Holidays are a wonderful time to unwind, relax and enjoy a well-deserved break. While it can be exciting, you may also feel nervous, anxious and even fear going on your holiday during your weight loss journey. Fear no more, follow our tips and talk to your Jenny Craig Coach to help ensure you can continue to lose or maintain your weight while relaxing on your holiday.
Food and Drinks
Before you go off on your holiday, discuss with your Coach if you plan on taking your Jenny Craig food with you. If this is not an option, use the healthy plate model to help guide your food choices and portion sizes. Remember to aim to fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables, a quarter with meat or meat alternatives and a quarter with grains (preferably wholegrains). Understand your hunger cues and try to eat mindfully, often when on holidays it can be easy to eat more than you need. If you find yourself wanting a snack, ask yourself are you hungry or thirsty? If you’re hungry, fill up on fresh fruit and non-starchy vegetables, or if you’re thirsty have some water. Choose still or sparkling water and try adding some lemon, lime or berries for a boost of flavor.
Exercise
Holidays are often a great opportunity to increase your physical activity. Explore the outdoors and change of scenery by going for a walk, rather than driving, who knows you may end up finding a hidden gem. You’ll often find there are many outdoor activities to do when you’re on holidays which can be quite fun when everyone else gets involved too. If where you’re staying has a gym, why not try to squeeze in a 20-30-minute workout and take the opportunity to burn some extra kilojoules.
Sleep
You might not have expected sleep to be on this tip sheet, but we often forgot how important it is, especially on holidays. While you’re out and about exploring and doing activities during the day and night, sometimes it can mean you get less sleep, or you don’t stick to your regular sleep routine. Not having a regular sleep routine alters your circadian rhythm (ie. your body clock) which helps to regulate many of your body’s functions, including when you need to rest and eat. Getting insufficient sleep often has follow-on effects with your diet, where you may become hungrier and consume more food. When you’re on holidays try keeping to your regular sleep routine to help regulate your metabolism.
Stay motivated
A key to staying motivated, is to set a realistic goal which you can achieve – that may be to maintain your weight whilst on holiday, rather than aiming to lose weight. Yes, you read that correctly, maintaining your weight while on your holiday doesn’t mean you haven’t been successful. Rather it’s a learning opportunity, teaching you what portion sizes and level of physical activity you need to maintain your weight, which will be very important once you reach your goal weight.
Remember how far you’ve come, and rest assured your holiday doesn’t have to unravel all the progress you’ve made on your weight loss journey. Call Jenny Craig today, to see how our weight loss plans can help you!
