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I’m at the beach for a week in Mexico. When I travel, I like to maintain a workout schedule and keep eating heathy foods in reasonable portions.
When I am officially “on vacation” for a short time, as I am this week, I often treat it as more of a rest time. This is especially true when I come into it with a strained back and a nagging sore throat/cough.
The resort has a gym, but it seems a shame to waste time working out inside with this time-limited access to beautiful weather and an outstanding beach.
So, I have replaced my regular routine with three daily activities: at least one swim, a long walk on the beach with my partner after the sun drops behind the buildings but before it sets, and nightly dancing.
With these three activities, I would say I’m on my feet at least as much, sometimes more, than the average day at home. That’s despite lying around on a beach bed reading (and napping) for a good chunk of the day.
I am also getting lots of great rest. When the stress of daily life isn’t nipping at my heels, I find I need less sleep. So even if we don’t get to bed until 2 or 3 a.m. (or even later!), its easy to wake up before 7 and move out to the beach. Neither I nor my partner drink alcohol, so thankfully we have no issues with morning hangovers and dehydration.
The morning sun here is wonderful, nice and low in the sky at just the right orientation to heat up the beach and the people on it. When it gets hot enough, it’s time for that first swim.
As far as healthy eating goes, they may not have the vegan thing figured out well here (like last night they made me a special veggie stir fry with fried rice, and the rice was full of bits of chicken) but fresh fruit and salads are abundantly available. I travel with my own soy milk and protein bars. I just wish I’d packed Emergen-c for this cold of mine!!
The routine isn’t rigorous but it’s keeping me active and rested at the same time. I wouldn’t back off like this for long, but for one week it’s going to work well.
What do you do to stay active when you’re on vacation, especially a resort-type of vacation where you aren’t by default on your feet all day exploring a new city etc.?
Well placed feet!
Sounds great. I’m not sure what I’d do though. I’ve never had a resort style vacation.
But swimming, walking, and dancing all sound good to me.
Sounds heavenly — especially as I live in rainy Vancouver! One thing I always do is wear a pedometer. This helps me keep track of exactly how much activity I’m getting. Over time I’ve learned how impossible it is to figure this out on my own. Some days I feel as though I’ve been incredibly active, then look at my pedometer and see I’ve reached only 7,000 steps (I aim for a MINIMUM of 10,000/day) Other days I feel lazy and look down and realize I’ve reached 12,000 steps. Weird, I know! When on holiday in the right place (eg: New York City) I can easily get 25,000 steps in a single day.
I love the pedometer idea too. Mr Drop Dead Healthy wore one while writing the book and it was one of the ideas he liked and habits he kept.
Yeah, I wear it every day. And I write down my steps every day! (Am not quite sure why because I never read my back entries. But I feel the noting of it has some value for me.) I know I went for a walk yesterday specifically because my total was at only 7,000 steps. (Got to 12,000 by bedtime.)
You can actually lose weight by simply walking and being on your feet alot each day, as you also tend not to eat alot on such days (unless you are walking to an Italian resaturant for a pasta dish, of course). The pedometer sounds like a great idea. I am thinking about getting one now. For me, walking alot each day and working out with weights at a resort is perfect, although I would not recommend resistance training in Mexico with a cold and a strained back! I think I’d just do what I can without aggravating my cold or my strained back, and enjoy my vacation.
Love the pedometer idea too. Good thing to add to my Christmas wish list. So far the routine is working well enough. Back feels better and cough seems to be subsiding. Thanks for all the input. 🙂
I’m probably just going to walk and bike a lot on my next vacation, as I’m too intimidated to try to find my way anywhere, let alone to the gym, on the scary freeways of LA. I think the nearest coffee is about a mile from my bud’s house, the bf and his bud can sit around and fart and read blogs, I’ll go hang on the beach and bike to Santa Monica, walk those stairs, entertain myself. I don’t tend to lose weight on vacation because of restaurant food and drinking, but I won’t gain.
I’ll be on vacation also in Mexico in a couple of weeks and can’t wait. I’ll probably be doing more exercising than I’m used to, going site seeing, swimming, shopping, etc. I’ll be staying at a condo with its full kitchen so eating healthy should be easier than if I depended on restaurant food. My suitcase will be packed with organic and vegan non-fresh foods to ensure I have ample supply.
I don’t have an overweight issue; what I struggle with is putting and keeping the weight on while staying true to a very strict dietary regiment I have embarked on almost 2 years ago to stop or slow the progression of an illness.
I plan on truly enjoying my vacation and continuing to get healthier. 🙂
Good luck on your vacation, Manon. Sounds like you’re really planning ahead. You will find lots of wonderful fresh fruits and veggies I’m sure. And avocados, which have a high fat and calorie content but are very healthy can really boost your intake and help you keep the weight on while you’re there. 🙂