I thought of saving this post for November.
However, with clients globe trotting earlier than expected, this post goes out to them, and to everyone else privileged to live a life of travel, but kissed by fitness.
For many, the main concern seems to be to “protect” their hard earned body.
Thousands in air ticket, hours on flight, light years from home, the last concern should be your abs and scale weight.
Keep your mind in the sunshine, cocktail (or mountains and canned food to you hikers), and the company by your side..
I will go into the nitty-gritty, but before that, know this:
Your body will be around when you return.
Here’s 5 reasons why you shouldn’t worry about eating during vacation:
1. Steps and activity level
You will move more during a vacation.
Unless you’re a construction worker, a pole dancer…
or a personal trainer who works relentlessly 24/7, dedicating his 9 lives to training clients, conducting classes, on top of writing blogs and replying emails when he has a 5 second breather between schedule.
(Probably the first time in history these 3 professions are pooled together)
Know this, being more active means you will rack up steps on vacation, which increases your caloric expenditure (TDEE) throughout your trip.
More calories = more food. Simple.
And let’s keep it simple.
I hesitate to tell you how much extra you will burn and how much extra you could eat, because that defeats the whole purpose of a vacation, to escape routine of food and exercise tracking.
2. Deload
This may be a hard pill to swallow, but if you have have been consistently crushing your training for months, you deserve a break.
“Ohhhh, the heresy. I don’t need no rest. Rest day, no way. No pain no gain! Eat sleep lift, on second thought, fuck sleep, lift eat lift repeat bruh!”
Know this, rather than setting you back, a well-timed break may actually propel you forward.
The excess calories and rest on the joints and muscles allow for your body to recover. Proper recovery allows for effective training upon return.
For those who really need to fitspo while vacationing, train outside the box.
Train with lower intensity, different rep ranges, different movement variations, or just different modalities of training altogether (i.e., swimming, jogging, plyometrics, yoga for the hardcore strength trainees).
Allow yourself a break from routine.
3. This
The many good food devoured in Sabah
Know this: I still think Klang food trumps Sabah food huehuehuheueuehueuheu.
#FoodWar #BringitOn
4. It’s only water
One thing that sucks about getting really lean is this:-
0.001% more bodyfat than your leanest look will suck!
And that is what will happen post-vacation after carb and salt laden food.
Know this, 1g of carbohydrate holds 4g of water.
In the right amount, carbs, fats and salt don’t make you fat, but they cause water retention, which reflects as kilograms on the weighing scale, and also the dreaded fluffiness, or loss of leanness in the mirror.
There is no need to employ carb avoidance or salt avoidance on vacations. Just return to your regular caloric intake post vacation, and whooosh goes the water weight.
5. What Really Matters
I’m all about being present, that’s the reason why this blog was birthed in the first place.
The fitness industry thrives by fueling this mindset of ours: we are not good enough, we need to get better.
And I agree with that, to quote Derek Sivers’ blog:-
“Working on yourself is the most selfless thing you can possibly do. You increase your capacity to serve others.”
We should always strive to grow.
But look, if how you look occupies your head while your 3000 miles from home, you’ve got to get things checked.
There is a point where you should analyze the past or plan for the future, but certainly not during a vacation. Be present.
You won’t be happy at where you’re headed if you aren’t happy at where you are.
The grind can wait. It’s a lifelong journey, let this duration of relaxing serve it’s purpose, to fuel your hustle.
Broaden your horizons. Safe travels people!
THE MALAYSIAN BODY 