Staying Lean On Past Vacations
Staying Lean On Past Vacations
Here are the details from past vacations where I implemented 2 different strategies.
Dec 2015-Jan 2016:
4 week trip to Miami and Philippines
In July 2015 I had a breakthrough when I discovered Intermittent Fasting. It helped me control my calorie intake and the weight loss that I previously had trouble with was no longer an issue. This helped motivated me to keep leaning down as I was preparing for a big dance competition that took place in Miami in December 2015 and my goal was to be shredded.
I was super pleased with the result and didn't want to let my work go to waste when I went on vacation after to the Philippines for 3 weeks. Using what I learned from IF, I controlled my calorie intake by only have one big meal a day. Beers and snacks were consumed throughout the day, but I saved the majority of my calories for dinner. Despite not having any set workout schedule, it all boiled down to keeping my calorie intake in check. I was successful after being 4 weeks away from home maintaining my lean physique.
Cruise in the Fall of 2016:
3 week trip to the Mediterranean
After being in a calorie deficit for most of 2016, I felt it was time for a little break. The Mediterranean Cruise I went on in October 2016 was the perfect getaway. In addition, I had additional incentive when I got back from vacation since I was starting my Fall 2016 Mighty Transformation Program. It was a good "excuse/' to gain some weight so I could literally do the Transformation with them.
The great thing about the Cruise was they had a kick ass gym and we walked a ton. Getting in exercise was not a problem. I think it was the most active I had been all year. Despite all this I still gained a ton of weight. Can you guess what the problem was? It wasn't the beer. I didn't even drink too much on this trip. Yep, it was the food. Not the quality, but the quantity. I still did 16:8 IF and the food was "healthy" but I just consumed way too much of it. Eating clean or healthy doesn't mean anything since I was consuming double entrees every night! As we know we cannot out exercise over eating. And that clearly was my problem. I gained a whopping 12lbs on vacation.
And although I was able to lose this weight with my 2016 Fall Transformation Team it was actually tough to do and something I did not want to happen again.