5 Ways to Bounce Back to a Healthy Lifestyle After Vacation

Vacation is typically a time to let your healthy habits slip aside. We recently came back from our annual shore trip and despite staying relatively active, I indulged quite a bit. I mean, can you blame me with an ice cream parlor practically next door to our shore house?

Now that the trip has ended, Fourth of July has past, there’s really no excuse not to get back to a healthy lifestyle.

So, how do you bounce back to a healthy lifestyle after vacation?

Well, for one, you don’t need to go out and buy some crazy detox drink or concoct some brew in your kitchen. This article from science-based medicine points out that our bodies detox naturally, so there’s no need to fill it up with some “magical” drink that won’t do anything more than what your body is capable of by itself. Detoxes may even have the potential to throw your metabolism out of whack according to this article from Harvard Health Publications.

For real ways to bounce back to a healthy lifestyle, eating right and working out, after vacation, keep reading.

5 Ways to Bounce Back to a Healthy Lifestyle After Vacation

1. Unpack immediately

This may seem like a strange suggestion, but it really helps. The couch may be calling your name after a long day of traveling, but unpacking your suitcase, washing and putting away clothes can really help you start off on the right foot. Who wants to work out if there’s a mountain of dirty laundry piling up in the corner?

2. Make a plan

I’m a big list person. I love notebooks, and I love filling them up with lists. Even if I never look at those lists again, I find it helpful to write things down. Plan out your grocery list and meals for the week, and be sure to plan our your workouts for the week too. I like to do themed dinners to make meal planning easier, but there are some other great ideas for meal planning on Kitchn. Stock up on plenty of easy to grab, nutritious snacks, fruits and vegetables. Try to stay along the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid filling your cart up with junk food. As for the workouts, here’s a printable calendar you can use.

3. Fill up on plenty of nutritious foods

Here are some staples that I frequently buy…

• Fruits: Typically whatever is in season or looks good. Right now we are loving berries, peaches, nectarines, melon, bananas, and grapes.
• Vegetables: I always buy peppers, carrots, cucumber, and celery since those are easily cut up for snacking. Onions and garlic go into most of my dishes, and I buy whatever else is in season. For each meal, I like to include at least one vegetable.
• Dairy: I don’t really eat much dairy since it doesn’t always sit well with me, but cheese sticks or those babybel cheeses are a big hit with my son, eggs, and milk (I like almond milk myself, but I buy regular too sometimes).
• Meat/Poultry/Fish: I’m trying to cut back on the meat we consume (Meatless Mondays help!), but chicken is always a go-to. I try to have another meal with some kind of fish (I often buy fish frozen because it makes a quick meal if you don’t feel like going to the grocery store). We eat red meat too of course, but I try to limit it to once a week.
• Others: I buy this amazing bread from Whole Foods called Flax Quinoa Bread. It’s SO delicious, and I like that they make it in the store. I also buy beans for black bean burgers or hummus, or pick up some pre-made hummus since it’s easier. Peanut/almond butter, old-fashioned oats, and honey are frequently on my list as well. I like using those to make quick, more nutritious snacks, like Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats, Chocolate Oatmeal Bars, and Banana Oat bites.

4. Get active and workout

After writing down your plan for exercise and putting it into your calendar, be sure you get out and do it! If you fell behind on your workouts while away, it can be difficult to get back into working out again. Start slow and ease into it. You could even start the week off with a yoga routine or stretching before you really start working out hard again. Try some of these quick, intense workouts you can do anywhere!

• Booty Workout
• Core Workout
• Full Body HIIT Workout

5. Drink more water

I really love this article about the amount of water we should be drinking from Authority Nutrition. There’s a lot debate  about how much water we should be drinking. Some claim if you feel thirsty you’re already past the point of dehydration. I haven’t found any evidence to support guzzling gallons and gallons of extra water, but I don’t think it hurts to be a little more mindful about the amount of water we consume. I think the key is to cut back on other types of liquids (e.g. juice, soda, alcohol) that may be adding too much added sugar into our diets. I like to keep a bottle of water with me throughout the day so I’m always getting enough. I’m still nursing, so I’m thirsty quite often!

6. Get some rest

This one may seem a little silly since the whole point of vacation is to rest and relax, right? Well, with little ones, vacation is often anything, but restful. You may need a vacation from the vacation. I know how difficult it is to get an appropriate amount of sleep (hello, teething baby!), but it’s so important. Sometimes the exercise can wait because all you need right now is a nap. With that being said, I’m off to get in a power nap before the little ones wake up!