The summer vacation is the perfect time to travel, spend more time with family and friends, and enjoy social gatherings. It also gives you the chance to explore a different culture and enjoy local cuisine — and that may mess with your diet and fitness routine. It can be quite challenging to stay fit when you are unable to prepare your own meals, have no access to gym equipment, and need to resist the temptations that usually come during the holidays. Think: ice cream, barbecues, parties, etc. In addition, while on vacation, you may want to relax, lie on the beach, and dine in fancy restaurants without thinking about your diet and exercise.
The good thing is that weight gain and losing fitness while traveling do not have to go hand in hand with each other. Certified personal trainer José D. Ortiz talks about how to stay in shape this summer.
“We usually associate the idea of vacation with inactivity, but a better understanding of the concept ‘vacation’ would be as a time to change our day-to-day routine activities to new, enjoyable and fun pastimes,” said Ortiz.
Staying fit starts during the journey to reach your destination. “If you have a long flight, you should never forget to hydrate yourself as much as you can,” said Ortiz, explaining that an aircraft is not a mild and friendly environment for the body but has a rather dry atmosphere. “Do not wait to be thirsty to ask for an extra cup of water. Drink 1.5 liters of water on average every day.” He added that moisturizing your hands and face is also important, “if you don’t want to arrive at your destination looking like a raisin!”
In order to recover quickly from a tiring journey and adapt to a different time zone, Ortiz recommends catching up on sleep, either during the flight or as soon as you arrive at the hotel, and make sure you get enough rest throughout your vacation. “Strive for eight hours of sleep to allow your body to rest after a long day full of touristic activities.”
For many people, the holidays are an excuse to indulge in the foods they encounter, as every place has its own culinary delights that are hard to resist. Others will say it is impossible to eat healthy or stick to a diet when they have no access to a kitchen to prepare their own meals. Ortiz doesn’t agree with this. “I never trust any diet that prevents me from taking any specific nutrient group, such as low-carb diets.” As a rule of thumb he advises to ensure that any meal contains one part fat, two parts protein and three parts carbohydrates. Smartphone applications such as My Fitness Pal help calculate and count calories, keeping in mind that the average adult needs 2,000 kcal a day.
The personal trainer also advises to have a big, healthy breakfast, as that is the most important meal of the day. “Eat plenty of complex carbs — including muesli, oatmeal and multi-cereal bread — fruits and dairy products. But, he warns, avoid refined sugars and fats.
Lunchtime is the perfect moment to indulge in the local cuisine, according to Ortiz. “Discover the typical dishes of the region you’re visiting and try them all!” You only need to focus on two things: portion size and color. Color? “Yes! We tend to eat ‘golden’ (deep fried) food, because it is tasty. However, if we change that into a rainbow colored dish (full of colorful veggies), we do not only add color but also health to our life.”
And what about those all-you-can-eat buffets after a tiring day of strolling around the city, visiting museums, or shopping in malls? “Forget about them! Dinner should be light,” said Ortiz. “What are you going to do after dinner? Most likely you will go to sleep, so why add calories to your energy stores when you are not going to use them until the next day?”
Shifting from three big meals a day to five smaller and more balanced meals, makes it easier to control calorie intake by preventing hunger pangs.
While eating healthy during the holidays is important, so is keeping your muscles moving. Instead of staying at the hotel or resort, Ortiz suggests visiting cities with good downtown pedestrian areas to discover the cultural buildings, museums, and other monuments. Go by foot as much as possible. Some places offer bike rental services, which is also a great way to explore the city and its surroundings.
Adventurous types, Ortiz continues, can take part in activities like rafting, hiking, or boot camps. If the hotel or resort you are staying at offers a sports and entertainment schedule, do not hesitate to join them in aqua gym, football, family games, aerobics, or dance.
For those gym rats really concerned about their fitness level, Ortiz recommends planning sports activities before traveling. Ask the hotel or resort if there is any gym available. If not, find out where the nearest gym in town is and ask for a visitor or day pass.
If there’s no way you will ever voluntarily enter a gym, try an outdoor sport, such as running. “Running burns more calories than any other sport and is easy to do while traveling, either outdoors or on the treadmill,” said Ortiz, adding that he, personally, likes to go for a run before breakfast, which allows him to eat a bit more than usual that day. For persons who never ran or jogged before, José recommends the Couch to 5K running program (www.c25k.com) that helps you to run either 30 minutes or 5 km nonstop after only eight weeks of training.
A last option is to pack some kind of workout equipment.
“I always put my TRX suspension training kit (www.trxtraining.com) in my luggage, which weighs around 1.5 kg. You can hook it up to a door, tree, or any other pole you find outdoors. It will help you to train almost every muscle group, especially your core.”
So this summer, you have no excuse to forgo your fitness and return five kilos heavier. Just make sure you have a clear goal and stick to that. “A golden rule to getting and staying fit is to set achievable goals and write them down now. Examples are: I want to lose 5 kg during the next 10 months, or I want to be able to run 5 km nonstop at the end of the 8-week C25K program, or I want to play with my kid for more than 5 minutes without feeling out of breath.” Writing down a detailed plan ahead of your trip will motivate you and remind you of your goals. And while being surrounded by exotic flavors and temptations, remember that a healthy diet and regular exercise will boost your energy level, which will make your holiday more enjoyable. Besides, wouldn’t it feel great to go home without the extra holiday weight?
— José D. Ortiz is a Spanish resident in Jeddah and ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association, USA) certified personal trainer specialized in weight management fitness programs. Facebook: Team966
