While travelling, we all tend to take on a ‘devil-my-care’ attitude where we stop following the healthy diets, exercise regimes and self-care routines that make up our daily lives. Instead, we replace all our good behaviour with capricious indulgence, which leads us away from our health goals and into feelings of guilt and regret. Take a look at Exceptional Villas for inspiration.
However, believe it or not, it is possible to avoid all that, by adopting healthy lifestyle habits even when you’re on vacation. Sure, it seems counterintuitive to maintain a strict diet while you’re supposed to be ‘relaxing’ on vacation, but keeping to a healthy lifestyle during vacation can help to boost your energy, promote mental sharpness, and ultimately enjoy your vacation even more. Here are some helpful tips on how you can stay healthy even while on vacation:
- Bring Your Own Snacks: The easiest way to avoid indulging in unhealthy foods is to keep a stash of snacks in your handbag that you can tuck into whenever the ‘cravings’ strike. Things like dates, fruit, raw nuts and protein bars are super accessible and affordable snacks that’ll save you money and unnecessary calories.
- Carry Water: Keep a water bottle at your side and try to drink as much water as possible, to avoid dehydration, keep your system running optimally and avoid jetlag. “Consistently drinking water while travelling will also keep your joints lubricated to prevent stiff muscles,” said travel veteran Brian from Atlantis Gozo.
- Take Care of Your Skin: Just because you’re on vacation, doesn’t mean that you should abandon your skin care routine. On the contrary, you should take extra care to maintain your skin in good condition, by using sun protection, wearing sunhats and shades throughout the trip if you’re in sunlight. And if you’re travelling in winter, the use of a good serum and skin oil in addition to continued sun protection should be sufficient to keep your skin looking and feeling healthy. Of course, drinking water could also be incredibly beneficial in this regard.
- Catch Some Zzzzs: Be sure to get ample rest in between those flights and check-ins, as travelling can take quite a toll on the body. While acclimating to a new time zone can cause you to crash hard as soon as you arrive at your destination, you’ll do good to ward off seep until night time rolls around, so that you can easily adapt to the new country’s sleep schedule without feeling off-track.
- Sneak in Some Exercise: Exercise doesn’t have to mean waking up early to visit the complimentary gym facilities at your resort if that’s not your thing. Rather try and find creative ways to keep active while travelling, like opting to walk everywhere instead of taking taxis or the bus, take the stairs instead of the lift, and do pop into the resort gym every now and then for a yoga class or a quick run on the treadmill. The trick to exercising while on vacation is to make it fun, keep it interesting and switch it up.
- Enjoy it: While it can be tempting to try and fit in multiple activities in each day to squeeze the juice out of each moment of your vacation, it’s equally important to take time for yourself and just relax. Take in some sun and a good book in a lounge chair, or just enjoy an unplanned sunset stroll along the shoreline if you’re travelling to a place by the sea. Taking time to just appreciate the energy of a place without trying to cross off some bucket list item is one of the best ways to really capture its essence and truly enjoy your vacation. Also, try and spread out your itinerary so that you can pace yourself appropriately enough to relish every moment. If you’re traveling in Thailand, try going on a date in Pattaya. There are some great places to take a date in the city and you’ll be sure to enjoy the atmosphere.
- Don’t Forget Breakfast: You know how they say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Well, the same rule applies even when you’re on vacation. Starting each day with breakfast will help you to start your day with lots of energy, and maintain balanced sugar levels until lunchtime. The easiest way to ensure that you get your breakfast in, is to either prepare your own, or familiarise yourself with nearby coffee shops and/or bakeries so that you have somewhere to go when breakfast is not readily available at your hotel or resort.
- Keep to a Healthy Diet: Indulging in new cuisines with abandon is one of the perks of exploring a new environment, but one has to be careful not to overdo it with meat and fat. Try and make healthy choices when eating out and consume vegetables as much as possible. Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t exempt your from your daily requirement of at least 5 vegetables a day, and don’t forget to take your daily vitamins either.
- Avoid alcohol and sweets: Keep in mind also that alcohol and decadent sweets and pastries are packed with calories, and could prove quite upsetting to your sleeping patterns. So try and consume everything in moderation.
BIO:
Elena is a professional writer and avid traveller, whose work has taken her to some of the most beautiful places in the world. Apart from travel writing, Elena enjoys yoga and reading. She works as a resident writer at atlantisgozo.com.