How to Get Back into a Healthy Routine After Vacation
We’ve all been there. You’re working out consistently, you’re eating healthy food, you’re feeling great… and then you go on vacation. When you come home, you spend the next 3 weeks trying to get back into a routine but you can’t seem to find your groove. Workouts are sporadic. Meals are hit or miss. Your whole routine seems to have gone out the window. But vacation doesn’t have to throw you off your game! Here are my tips for jumping back in after you’ve taken a break.
Get plenty of sleep
While vacation is often packed with fun activities, we often think it’s going to be more restful than it actually is. Traveling can throw off our sleep schedule thanks to time zone changes, late nights, and sleeping in. Once you’re back home, head to bed early. Even if you’re not going to go to sleep at 9pm, take a break from your phone screen and read a book to help your body relax! If sleeping doesn’t come easy, check out these tips for a better night’s sleep.
Stock up on groceries
I think one of the hardest parts of getting back on a healthy track after vacation is your empty fridge. You cleared everything out before vacation (or you didn’t… and now it’s all rotten!) so there isn’t any fresh produce to eat. I typically order my groceries online through Instacart so I don’t have to hit the grocery store on my first day back. But however you do it, ensuring that you have lots of fruits and vegetables on hand is a great way to get back to eating healthy!
Drink plenty of water
If you’re feeling a little bloated, drink up! For me, I’m great at drinking in my normal routine. But on vacation? Not so much. I just don’t always think about keeping a water bottle with me! So one of the first things I do when I’m getting back into a healthy routine is fill up a huge bottle of water and take it with me everywhere! Here are a few more ideas for how to stay hydrated.
Let go of vacation splurges
Vacation is meant to be enjoyed! So stop beating yourself up over that slice of key lime pie or those sweet margaritas! A week of unhealthy eating isn’t going to undo a year’s worth of progress. Sometimes you just have to let it go in order to move on. It’s easy to get caught up in the mindset that you’ve already “blown it” so why keep trying? But hello, this is about moderation! Some days are salad, some days are pie!
Now that I’m back from the beach, I’m restocking my fridge and hitting the gym for a sweat session! Let’s start the week off on the right foot!
Great tips! I just got back from being gone 3 weeks and actually did pretty good. I worked out almost every day, the days I didn’t we were very active hiking through the mountains or doing something. The day we flew back I ran, I took a rest day the day after since we slept almost all day. Than today I spent over 2 hours mowing the lawn, laundry, and doing other odds and ends and was too drained but my watch was already over 200%. Water is never an issue. Having a fridge with food well that was since we didn’t really have anything but now it’s packed and I’m ready to go! Now just hope my body, and my girls, can get back on a sleep schedule because sleeping until 10 or 11am is not going to work!
I always load up on all the veggies after vaca! My body actually craves it after indulging. Great tips Liz!
drinking plenty of water and getting enough sleep is always important – especially after a vacation. great tips!!!
I totally agree with letting it go. I’ve come to appreciate and accept some days are going to be indulgent and some days you’re on point. It balances out!
I thrive on my routine, so going on vacation is always hard for me. Upon returning from vacation, I can’t wait to get back to my routine of healthy planned meals and daily workouts!! So I actually don’t have a hard time getting back into my routine. My hard time is getting over the lack of my typical routine while I’m on vacation.
We make sure to leave the house clean before going on vacation. I hate coming home to a messy house. Something that also helps me is writing down everything about the vacation while it’s still fresh in the mind and writing it kind of helps release the mind from dwelling on it.
Great post! Most of my “vacations” these days are based around running or blogging events, so they sometimes end up being healthier than my habits at home, haha!
I always need to catch up on my sleep when I get home. I never seem to sleep as well plus my patterns get thrown off. I’m usually a very early riser, so it takes a while to get back on track. And drinking water helps everything!
I like to try to run and try new classes when I am on vacation too!
For me, I know I just have to “dive right in”. I can’t slowly transition into a routine. This is great advice and I definitely agree that drinking a lot of water is important.