When I left for vacation last week, I weighed in at 167 pounds. When I returned, I was 172. I stepped on the scale on Monday morning and had one of those “Uh-Oh” moments. I thought to myself, “what have I done? What kind of progress and momentum have I destroyed?”
Then I thought some more and came up with the conclusion that I hadn’t “done” anything and I haven’t “destroyed” any progress either! That was my epiphany.
You see, I think that there are two ways that those of us who are concerned with our fitness and weight can vacation.
The Stick To The Plan Man
Some of us are able to remove ourselves from the confines of our home and still stay perfectly on schedule with our eating and exercise plans. I used to be that guy. But that was a long time ago when I still had a lot of weight to lose. If you are the type of person who can’t immediately get back on plan when you return from your vacation, then I recommend trying to stay on plan when you leave town.
The Go With The Flow Man
This is how I vacation now. And it works for me. While on vacation last week in Iowa, I ate a ton of junk food and drank some alcohol. When I’m at home, I do a pretty good job of avoiding these former vices. However, I was able to eat this junk food mindfully. I thought about it as it entered my mouth. I asked myself if it was worth it. I asked myself if I was eating emotionally or if I really wanted to eat it. In most cases, I chose to eat the food. I went with the flow.
I also was pretty active on this vacation. I ran twice (7 and 10 miles). I P90X’d twice (Plyometrics and Kenpo). And I was running, swimming, fishing, walking, and playing with the kids all the time. It was a great vacation with lots of active time.
But my fitness and health were never far from my mind. I always thought about it, yet didn’t let it consume me or drag me down because I wasn’t living as clean a life as I have become accustomed to. That’s where I’m at these days.
Upon Return
Today, after only 4 days of clean eating and good exercise habits, my scale read 165 again. Lower then it was before I left for Iowa. Not only is the scale about where I want it, but I’ve had two really good 1 hour runs and my body feels great. Today, I’m going to hit the P90X Chest and Back routine to see if I’ve lost any strength. I’m betting not.
I went with the flow and what do I have to show for it? A week of fun times with my family and a health and fitness level just where I left it.
Vacations are supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not boring and stressful. If it works for you, cut yourself some slack when you’re out of town and just have a mindful, good time. You can be militant (if that’s your style) when you get home.
What kind of vacationer are you? Do you stay on target or go with the flow? Or are you some where in between? Are there any other types of vacationers that I’ve missed?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m a bit of both. I go with the flow for the most part, though I at least try not to backslide too much (if at all) when we’re on the road. It’s not that hard to stay even, and I’m perfectly fine with not making any forward progress.
Mackenzie: One-day weights are meaningless! The 167 when you left and the 172 when you returned mean nothing without additional context. Do you really think you lost seven pounds after four days of clean eating? There are so many variables that go into a daily weight that only extended averages matter in any way. I think you know this, but you keep building blog entries around one-day anomalies…
p.s . I weighed in at 179 today, but I’m not celebrating yet. Why not? Because I know that my weight will probably be closer to 181 or 182 tomorrow. My current 7-day average is about 181.6, and that’s a truer reflection of my actual weight than today’s happy reading.
I’m undoubtedly a “Go With The Flow” person. Traveling with kids makes it darn near impossible to eat healthy. At least with my kids…
Business travel is just as bad. So much of the human experience centers on food. Tough to always eat healthy under those conditions.
I kind of fall somewhere in the middle. I try to stick to plan as much as I can when on vacation, but if an opportunity presents itself to have some great or new food that I couldn’t get at home, I usually go for it.
btw, JD summed up exactly what I was thinking… Your 172 upon return could have been a “heavy” day, and your subsequent 167 could have been a “light” day. It’s all in the trend, baby. As JD says, one day weights are meaningless.
Too bad PhysicsDiet crashed…
I weighed in at 181.2 today, as expected. That’s actually a pretty good weight, and part of a downward trend. But if I only compared it to yesterday’s 179, I’d be cranky. Who knows? Tomorrow I may weigh in at 184. Or 178. There’s no way to know for sure. But as long as my weekly average keeps moving down, I’m happy. (When the weekly average starts creeping up, as it did in mid-July, that’s when I start to worry.)
JD—You must be terribly disappointed in yourself since you gained 2.1 pounds since yesterday.