It’s Christmas Day, 2019 and I already know the 12 hour drive down to South Florida is going to be a challenge. The lack of movement and limited options for food on the road are going to make this very tough. We had a fairly unhealthy breakfast but consumed plenty to sustain us for at least 8 to 10 hours of basically no movement. I had already decided that I wasn’t going to eat anything from the gas station or truck stop but we would stop to sit down and eat on the way. It’s Christmas Day so the options are limited. Chinese, Thai, and gas station food are about it.
We stopped at a place called Green Papaya, a Thai Fusion restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida. It was really fantastic. We shared Pad Thai, Beef fried rice, and spring rolls and I ordered a Thai iced tea. Not too bad, not great. But I was committed to keeping up with my fitness routine and fueling my body appropriately. You DON’T have to wait until the New Year to continue with positive changes or start on a new routine. On our drive down, I signed both Mike and I up for ClassPass. We were going to try some new classes while we were in Delray Beach. I booked our first class for Thursday morning at 7:30 AM at Cyclebar Boca Raton. We weren’t getting in until 11 PM but I was committed to waking up early and making it happen. We set our alarm for 6 AM. I even looked up a good place to have a snack since I knew my family would be serving bagels at breakfast. Fortunately, there was a Raw Juce Bar right next door to Cyclebar. Day 1 was going to be a success!
Cyclebar in Boca Raton, FL
We joined Andi at Cyclebar at the 7:30 AM Hangover ride in Boca Raton. We got a great sweat, enjoyed the music and after class had a fantastic chocolate smoothie. Starting off early in the morning with a great workout and healthy fuel sets us up for a very successful day!
Thursday is feeling really good but I don’t want to stop the momentum. We are already planning our evening with family with a stop at The Girls for some pizza. I am certainly going to continue to live on this vacation. I believe that you can enjoy food and make healthy choices at the same time. Vacation isn’t about restricting, it’s about enjoying time with friends and family while maintaining a balance. It’s all about balance. I am planning on attending a nice gently yoga flow class with my aunt in the late morning so I booked an early morning Spenga class for Mike and myself. 6:30 AM Spenga Boca Raton (a format with 20 minutes of cycling, 20n minutes of strength training, and 20 minutes of yoga), we are on it!
So here is my best advice for staying on track with your health and wellness while on vacation:
Prepare your plan no more than 24 hours in advance
We all start out well-intentioned when it comes to fitting in our workouts and eating healthy on vacation. The truth is, you have to LIVE! Oftentimes, your schedule isn’t laid out for your entire weekend, week, or longer on your vacation. Plans are often made less than 24 hours in advance. So when you are planning your workouts, try to plan them the day before to fit in with your other fun activities. If you are jam packed all day long, set a plan to wake up extra early to get in your workout. If everyone in your group likes to take a mid-afternoon nap, use that time to get your workout in. I’m not traditionally an early riser but neither are the members of my family. Knowing that, I try to plan my workouts so it doesn’t interfere with my time with them. If it works out, I can plan my workouts for the middle of the day if they want to join me. I wanted to get an intense workout one day so I scheduled a class for 6:30 AM but my aunt also wanted to take a yoga class with me so we scheduled that for later in the morning.
Book classes so you are forced to keep your appointments
If possible, reserve your spot in class using studios’ booking apps or Classpass to ensure that you will keep your commitment to your workout. Psychologically, you are much less likely to bail on your commitment when you know someone is expecting you. More often than not, these studios will charge you for a missed class or you will forfeit your points or credits with that studio for the missed class.
Trying new studios can be an adventure!
If you are in a new city or country, you can take this opportunity to try new types of classes that may not be offered in your home location. For instance, we don’t have Barry’s Boot Camp or Soul Cycle in Raleigh so when I am in a new city, I try to look for other exciting opportunities to try these new (to me) studios. If you are traveling to another country, this may be a chance to experience a new culture, geographic diversity (thinking yoga on the beach or Pilates in the rainforest), and awesome new people and instructors. Along those lines, new smoothie shops and health food restaurants are more prevalent now than ever before. Use it as an opportunity to try new culinary delights!
Take advantage of the FREE opportunities
Classpass is an amazing invention where you can travel to all different cities and try out different types of classes and studios for one monthly fee. Boutique fitness can be expensive and exclusive and Classpass offers a unique chance to try a lot of cool experiences. There are also a bunch of other free options as well. Social media can be a great tool to find some of these free resources. There may be complimentary classes in a brand new studio, donation-based classes in a local park, fitness meet up groups, and parks with primitive fitness equipment. You can find trails to run or bike on as well. It may take a little bit of detective work, but the opportunities are out there if you look!
Relax
Staying on track with your health and wellness goals can be overwhelming at times when you are on vacation. You may not have the support you are looking for from your travel companions or the timing may not be right. Ultimately, you are on vacation probably because you work really hard most of the year and this is your chance to unwind, decompress, and enjoy a little rest and relaxation with your loved ones. Don’t beat yourself up if you derail a little bit. Eat the ice cream, drink on the beach, stuff yourself at the buffet, enjoy yourself. Just relax. The gym will still be there when you get home.
