With the end of the school year and the start of the summer, vacation is right around the corner. In an ever busier world, it is hard to make healthy decisions while traveling. It is easier to tell yourself that you will start exercising when you get home from vacation, and “we can splurge,” when it comes to eating out.
For many Americans, the summer is when we try to start a new fitness routine to compliment our new diet, so we can look good at the beach. There are some simple and healthy alternatives to fast food on vacation.
Try to plan ahead and book a hotel that offers an exercise room, or complimentary usage of a local gym. Other good ways to keep active are to plan scenic tours with a walking component. Most large cities today have relatively safe streets with interesting open-air markets, or enormous malls, and these can both be used for walking a couple of miles. Even a morning routine of a few push-ups, some jumping jacks, and some sit-ups will help prevent the travel flab.
Planning to exercise as soon as you arrive at your destination will not only help those of us flying to get over the jet lag quicker, but it will help those road-tripers to loosen up the aches in our legs and back after sitting in a car. A simple walk or jog to orient yourself to your new surroundings will not only help you loosen up, but it may help you sleep better. After all, most of us do not plan anything for the evening of arrival at our destination, so why not do something good for yourself.
As far as food is concerned, vacation is a time of temptation. A new city often means new local specialties. It is great to try new foods, but they do not need to be unhealthy choices. Use your vacation to try new vegetarian dishes, or mix up more traditional foods with some extraordinary spices, while trying to keep it low-calorie.
It is also important to make sure that you keep some healthy snacks around. Nutritious snacks include bagels, carrots, rice cakes, low-fat crackers or cookies, low-fat cheese, bottled water, and raisins or other fruit. By keeping snacks around we are less likely to skip a meal and then later gorge ourselves on sweets. If you are planning a road trip, one way to combat the high gas prices is to save money by packing some fruits and vegetables along with water and fruit juices in a cooler. And if you are flying to your destination see if the airline offers a vegetarian or low-fat meal. It will probably be fresher than the old stand-bys.
If you are going on a cruise, good luck! It is common knowledge that cruises offer fantastic food, and plenty of it. With unlimited room service and mid-night buffets, it is hard to fight the peer-pressure. In a situation like this try to start every meal off with salad to help fill you up, and pick the foods without the heavy butter and cream sauces. It is possible to eat well on a cruise without gaining weight, look at all of the waiters and busboys.
The bottom line is that summer vacation does not need to be a menace to our mid-sections. A few wise decisions and some simple planning can make for a healthy vacation.