while flying, and avoid spending tons of money on sub-par airport food that isn’t on your plan.  

Once you get to your destination

If possible, try either booking a VRBO/AirBnB, or hotel room with a small refrigerator.  Rentals are great because they usually have a kitchen so you can cook a few meals yourself. 

On arrival, do not let the stress and fatigue of traveling derail your protocol. Know that when you arrive after going through the airport or driving, you will be tired, and your decision making capacity will be fatigued.  Plan ahead for this!  What will you do for dinner?

Before leaving for your vacation, do your best to look up several restaurants near where you are staying, or near attractions.  You can view almost all menus online, and find a restaurant that has something that will work with your food plan.  Have several options written down, and you can even make reservations ahead of time at a few. 

When traveling with kids, as we have 3, it is just too expensive to eat every meal out.  We generally go to a local grocery store and pick up items for breakfast and lunch each day.  Plan out what items you will buy and having a shopping list ready to go.  Don’t forget to add something for the ride home as well.  Do the planning work before you travel.  You do not want to have to come up with a plan once you arrive - it is too taxing on your brain, and that is not the point of vacation! 

If you will not have a kitchen or refrigerator, your work will be a bit more difficult, but not impossible.  You can still plan for places to eat and items that meet your food protocol.  This will take some work and creativity, but the results will be worth it. 

Remember to also add in a joy eat to your plan.  Is there something special in the area you are traveling to?  A favorite restaurant that you enjoy?  Ice cream on a hot day with the kids?  Make sure to add this to your plan.

It is Possible to Have a Successful Food Plan on Vacation

Vacations are completely possible to do without straying from your food plan.  It takes some research and pre-planning, but then you can focus on having fun with your family rather than thinking about food or shaming yourself for eating off plan.  When you return you will feel renewed, have much more energy, and just continue towards your weight loss goals and your ultimate success. 

If you would like more coaching on how to personalize your weight loss plan, please contact me for a free strategy session.