I don't know about you, but I always fall of the rails with my eating during vacation.  By "FALL OFF", I mean I fall off the rails into a bacon kayak that is in a river of chocolate and it is raining pizza. 

Typically, I usually do pretty well prepping for my vacation.  I eat right, exercise, lose weight and so forth.  Then the eating challenge begins... I mean Vacation.  Something about vacation sets me into eating overdrive, even if it is a staycation.

This Thanksgiving I tried something different.  Including weekends I had an 11 day vacation.  This time off was split into several parts. 

  • Three days with friends at a cabin & a theme park. 
  • Three days at home. (with family)
  • One day at a Thanksgiving family gathering/feast. 
  • Three days in Kansas City for a football game, IKEA, Trader Joes, and of course BAR-B-Q.
  • One day at home (ALL ALONE).

Guess which time was the hardest to maintain control.   The days at home, especially the one ALONE.  On that day, I had to get out of the house to keep from a full out rampage of the kitchen.  You know the kind where you are eating year old peanut butter and bitter chocolate chips, because you cleared all of the "bad" food out of the kitchen.

Ultimately, I made it through the vacation and lost 3 pounds.    Historically, on vacation I will pack on 6-8 pounds easily... No kidding, just being honest.

The difference this time..... I didn't take a break from my goals.

  • I continued to exercise.  I used the different environments & time off to add variety.
  • I stayed active.  I planned a few activities that I enjoy that are also active... like hiking, biking etc...
  • Planned times to eat off normal plan.  I planned the "bad stuff", so that I could look forward to it.
  • Limited each eating experience to a certain amount.  I knew I would eat a plate of regular food and a plate of desserts for Thanksgivings meal... and then I was done... no evening re-run.
  • Planned good eating options.  I brought healthy snacks and ate my normal breakfast every day.
  • Limited travel eating.  I love to eat on the road.  I set a limit of one candy bar per trip. 
  • Stopped trying to keep up with others. I can't try to keep up with the eating habits of a 16 year boy.  I have to live with my choices!

This time I finished the vacation and never missed a beat getting right back into my fitness goals.  Typically, it will take a month to repair the damage done by a week off, if I ever did.  I actually went back to work 5 times more rested because I didn't just lay around and shovel in the junk food. 

If you are the type that can take a break and then get right back to it without a problem, then power on.  However, if you struggle with this then you may need to be a little more focused during breaks from your routine.