I will start my diet as soon as I get back from vacation.
I will start a “lifestyle change” after the next holiday.
Why even make a change if I’m going on vacation?
These are common things that we hear over and over and over from people who sit in our office seeking nutritional counseling/coaching. Let’s really think about this and dive deeper…
Isn’t there always going to be vacation?
Isn’t there always a next holiday?
These things are part of life (if you have the privilege to have these things be a part of your life). So if they’re always going to be a part of your life and you’re always starting after they occur then aren’t you never actually starting? Now if you have followed us for some time you know that we don’t agree with dieting anyways so you’re never going to be really starting a diet if you’re working with us. In the same breath, if you’re reading this and saying I want to meet some healthy changes in my life and build some health-promoting behaviors then it’s time to address behavior change.
Let’s get this out of the way from the beginning… weight is not a behavior and therefore if we focus on changing your weight we’re not necessarily focused on the behavior changes themselves. So when you’re traveling, what are behaviors that you actually can work on (honestly, whether you are traveling or NOT)?
I have three nutrition travel anchors that no matter where I travel on this Earth they are always at the forefront of my mind. Not because I “have to” but because I want to. Did I always do this? Absolutely not! It wasn’t until I got in touch with my body’s hunger/fullness cues and became an intuitive eater that I realized that travel didn’t have to knock me on my ass and take me a week to “get back into the swing of things”. So it made me think, how has becoming an Intuitive Eater made traveling and “getting back into the swing of things” easier?
If you think about it, if you ate bread and ice cream for a week straight you would be yearning for vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, etc. but we NEVER think of it that way. We live in a diet culture that tells us to eat ONLY fruit, veggies, and lean proteins (for the most part depending on what diet you follow) and you crave a carbohydrate you should freak out and think there’s something wrong with you. NOT COOL, DIET CULTURE! So if you went on a more indulgent vacation and you come back and feel like a juice cleanse is what you need, let me be the first to tell you that the juice cleanse is not the answer but maybe that means you want some nutrient dense foods…and that’s okay! So back to my three anchors of nutrition when I travel…
- HYDRATION: unless you’re traveling to a third world country where access to water and clean water might be scarce there is no reason that you can’t try to prioritize your hydration while you’re traveling. First off, when you fly in an airplane you’re already at risk for dehydration and at risk for picking up a potential sickness from other Travelers around you (um, hello Corona Virus?!). What helps boost your immune system? Water. Water is found in every single cell of our body and is needed for vital function. The more hydrated you are, the better you’re going to feel and the more you’re going to enjoy any vacation regardless of what it is centered around. What else is a frequent beverage consumed on vacations? Alcohol. It is totally your discretion if you want to engage in drinking alcohol but either way hydration is vital whether you have alcohol or not
- EAT CONSISTENTLY: pack non-perishable snack items for your purse, backpack, travel bag, etc. When I’m vacationing I’m usually running from one thing to the next exploring a new town, going on a hike, hanging out with friends, checking out new restaurants, etc. If I go from one thing to the next and don’t eat snacks in between I become extremely hungry (or HANGRY) and I’m going to consume more than feels “physically pleasant” at my next meal. There is nothing wrong with that from a moral standpoint. Once you remove the morality behind food and realize that it doesn’t physically FEEL good, you will want to eat more frequently so your body isn’t going to have this urgency to consume food. This is something that intuitive eating has helped me master by getting in touch with my hunger and fullness cues more on that to come In a future blog. Does that mean I am a perfect eater? HELL NO – but definitely a heck of a lot more calm around food.
- MOVING YOUR BODY: moving my body in a way that feels good and I actually enjoy has been a work in progress. Not going to lie this one I still struggle with. After years and years of being in diet culture, exercise was always something that I had to do, I’m literally writing this blog and thinking about how I can skip my workout class is about to start in 30 minutes. I know that physical activity is good for me, I am literally a personal trainer… but it was ingrained in my mind that I’ve had to burn calories and hop on a treadmill to make my body smaller since I was a teenager. I can now sit here and tell you that I know that I don’t need to do that but it’s still so hard to change that line of thinking after years of building neural pathways in my brain that have told me something else (um, hello diet culture?!). But I’ve changed my relationship with exercise over the past few years. As I gain more and more knowledge with intuitive eating, I have come to realize that exercise (being one of it’s principles) is something that actually feels good for the body if you UNCOUPLE the exercise from changing the size of your body. It has been one of the most freeing and rewarding mindset shifts that I have ever made. So when I travel it’s not about finding the closest gym so I can go run 5 miles and burn off calories, it’s exploring a new city by going on a walk or a bike ride, is walking to the local coffee shop because I enjoy a cup of coffee and my body is capable and privileged to be able to move my two feet to get me there. It’s trying sunrise yoga at our honeymoon in Hawaii because we can celebrate that our body can do that movement instead of feeling entitled to sleep.
So there you have it my 3 nutrition travel anchors to building sustainable health-promoting behavioral changes even while you are traveling. They are not fancy, they are not sexy, but they are simple and they actually work. Remember if you are reading this you do not have to do any of this. These are simple tips that I want to share with you because they’ve been helpful to me.
For more information on some help with tips regarding travel listen CLICK HERE to the Let Us Eat Cake podcast that I was on entitled “The one about travel”. The hosts had me on to talk about my favorite travel tips and answer questions from their listeners regarding body image insecurities, bikinis, and so much more!
If you struggle with building health-promoting behaviors, feel out of touch with your hunger and fullness cues, want to ditch dieting and learn how to achieve food freedom, you are in the right place and we would be more than happy to help you!
