I’m on day seven of a ten day vacation in Nuevo Vallarta. I’m here with my younger sister, husband and three year old son.
We’ve gone on several tourist excursions ranging from swimming with dolphins to an island excursion on a pirate ship for an entire day. It is not an easy thing for me to enter into water above my waist with confidence, but I put aside my anxiety for the good of the experience and showed no fear for fear that it would instill fear in my young son. In the end it was a lifelong experience that will be fondly recalled in years to come.
However the pirate tour was not without its issues. The entire ship down to the toilet stalls were themed in pirate regalia that would make any Long John Silver shudder with glee. This I can tell you, can be downright frightening to most 3 year old children, as they cannot rationalize the idea of why there is a six foot tall fiberglass facade of a human skull looming over the toilet. It took some explanation, time and understanding coupled with the increasing pressure in ones bladder that we were eventually able to coax him into the bathroom… with his eyes closed tight of course. It also helped that there was a bribe (I mean a purchase) of a souvenir eye patch to further grease the skids towards the bathroom break.
Living in the Seattle area means there are very few good Mexican restaurants like the one’s in Southern California where I previously lived. So in Nuevo Vallarta it was guacamole and seafood heaven for me. I especially love when guacamole is made fresh at my table with salt and fresh pico de gallo and live mariachi music!
Being on vacation fills our lives with wonderful experiences but when we return home and step on the scale all of our happy thoughts can vanish in a moment if the numbers reflect a few too many indulgences.
I want to enjoy my vacation but I also don’t want to come back heavier; And for those who are on a diet and who decide to go on a vacation, I know it can be emotionally tough to decide how to approach your vacation. Either you decide to go off your diet and risk certain weight gain, or be miserable on vacation while you do your best to stick to your diet.
I’m here to tell you there is another way. Change your focus while you’re on vacation to maintaining your weight rather than losing weight. Wouldn’t it be awesome to not gain weight?!
By maintaining your weight you can enjoy your vacation and indulge some without feeling guilty and deprived. Here are some suggestions on how to go about this.
1. Eat until your satisfied rather than full.
2. Pick one meal a day where you will indulge and the other meals eat a little less and healthier.
3. If you enjoy drinking alcohol try drinking one glass of water for every drink. You will feel fuller sooner and drink less in calories.
4. Most importantly, be mindful of what your eating and how much. What I mean by this is to be aware of what you are doing. Are you eating when your not really hungry but everyone else is? Are you eating to reward yourself? The vacation and all of the new experiences should be your reward. Enjoy the time with your family and friends. Let your focus be less about the food and more about great conversations.
5. Stay positive you have it in you to control how much you eat and what you eat. If you’re feeling deprived then have what ever it is. If you don’t you will most likely feel miserable and punish yourself by eating even more than usual at your next meal.
6. Stay active. Go for walks, swim or do whatever else is fun to burn those extra calories.
I hope this has been helpful. I’ll give an update when we return home.
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