Hydration is mostly limited to Aperol spritzes. Staying in bed until midday. Pretending the hotel gym doesn’t exist. Going on holiday to relax is part of the fun of unwinding from your usual routine.
“What makes travel so exciting is the novelty of experiencing new cultures, seeing new places and trying new foods.” Anthea Levy, RD“There’s absolutely no need to feel guilty if your best vacation routine looks a lot different than the schedule you tend to follow at home,” Levy, a Brooklyn-based registered dietitian, tells SELF. (After all, that’s what it’s all about, right?) And honestly, there’s no need to feel pressured to “stick to” any particular health routine while traveling, or at any time for that matter.
Yet, for most of us, eating regular, filling meals for energy, exercising to get the endorphins going, and getting enough sleep help us feel our best, both physically and mentally. So while you’re looking forward to “getting away from it all,” it’s understandable that you might be worried that breaking up your routine will make it harder to feel as good as you do at home.
But we’ve got a friendly reminder to put your mind at ease: it’s not an all-or-nothing situation. Here are some expert advice on how to pick up some healthy enough habits that you can easily maintain while traveling, all while enjoying an Aperol Spritz (or mocktail, for that matter).
1. Before you leave, drop the “be nice” mentality.
If you’re worried that an upcoming vacation will disrupt your usual eating habits, it’s not uncommon to start thinking you have to do “good” things to “earn” the trip. Alisa Ramsey, RD,author Unashamed Meals “People with this mindset are almost pre-compensating for what’s going to happen over the holidays,” Ramsay, registered dietitian and founder of Ramsay Nutrition Consulting, tells SELF.
This approach is completely unhelpful for a few reasons. One big one is that it assigns moral value to certain foods, which is at the heart of diet culture. (PSA: There are no “good” or “bad” foods, and you can eat whatever you want without having to “save” for it first!) Plus, when you deprive yourself of something you really love, you’re less likely to eat mindfully or pay attention to your body’s hunger cues, Ramsay explains, because restricting can make you feel out of control. So if you’ve been trying to do something “good” for weeks, when you finally stop doing it, “you might get into a ‘whatever’ mindset,” she says. And as a result, you’ll end up feeling worse.
To shift your mindset, Ramsay suggests focusing on eating enough, eating consistently, and eating foods you really love before (and throughout) your trip. Just remember that there might (and will be) times when you choose foods that don’t make you feel good, for example, or eat beyond fullness. “Everyone’s food experience is different,” Ramsay says, and some meals might feel unintuitive or out of sync with your body’s hunger cues, and that’s okay. “But keep practicing coming back to yourself and your body, and try to stay as connected as possible,” she adds.
2. Ask yourself if you have any “non-negotiables.”
Everyone has different health priorities. For example, maybe you feel anxious and overwhelmed when you miss your twice-weekly yoga class. Or maybe you’re struggling with gas and bloating and are worried that a new food or habit will completely upset your digestive system.
