Holiday season is well and truly upon us, and I’m sure many of you have been working getting those beach bodies ready.
So for anyone who’s lucky enough to be jetting off in the coming weeks/months, I wanted to share a few quick tips on how to enjoy yourself while on holiday, without undoing all of the hard work you’ve put in and losing all the results you’ve acquired.
Now before you run away freaking out at the thought of having to keep track of what you’re eating/drinking, and not being able to enjoy yourself when you’re away, calm down, take a deep breath and hear me out.
That’s not what this is about.
When you’re on holiday it’s not just nice to be able to enjoy yourself and not have to think about calories or macros or anything like that. It can actually play an important part in the overall process.
If you have been working towards the goal of standing there on the beach, by the pool or even just out and about, comfortable and confident in how you look and have achieved it, it’s important to take a break and celebrate you’re achievement.
BUT rewarding yourself for all your efforts shouldn’t involve undoing all of the work you’ve put in, so you end up coming home the same or worse than where you started out in the first place.
Taking one step forwards and two steps back will mean long term you never really get the body you want. Over time you will get frustrated that you put in weeks of effort, feel happy for a small window of time, before regressing back to where you started.
Most of us seem to just write off things like holidays and Christmas as a lost cause when it comes to our body composition. Often we are far too accepting of the idea that we can come out the other side of them a few pounds or even kilos heavier.
It doesn’t HAVE to be this way.
You can easily maintain all of the progress you’ve made while still enjoying yourself.
How?
By following the same underlying principles you would follow at home, all be it a little more relaxed. You are on holidays after all 🙂
With all this in mind, here are a few tips to help you keep yourself ticking over without having to think or worry too much about what you’re eating or drinking.
TIPS TO HELP YOU KEEP YOUR RESULTS WHILE ON HOLIDAY
- Have some protein bars on hand as snacks when out and about
- If you’re going to be out and about sightseeing or down at the beach/pool for the day, bring a protein or two with you so you can snack on those rather than having some shit (and usually overpriced) snacks.
- Quest bars would be my bar of choice, cookies and cream or chocolate chip cookie dough are my (and many others) favourites if you haven’t had them before.
- Buying them in a box of 12 is the most cost efficient way to get them. How many you need will obviously depend on how long you’re going away for. I would say 1 a day would be plenty.
- BodyFirst Nutrition & Discount Supplements are two places I have bought the boxes of Quest bars from before. They usually deliver next day within Ireland but I would allow a few days for delivery just to be on the safe side.
- DON’T drink unnecessary calories
- Liquid calories are just as damaging when you’re away as they are at home.
- It is VERY easy to consume massive amounts of calories in a drink as they don’t really fill you up as much as real food does, and it is easy to cram a LOT of shit into a drink.
- So keep the fizzy drinks and fruit juices to minimum.
- Ideally you would only drink water and alcohol.
- For the alcohol part, beer and cocktails are less favourable choices with clear spirits and wines being a better option.
- For mixers, aim for tonic & sparkling waters with some slices of fruit for flavour as opposed to cokes & red bulls etc.
- Moderation is really the key though, so go out, enjoy yourself but don’t push it to excess EVERY night. All of the pit falls of being out on the piss at home still hang true on holiday. You will likely stuff your face with whatever manky kebab or burger place is still open at the end of a night and will more than likely carry over those shit food decisions/cravings throughout the next day. All while being very hot and dehydrated and turning to Coke & the likes to quench your thirst (see earlier note on why this is bad).
- If dying after a night out try and have sparkling or still water to quench your thirst.
- EVERY meal DOESN’T have to be an all out affair
- Have a big breakfast and a small lunch OR a skip breakfast and have a big lunch
- Getting a good breakfast is not only going to leave you fuller and less likely to snack, it will also set you up for the day.
- BUT if you’re heading out somewhere and want to go all out on lunch then have something small (Quest bar & a coffee for example) or skip breakfast and go all out on lunch.
- Not going all out for all 3+ meals a day will help you keep things in moderation without having to even know what a calorie or macro is.
- Don’t ALWAYS go for the extra course
- You can have a really nice meal out and only have two courses.
- You don’t have to go for all 3+ courses on every meal.
- This one is particularly important if you’re heading stateside. I’ve never been (heading for the first time soon) but I’ve heard the stories of the monstrous portion sizes that could feed a small family. And while part of me is no doubt going to go all ’Man V Food’ on it and say challenge accepted, I won’t be doing it every meal.
- Most of the time time you end up stuffed by desert and just shove it down anyway hardly enjoying it. So avoid eating more than you need in single sittings.
- Skip starters & go for mains & desert. Even split a desert with someone rather than having a full one to yourself.
- Unless it looks REALLY fucking good in which case have at.
- Try and stick to lean meats for most meals
- Choose lean meats in starters/mains where possible.
- Go for the leaner option more often than not.
- Steak is going to be better than pizza.
- Fresh fish (if fish is your thing) will be better than a massive pasta dish etc.
- By choosing these types of options most of the time, it will leave you some room to go all out on other meals.
- Walk when you can
- If you’re heading somewhere and can walk then do.
- Walking is often the best way to really see and experience a place anyway. So if walking somewhere is an option then walk.
- Keep up SOME amount of training
- Getting some training in is a great way to get you fired up for whatever you’re doing that day.
- You can do some HIIT (high intensity interval training) such as tabata style workouts that should take you less than 10 minutes to do and will require only your body weight.
- If you have some resistance bands (which take up ZERO space in a suitcase) on top of that then great.
- Space wise you don’t need any more space than it takes for you to stand up, or lie down on the floor. So you can easily get it done in even a small hotel room or apartment.
- If you’ve access to a gym, even a shitty hotel one with minimal equipment, there are plenty of quick workouts you can do to keep yourself ticking over.
- By getting some training in you bump up your calorie allowance for that day a little which might just be enough to keep you in check.
- It will also help you get set for the day or get you ready for some solid sleep and reduce the effects of jet lag.
- Check the end of the post for some examples of what to do with and without access to a gym/equipment.
- If cooking in, choose the healthier option
- Choosing the healthier option if cooking for yourself will mean you can go all out when eating out.
- So if you have the option of cooking your own meals try and keep them pretty healthy so when you go out you don’t have to limit yourself.
- Split meal courses or sides with someone
- As mentioned above with the idea of splitting dessert, why not apply this to any course or sides?
- Split a side of chips with a steak or share a starter of wings rather than have a full one yourself.
- Again anyone heading stateside should pay particular attention to this one.
- Saves money, you get to enjoy a few different foods over the course of a meal without having to completely pig out.
- Keep your protein intake up
- If you keep up a good protein intake (roughly 2g per kg body weight) it will keep you fuller and stop you from snacking.
- Protein is also quite lean and delicious for example Steak, Eggs, Fish, Chicken, Quest Bars.
- Any dudes who have been working away to put on some lean muscle should pay particular attention to this one. You want to try and make sure you keep as much of that hard earned muscle as possible and keeping protein intake up will help to ensure that happens.
But most importantly… ENJOY YOURSELF
At the end of the day if you’ve done the hard work in the weeks coming up to your holiday, you’ve earned a break and the right to enjoy yourself.
But don’t let that be an excuse to undo all of said work when you can easily avoid it by following the simple steps above.
So try and keep it in check for your general day to day meals with a few nights where you can let the hair down and go all out without worrying about it.
Finally if in doubt follow this for as many meals as you can and you shouldn’t go too far wrong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXxJIM4IXow
What if I haven’t done any work yet or if I haven’t seen results with the work I am doing?
If you’re reading this and thinking SHIT I haven’t really started doing ANYTHING yet to get ready for your upcoming holiday, or you have been trying but getting no results, fear not.
It may not be too late.
Get in touch NOW so we can have a chat about how to get started.
While it’s not as long as you would usually want to set aside, you can still make a LOT of progress in 6 weeks or so.
So don’t wait any longer go here and drop us a mail today – https://revolutionfitness.ie/contact-2/
ANNNNND here are those workouts I mentioned to keep you ticking over.
You could do these every day, every second day twice a week… Basically whenever you can or whenever you feel like it.
The goal is just to keep you active, and these are just an example of what you can do. Really it could be anything at all.
If you’re on a pretty active holiday anyway and are out biking, swimming, surfing, kayaking, walking, climbing etc you probably don’t need to worry about getting these in too much.
If you’re just laying around by the pool all day, try get some of these in or worst case scenario go out for a walk or swim a few lengths of the pool a couple of times a day.
HOTEL GYM WORKOUTS:
3 here on this playlist –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQV6vYib0OI&list=PLt7Q7fcvQcmDXaiVt4RGp2vLplVgfTYCs
Another one over here –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn_nsGppKSM
NO EQUIPMENT WORKOUTS
WARM-UP
2 rounds:
Reverse Lunges x 10 e/s
Bodyweight Squat x 10
Mountain Climbers x 10
If you have some bands with you add in
Band pull aparts x 10
Band discolates x 10
OH Squats with the band x 10
Notes:
Just an example of what you could do. Really anything that gets the heart rate up and the blood pumping in the muscles you’re about to use in the workout will do. Should take 5 mins or so max.
OPTION 1
A1) Push-ups – 8-12 reps @4210 tempo x 6 sets
A2) Split Squats/Rev Lunges/Squats – 12 reps @4210 tempo x 6 sets
Rest 60s between sets
B1) Some form of row – 8-12 reps @4022 x 6 sets
B2) Glute Bridges – 20-15 reps x 6 sets
Rest 60s between sets
Notes:
- 4210 tempo means 4 seconds on the eccentric or negative portion of the movement (the way down) and then pause for 2 seconds at the bottom position. With the rows the 4022 means the pause is in the top position and you take 2 seconds to pull the weight up (or in depending on what form of row you do).
- With the push-ups you can add some resistance with a band by bringing it around the back of your shoulders with one end in each hand.
- With the squats/split squats you can add some resistance by getting some form of external weight to hold. A big ass bottle of water would probably be the most accessible thing. 1l of water = 1kg.
- For the rows, these can be done single arm with the big ass bottle of water mentioned above. They could be done seated with a resistance band looped around something in front of you. You could do band pulldowns by looping a band around something above you. Just be smart about what the band is looped around if you go that option, you don’t want to rip something off a wall or break something. Or have the band come lose and snap back in your face. You could also do some form of bent over row with some bottles of water loaded into a suitcase. Whatever you have available, there are lots of choices.
- Glute bridges can be made more difficult by doing single leg or by raising your feet up on something raised off the floor like a chair or bench.
OPTION 2
Tabata Burpees
Burpees – 20s on / 10s rest X 8 rounds = 4 mins
Notes:
- Get a timer on your phone to do the intervals. There are countless free tabata timer apps out there. Any of them will do.
- The real benefit of this type of work is that its short and sharp. So really give every 20 second block everything you have – don’t be a wuss. It’s 4 mins and then you’re done, it should be really tough for the short time it takes.
- Make sure to do some sort of cool down after. You could repeat the warm up if you’re tight on space. Or just go for a light walk and throw in a squat or lunge every couple of steps. Just something light to move the muscles without working them too much and bring the heart rate back down.
BONUS GUNS WORKOUT
If you want to get some sneaky guns work in as well (who doesn’t love rocking a gun pump to the beach) just smash out the following
A1) Band Curls (Palms facing down) – 6 reps @4010
A2) Band Curls (Palms facing up) – 12 reps @3010
A3) Band Curls (Palms facing eachother) – 25 reps @2010
B1) Close Grip Push-ups – 8 reps @4010
B2) Lying Tricep Extension – 12 reps @3010
NOTES:
- With the band curls step on one side of the band and take the other in your hands with the mentioned grip.
- If you’ve no bands big bottles of water can be an emergency substitute.
- With the tricep extensions it doesn’t really matter what the resistance is. A band or some sort of water bottle will do.