As many of you, we travel a lot. While it’s only 100 miles from home, we stay at our beach house in Gulf Shores many times throughout the summer. And usually when we think of sand, swimming, sunshine and the beach we think of shrimp and fried seafood, relaxing, sleeping….well….vacationing. But in conjunction with relaxing, sleeping and eating, our routines can become somewhat relaxed as well.
As weird as it may sound, my time at the beach is my favorite time to exercise, run and workout! I just love it! It’s something about being outdoors in that sunshine that makes me feel stronger and more energized. I also don’t want to let a few times (or even a week’s vacation) away allow me to slip back into bad habits that may have taken me months to conquer. Now I do love indulgences in moderation and I definitely have my weaknesses and I absolutely don’t live by a regulated list of do’s and don’ts, but I’ve found the more healthy I try to be, the more healthy I want to be. Does that make sense?
Not long ago, Clark and I spent a week alone at the beach celebrating our anniversary and while I’ve shared with you advice before on ways to stay healthy while on vacation, I thought I’d give you a little more detail on some meals/snacking and actual workouts and exercising we did while we were there!
Healthy Eating
I’ve found that when I pack and plan for healthy snacking and eating, then a couple of indulgences along the way won’t make me feel guilty or make me feel like I’ve blown it! Again, it’s more about the 80/20 or 90/10 rule…what you are doing the majority of the time is what counts!
Protein Shake
This is such as healthy, easy go-to snack or even meal replacement (simply add your favorite ingredients) and it’s super easy to pack and travel with! Pictured here is the TLS Protein Shake in vanilla!
Greek Yogurt + Ranch Dressing Packet
Oh my! Am I the only one on the planet who has not tried this!? This combination was heavenly and made an awesome substitution for mayonnaise and other fattening dipping sauces!
Toasted whole grain bagel with eggs and avocado and fresh fruit on the side, (along with a protein shake-I added fresh peaches to this shake). This was an after workout morning meal and was so good! I also used the yogurt/ranch mixture on the bagel. Die!
This was another post workout meal that was delicious! A whole grain bagel topped the yogurt mixture and smoked salmon with eggs on the side topped with the stuffing from leftover lettuce wraps from dinner the night before (I seriously heart leftovers). This salmon comes in a packet (like sandwich meat–it’s kinda expensive but was a nice treat that was oh so worth it!)
Summer Tomato Salad
I also found many uses for this summer salad–ya know, instead of eating just as a side salad. 😉 It was great also for topping my eggs or other protein choices like grilled chicken or turkey burgers, too. This is simply red cherry tomatoes, yellow sunburst tomatoes, a small sliced red onion with s/p and a drizzling of balsamic vinegar. Easy and Yummy!
Beach Week Workouts
Even while on vacation, I tried to keep my workout routine. I have been doing splits lately and I love it! I feel I get a better workout when I can target specific muscle groups and I am usually feeling a bit sore for the next day or so after as well…which really makes me feel like I definitely got in a good workout. On days I didn’t do resistance with my weights, we ran or I did some other form of cardio.
I think I’ve posted this one before, but it’s still provided me with a great workout when I didn’t have much time or if you don’t have dumbbells to use. This is a really good strength + cardio workout!
This is a cardio workout I did as an finisher to a less intense resistance day. This is great to do alone, i.e. add more rounds or time, but it’s also a great fat blaster finisher to end a lower-key workout like I did! The key is to use whatever tool you may already have available, in my case, stairs and a picnic table. 😉
And of course we RAN! The weather was surprisingly cool for this time of year which made our running so much more pleasant. I was pumped after running a good 1 1/2 miles (without stopping) barefooted in the sand, with calves screaming!
I left my autograph while I was there. :O) Hope you all have a fabulous week!
How do you stay fit on vacation!?