HOW TO STAY HEALTHY ON HOLIDAYS

WE ALL STRUGGLE WITH KEEPING UP WITH HEALTHY LIVING WHILE ON HOLIDAYS.

All the temptations, no real routine, letting loose a bit, feeling ‘free’, less access to healthier food choices..⁣. It all adds up and can make us ditch our healthy habits we worked so hard on creating!

⁣⁣WHAT TO DO TO KEEP YOUR HEALTHY LIFESTYLE?⁣⁣⁣⁣

Recently, we went away for almost 3 weeks to enjoy some sunshine in Bali. Long days with the kids, early wake ups, different produce to shop for, not your own kitchen – it all makes it easy to skip the effort we want to put in to live better and healthier. But, there’re a few great healthy living hacks I’ve been using for a while now every time we head away on holidays (and also in every day life) – they don’t take much effort to implement and are easy to remember. Plus, they work great if you’re a mum like me; no body wants to have a hardcore stay-healthy-to-do-list when you’re 24/7 with the kids!

If you already have a good wellness routine and healthier habits in place, going away on holidays will be a breeze! Remember: creating a healthy lifestyle pays off in a long run (see point 1 below!). (Ps- if you’re looking to create some healthy habits, see this post and this one).

Here are my tips on how to stay healthy on holidays:

• ⁣⁣adopt a healthy mindset – make healthy eating your lifestyle, not a short term change. Then, it won’t matter if you’re on holiday or not. If you’re not depriving yourself in your every day life, being away from your routine makes it easier to stay ‘on track’- you pretty much can continue to eat as you always do⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣, so no many complicated routines to follow.
• try a 80/20 rule – focus on eating well and consciously 80% of the time. It may mean you’re eating a nourishing, healthy, unprocessed diet for most of the time and you enjoy a treat/ less healthy meal every now and then without feeling guilty. It may also mean that you eat well and nourishing most of the week and for a day or two you decide to ‘let go’ a bit and enjoy a treat or less nutritious foods. See what works for you.
• 1:1 mindset – this one must be one of my favorites: eat at least 1 healthy, veggie packed and unprocessed meal for every less healthy one. For example, if you know you’ll be having pizza or ice cream later, make sure your breakfast or snacks are fueling and nutritious⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣.
• try intermittent fasting– skipping dinner or breakfast when you’re not particularly hungry can be beneficial and a great chance to give your digestive system a longer well deserved break. Don’t force a meal if your body says no – I found it especially easy when you’re somewhere hot or in the summer when you tend to eat later dinners. I like to wake up hungry, so if my body isn’t there yet, I often have my first meal only later in the day. Take a look on my article on intermittent fasting and how to make it work.
• don’t skip your exercise routine – make time to sweat out and move your body,. It most likely will mean that you’ll need to switch things around a bit- if you can’t do your usual gym/ class, do a run or a walk, stretch, add a few squats + burpees here and there. For me, exercise alone means some me-time during the family holidays. As much as I love my husband and kids, I need to get away and just be with my thoughts for a bit. Exercise time is perfect for it and I like to wake up early before everyone else and start the day off right. It gives me the energy and helps me refocus. Get your body moving- holidays doesn’t mean you need to stop everything; do what you can fit in in a day and enjoy it!
• swap your sweet cocktails – I love a good margarita or a minty mojito, but they’re often so sweet and packed with actual sugar! G&T or a good old vodka+lime+soda work well and are half the sugar of a standard fruity cocktail. I’d also often choose a cold beer over sweet cocktails, but maybe that’s just me. ⁣ 😉

⁣⁣What works for you usually and how do you stay healthy when on holidays? ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣Please jump on Instagram and let me know!

Ags x