Healthy Happy Holiday

 

 

Holiday’s are for indulging, relaxing and enjoying life, but if you are like me and want to maintain your pre holiday body whilst you’re away (so that you can take lots of photos in a bikini and post them on Instagram), following a healthy lifestyle in a foreign country can be a bit of a challenge.

Some countries base their dishes around carbohydrates, others enjoy lots of salty meats and you can easily consume your daily calorie intake at the never ending breakfast buffets! As for working out, most hotel gyms are limited and it’s usually too hot to exercise outdoors.

At the time of writing this post, I am on holiday in Prague. Fortunately, the restaurants here serve lots of salads and fresh food and although my gym is small, I am making it work. Here are a few tips on how to have a healthy, happy, holiday.

Airplane Food

Start the holiday as you mean to go on! The food that they serve in economy should be made illegal. Cardboard flavoured bread and a chicken dish that doesn’t contain much chicken in it, isn’t something that I enjoy eating so I like to bring my own food with me.

Stock up on lots of fruit, salads, nuts and anything else that you can find in the airport to help to keep your stomach feeling happy. No one wants to be hungry on a long haul flight.

Eating Out

When you’re eating out, choose dishes with fresh meat, fish and vegetables and if you are unsure about an ingredient- ask!

If you are trying to eat healthy, stay away from anything that is fried, battered or comes with a creamy sauce. Swap the salad dressings for balsamic vinegar or olive oil and have a sorbet instead of ice cream.

Exercise

I always bring my gym kit with me on holiday and I do use the gym, but I also like to take advantage of all of the physical activities and water sports happing near by.

If you see a tennis court, pick up a racket and play ball! If you are staying near a beach book a few surfing lessons or give scuba diving a go and explore the underwater world. You will be having so much fun, you won’t even realise that you are exercising!

When I go to the gym on holiday, I do high intensity interval training in the form of sprinting, circuit training or speed intervals on the cross trainer. This helps me to burn the extra calories that I am consuming on holiday.

Protection

Don’t forget to wear your sun block! Your sun kissed skin will soon be looking like a 20 year old leather bag if you don’t apply sun cream throughout the day.

Mosquito repellent is another skin care essential. It might make your skin smell funny for a few minutes, but it will stop the little pests from eating you alive!

If you do gain a few pounds whilst you are away, don’t worry about it! You are on holiday! And, you’ll drop the extra pounds shortly after you return from your travels.