Vacation all year long

Expat75

Hi all - I am the highest weight I’ve ever been in my life: distressed, stressed and unhappy in my skin, so grabbing the reins to turn things around.

Apart from the scale, I had an experience recently that made me reframe my whole lifestyle. A friend was talking about a recent holiday, saying “It was so great, I worked out every day, ate super healthy, no alcohol, slept a ton, and plus it was a beach vacation so tons of water sports and additional activities that weren’t “working out” but just kept me up and active all the time. I feel so great!”

And all I could think is: Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? When did everyday healthy habits become our vacation goals, and vice versa? Have I just fallen through the looking glass??

I used to look forward to vacation and holidays as : eat and drink what you want, enjoy, take a break from your regular routines, blow off a workout or two to lie on the beach, just relax! Now, a good diet, sleep, and healthy living is a “vacation” from my everyday life.

I’ve got it backwards. (I suspect many of us do?) Anyway, I’m going to try to put things back where they belong. My NSV goal is that next summer for vacation, I will have an real, old-school vacation (eat and drink what I want, ease up on workouts if I feel like it, give myself a break) because my regular, everyday “normal” routine will be eating healthy, moderating alcohol, and getting regular, vigorous exercise.

Coming back through the looking glass, Alice....

parkerpowerlift

Expat75 wrote: »

Hi all - I am the highest weight I’ve ever been in my life: distressed, stressed and unhappy in my skin, so grabbing the reins to turn things around.

Apart from the scale, I had an experience recently that made me reframe my whole lifestyle. A friend was talking about a recent holiday, saying “It was so great, I worked out every day, ate super healthy, no alcohol, slept a ton, and plus it was a beach vacation so tons of water sports and additional activities that weren’t “working out” but just kept me up and active all the time. I feel so great!”

And all I could think is: Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? When did everyday healthy habits become our vacation goals, and vice versa? Have I just fallen through the looking glass??

I used to look forward to vacation and holidays as : eat and drink what you want, enjoy, take a break from your regular routines, blow off a workout or two to lie on the beach, just relax! Now, a good diet, sleep, and healthy living is a “vacation” from my everyday life.

I’ve got it backwards. (I suspect many of us do?) Anyway, I’m going to try to put things back where they belong. My NSV goal is that next summer for vacation, I will have an real, old-school vacation (eat and drink what I want, ease up on workouts if I feel like it, give myself a break) because my regular, everyday “normal” routine will be eating healthy, moderating alcohol, and getting regular, vigorous exercise.

Coming back through the looking glass, Alice....

Interesting perspective. You're not wrong. I honestly feel like I do not allow myself to partake in what should be no-brainer, every-day habits such as the above.

This sounds like a great goal. I hope that you achieve it!

quemalosuerte

I leave for work at 6am and it’s dark. By the time I get home it’s almost or after 5 and I’m spent. And it’s getting dark. A woman was stabbed while jogging a few months ago in my town (she stopped for a moment to switch the playlist on her phone) and a year before that a woman was raped and murdered on a golf course getting in an early morning round (and after she died, people still asked why she dared to be on a private golf course alone at 8-ish am). Local state university issues new warnings every few months telling young women not to go out by themselves after dark because certain men in the community cannot be trusted not to try to rape and/or murder us.

I go out running during vacation or on my days off because i can sleep in and hit one of the trails around 9am, when it is safer. Still, my husband knows my route in case I don’t come home and my phone GPS is running on at least 3 apps. I wish I could go out running every day during the school year, but even Iowa isn’t safe for women alone after dark. And teaching takes so much out of you that I don’t know I could go out most days even if I felt safe doing so before or after work. (Btw, of you think of an idyllic small town in the US, what you picture represents my current home).

jeslz

Interesting perspective on the holiday lifestyle! I hope it works well for you and definitely book in that trip for a reward and something to look forward to!

For me, I always tend to lose weight on holidays. I usually eat whatever I want and will have dessert, sleep in etc. but I am probably more active than usual. No workouts, but I’m out walking and doing the tourist thing. My last holiday I tried kayaking, snow skiing, tobogganing, went swimming and just walked around (NZ is amazing by the way!). I definitely find being active in this way a lot more effective and I don’t get bored or miserable like I do for a normal workout. I’d love to be able to incorporate this in to my every day lifestyle.