Introduction
You may take a vacation, but your health never does. It's absolutely okay to relax, enjoy life, and try new and exciting foods. But it's also possible to enjoy yourself while still keeping some of your healthy habits intact. The goal is to make sure you're still working some exercise and healthy eating into your day.
A simple approach is to roughly follow the 90% rule. If you're eating well and exercising most of the time, you can leave some room for treats, restaurant meals, and an occasional day off. The 90% rule isn't meant to be a literal calculation. It's just a reminder that you don't need to be perfect all the time. Vacation doesn't have to be perfect to be healthy.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The Two Extremes
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Other (Dessert, Drinks, etc.)
- Tallying it Up
- Exercise
- The Lesson
- Conclusion
The Two Extremes
The two extremes of someone on vacation are pretty easy to imagine. Person A is someone who eats and drinks everything. They "don't exercise on vacation", and eat indulgent food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus 1-3 desserts a day. They have a good time, sure, but they come back feeling sluggish and several pounds heavier.
On the other hand, person B panics as soon as a vacation is planned. They stress excessively about what they're going to eat and where they're going to work out. They're worried the whole time about what they're eating, and they have a hard time enjoying themselves. They may avoid the sluggishness and weight gain, but they've spent the entire vacation worrying about food and exercise.
Don't be person A. And don't be person B. Instead, be person C. The one who works out in the morning. The one who makes sure to get plenty of protein, vegetables, and fruit throughout the day. But the one who isn't afraid to eat a slice of cake.
So I just got back from a cruise, which inspired this blog post. There's tons of indulgent food available at all times, but also plenty of nutritious food options and a gym on standby.
I'm going to break down examples of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks/desserts for both maintaining your health goals and going completely balls-to-the-wall, "I don't care," standard vacationer. I'm also going to show you how to work in exercise.
Breakfast
The cruise has your Standard American Diet (appropriately abbreviated to SAD) options. Here are just some of your classic indulgent food breakfast options available on a cruise.
- Bacon
- Bagels
- Banana bread
- Butter
- Canadian bacon
- Cereal
- Chocolate milk
- Cream cheese
- Croissants
- Dried fruit
- English muffins
- French toast
- Jam
- Jelly
- Muffins
- Nutella
- Pancakes
- Sausage
- Sweetened yogurt
- Syrup
- Tater tots
- Waffles
- White bread
Yeah that's a ton of indulgent food. It's a lot of refined starch, added sugar, and calorie-dense foods, with plenty of added fats mixed in. What a great way to start out your day if you're looking to feel sluggish, overly full, or crash later. It's certainly not the breakfast I'd choose if I wanted to feel my best for the rest of the day.
Here's an example of what a pretty typical indulgent breakfast could look like:
- Pancakes with syrup or jelly
- Bowl of cereal with milk
- Strips of bacon
- Slice of banana bread
In comparison, there are also plenty of nutritious options available to you on a cruise, at a hotel, or just while out on vacation:
- Almonds
- Apples
- Avocados
- Bananas
- Blueberries
- Cantaloupe
- Carrots
- Cottage cheese (plain)
- Greek yogurt (plain)
- Hard boiled eggs
- Honeydew
- Lettuce
- Lox
- Milk (plain)
- Oatmeal (plain)
- Peanut butter
- Pineapple
- Scrambled eggs
- Tomato
- Walnuts
- Watermelon
Lots of indulgent food. And lots of nutritious food. Building a nutritious breakfast isn't too difficult. Here's an example breakfast for me this last week.
- Cottage cheese with almonds, walnuts, and sugar free syrup
- Salad with lettuce, tomato, carrots, lox, egg, mustard, salt, and pepper
- Mixed fruit bowl of watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, and pineapple
The cottage cheese is my main protein source, with the almonds and walnuts adding healthy fats. Sugar free syrup is optional, but adds a touch of sweetness.
The raw veggie salad adds much-needed fiber, as well as vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant compounds. And the lox and egg on top provide additional protein.
Finally, the mixed fruit provides carbohydrates along with plenty of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
And that's just for the days I was on the boat. When I'm at an airport, an Airbnb, or while traveling elsewhere, my go-to breakfast is normally the following:
Before I go on a trip, I prepare multiple single-serving bags of my protein shake mix. This is my To Go Protein Shake, which is a mix of protein powder, milk powder, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and pure granulated monk fruit in a small airtight bag. I also added inulin for some fiber.
I'll just travel with a shaker bottle, dump in the bag of powder, and all I need to do is add water. It's cheap, simple, and a tasty way to get protein in on the go.
The other food I prep is nuts. I'll prepare multiple single-serving bags of nuts of 1 oz (28 g) each. This time it was pistachios. This provides my healthy fats.
The last 2 components are baby carrots for some vegetables and fiber, and an apple for some fruit and carbs.
| Nutrient | Indulgent | Nutritious (1) |
Nutritious (2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 1061 | 679 | 543 |
| Fat | 42.5 g | 35.2 g | 14.8 g |
| Total Carbs | 137.3 g | 57.4 g | 71.6 g |
| Fiber |