6 Ways to Avoid Vacation Weight Gain
- Raul Palacios MS RDN
- May 11, 2018
- 3 min read
Hey friends, Raul here bringing some tips from my vacation to Disney World! I overheard a party at another table on our first night talking about how they were trying to keep up with their weight loss while vacationing. INSTANT blog idea! So I thought I would share some of my tips to avoid the vacation weight gain!
1. Avoid The "Need" To Splurge
When going on that much needed vacay I know as much as anybody the feeling, the almost pressure, that you need to eat as much as possible to make each meal feel "worth it". Save yourself the food baby and slowly enjoy your meal. Actually taste your food, you probably paid a good fortune for it so enjoy it!
2. Snacks Snacks Snacks
These are your secret weapons! Packing some quality snacks can go a long way in not only keeping the hunger pangs away but also keeping you from over-doing it come meal time. Remember it is the quality of snack that matters! Always try to pair a carb (apple slices) with a protein/fat source (peanut butter). There are tons of great duos out there. Crackers with cheese or nuts and berries are some of my favorites! These combos will give you lasting energy and satiety!
3. Breakfast-Eat It!
Let me tell you, I am the worst at eating breakfast. My wife knows especially that I will sleep until the last possible moment to get up. Yet even if you can't sit down and make a breakfast there are plenty of great on-the-go options. Cup of yogurt with fruit or oatmeal with berries! Same philosophy as snacks, pairing carbs with protein/fat sources to keep you fuller longer. Avoiding breakfast almost always leads to overeating and lunch and dinner.
4. Buffets-Avoid Them!
This may be obvious but still needs to be mentioned! If you are stuck with your group at a buffet here are some tricks to avoid overeating at the buffet line. Grab one plate and fill it first with your meat and veggies then fill in the remaining space with desserts and other preferred items. The goal is one plate that you will be satisfied with. Avoiding the second plate is key!
5. Beverages
First off stay hydrated! If you vacation like I do you spend lots of time in the sun probably sweating more than you want to so keeping the water bottle around is super important!
Secondly, avoid drinking your calories as much as possible. Have one glass of soda if you really really want it but only water after that! Watch out for those cocktails as well as some can have around 500 calories! Trust me I love a good Moscow Mule or Guinness every now and then but at the end of the day I prefer to eat my calories!
6. Be Active!
This last trip to Disney World was wayyyy more active than previous trips I've done. We walked an average of 8 miles each day at the parks! Good for us though we burned extra calories by walking around so much. No matter what your vacation might take you spend some time outside being active or find that fitness center and go for a jog on the treadmill or pump some iron if that's more your thing. Finding ways to burn extra calories will help keep that vacation weight gain at bay!
Below are some bonus pictures of some of the food we ate while in the parks!
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