“Your body is a temple, but only if you treat it as one.”
- Astrid Alauda
My week in the Dominican Republic was absolutely amazing. The perfect relaxation and getaway that my boyfriend and I both needed. The beaches were absolutely pristine and and the food was delicious. The latter being slightly detrimental to my diet.
When I started my vacation, I told myself I would follow the following diet and fitness guidelines for my trip:
- No Bread Bowls – Unnecessary carbs are the fastest way to widen your waistline on top of making you feel bloated while you’re lounging on the beach.
- No Lunch Dessert – Again, unnecessary sweets will definitely impact your waistline while making you feel bloated and uncomfortable on the beach.
- Limit Alcohol Intake – Empty calories are the worst type of calories, especially the extra sugary type.
- Stay Active – There are simple ways to do this like taking walks or just using the stairs. I also researched my hotel to make sure there was a gym that I could go run and lift some weights with while I was on vacation.
In reality, I had probably about 1-2 bread rolls with dinner (almost every night) and lunch desserts (almost every day). I did end up working out four out of the seven days that we were there and I limited my sugary drink intake to 1-2 a day. So, all in all, I scored about 50% on the effectiveness scale.
Clearly my initial plan did not pan out like I had hoped. This means for my next trip, and for you, I have some suggestions on how to manage your food and alcohol intake so it doesn’t ruin all the work you do getting in shape!
Here are some guidelines to help you (me!) stay in shape on our next trips:
- Water, Water, Water – Have a bottle of water with you at all times. This will prevent you from snacking, keep you hydrated and cleanse your system.
- Color Your Plate – The more colorful your plate, the more healthy it tends to be. As you can see from this fruit and veggie display on the left, fresh food tends to be a variety of colors while fried food, bread and other less healthy options tend to have less color.
- Eat Slowly – When you’re having buffets after buffets of food options, it’s important to eat slowly so your stomach has a chance to catch up to your eyes.
- Use Small Plates for Dessert - For me, trying a variety of different types of food is fun and exciting, especially in other countries. The solution to this, is to take small (like super-tiny) portions of a couple different desserts. They usually have small salad/dessert plates, which give you less space to stock pile the desserts before going back to your table.
- Pick Non-Sugary Drinks – This is a great guide for recipes for healthier drinks that wont set you way back with your diet. A couple of my favorites are Captain with Diet Coke & Lime and Vodka Soda with a Splash of Cranberry and Lime.
- Stay Active – Go for a walk down the beach, go swimming, play volleyball or find other ways to stay active that are appropriate for your vacation.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that you’re on vacation, and that you do deserve to indulge yourself a little bit. For me, that meant a little bit more dessert on special nights and less drinks to account for that.
But, don’t let your obsession with staying inside the lines prevent you from enjoying the wonderful experience! Good luck!
~ Miss Soucie