We have two scenarios to ask about:
- Have you ever gone on vacation while on a diet, and said “I’m going to be good on this vacation” ?
If so, how did that go? What was it like being on vacation and being on a diet?
… you probably said something like “I ended up feeling out of control” or “I wasn’t able to fully enjoy my trip”
- Do you try to “be good” before the vacation and then during the vacation you end up overeating and going ALL out on everything.
If you can relate to those two scenarios we want you to know that that is NORMAL and you should have no guilt or shame around this and we’ll circle back to why this happens.
The principles of intuitive eating on vacation are just the same as intuitive eating in our day-to-day, but you just have to put them in the context of vacationing.
You have to have unconditional permission to eat before the vacation and on the vacation.
Ask yourself, “Am I depriving myself because of my upcoming trip?”. It’s important to be able to recognize this and identify yes or no. We know that restriction leads to binging. This goes for vacation too! If you go into the vacation after restricting ourselves or “being good” before, this will likely lead to a binge while on vacation.
Now this is easier said than done after years of being stuck in diet culture. Think about how many vacations you’ve gone on over the years that you were allowing dieting to make your decisions for you. Years and years of travel has been through the lens of “I better be good” or “I have to go all out because when I go home I’m not allowed to eat this food anymore”. Trying to practice intuitive eating on vacation is probably going to feel weird at first, but just like anything in life, practice makes progress, and it’s a part of the learning process.
Here are 3 things to work on to incorporate Intuitive Eating into your vacation:
Do Not Restrict Before Your Vacation
There is no such thing as “being good” before the vacation, because whatever food we’re allowed on vacation, we’re allowed off vacation- just like whatever food you are allowed on Monday, you are allowed on Sunday.
Understanding that you are allowed to eat all foods is so important. When you don’t have this unconditional permission and you finally have access to the fun novel foods vacations provide, you will binge. Now this doesn’t mean that we’re a bad people if this happens! It’s about building awareness around your behaviors. You should feel no guilt or shame here!
Respect Your Body: Bring Clothes That Fit You Comfortably!
You need to pack clothes that fit your body!
This may sound simple. But think about how many times we’ve bought clothes to motivate us to get into a smaller body. Then, you bring them on vacation with us and when it doesn’t fit like you want, it spirals us into negative body image thoughts.
Think about having to wear shoes too small… you would never go walking in size 6s when you wear a size 8! You can’t be present or think about our lovely destination when we’re uncomfortable and our clothes are digging into our skin!
Oh and p.s… this goes for every day- not just on vacation!
Now, when you are trying on clothes to bring on vacation, put on the dress, swim suit, shorts, pants… whatever it is on without looking in a mirror. Ask ourselves, “Is it comfortable? Does it fit my body comfortably?”
- If the answer is yes → then you look in the mirror and see if you actually like the style, decide if you would like it on our trip, etc.
- If the answer is no to the comfort test → … then that is not going in the suitcase! You don’t turn around and analyze it in the mirror. You don’t bring it.
COMFORT ALWAYS has to come first with clothes
Click here to watch our instagram video where Sammy talks about ways to lessen the amount of body image triggers when you’re trying on clothes in your closet.
Ask “What Do You Want to Feel and Experience on This Vacation?
Now, This will look different for every single person. You can write down your intentions in a notebook, in your phone, anywhere! Having this to refer back to this can allow you to check back in to see if you are in line with what you had.If something was triggering to you on a vacation, that didn’t align with this intention and try and identify how you can realign your trip with your wants.
If you start to have obsessive thoughts about food, there’s no judgment here. What you can do is acknowledge that this does not align with what you wanted to feel or experience, take action to realign yourself with those intentions and find support.
We hope these tips are helpful next time you are able to plan a getaway and remember you are ALLOWED to enjoy foods and enjoy LIFE!
If you enjoyed this post and would like to know more about body respect, check out our blog Body Love vs Body Respect
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