WELLNESS: 5 TIPS FOR RECOVERING FROM VACATION

Today marks day 89 of my journey to wellness. I can't believe how much time has passed and how much I've changed in my perspective of wellness and the habits I've formed. This has been such a learning experience for me and has taught me a lot about overcoming me and holding myself back.

These past two weeks have been a whole new challenge since I started in April. We spent a week celebrating my best friend's wedding, going to parties, and seeing her get married. Very soon after that, Jon and I went on a week vacation to visit our new niece, go to the beach, and spend time with friends celebrating the holiday. I knew it would be a challenge being away from the accountability I have with my personal trainer and traveling when a lot of unhealthy food is plentiful. I went into the two weeks anticipating it would be hard and tried to prepare myself to continue exercising and trying to find healthy things to eat.

To be honest, I wish I would have done better. I exercised both weeks, but didn't reach my goal, although I am happy that I DID take time to exercise when I did. I also didn't eat has well as I would have liked. Let's just say there were a lot of burgers being grilled...and I LOVE burgers. ;) I did, however, noticed that I was careful to treat myself with things I truly wanted and not just eat out of convenience or because it was there. I also tried to keep my soda intake way down and just have a soda here and there, and focus on drinking water. So even though I didn't reach my goals, I learned a lot from vacation week about what I could do next time and I'm proud of the habits I have developed that I pursued throughout my time off.

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This week has been for getting back on track and working hard. Everyday is a new day and an opportunity to start fresh and keep moving forward. :) Below are 5 things I learned about recovering from a vacation and motivating yourself to continue moving forward strong!

1. Enjoy a Treat. ---> Knowing that there will be lots of goodies readily available would be a good time to mentally prepare yourself and allow yourself to have a treat! It IS vacation, after all. But the key here is not to overdo it and not to eat goodies that you don't really enjoy. If you are going to treat yourself, TREAT YOURSELF. Do I want a stale bag of Cheetos with my sandwich OR a hot homemade cookie? Cookie please! And then lastly, ENJOY your treat. Don't get bent out of shape with guilt. Give yourself permission to enjoy the treat you picked.

2. Inspire Yourself with a New Recipe. ---> Sometimes getting back into the swing of things just takes a little inspiration. Pick out a new healthy snack or recipe to try to get you back into eating healthy foods. While you're at the grocery store picking up ingredients, go ahead an pick out some healthy staples to fill your pantry after your vacation and get back to your healthy eating habits.

3. Take Some Time. ---> Before a vacation ends, I like to take a 1/2 day - full day at home to mentally prepare for the start of a full week and ease myself out of vacation mode. I like to clean up my home, get my things together for work, pick out an outfit, plan out goals for the week, and make a schedule to make sure I get my exercise and healthy eating in. This time is perfect for getting refreshed and starting the week off right.

4. It's All Mental. ---> Don't get into the "oh well" mindset! Sometimes if you have an unhealthy day, or week it's easy to throw your goals to the wind and go overboard...or give up on continuing to do well after your vacation. Take a breath, remind yourself WHY you set those goals in the first place and start a new day. Don't hold yourself back.

5. Ask for Encouragement. ---> It's important to communicate to your family and friends the goals you've set and the lifestyle you are trying to pursue. It isn't helpful if a friend tries to convince you NOT to workout if it's something you need to do that day. Ask for encouragement during and after vacation from your friends. That will make is easier to pass on skipping the exercise or healthier snack.

What are some of the ways you keep motivated, especially after coming off a long vacation or a bad day??

And just a little side note, next week is an exciting week...I'll be getting my 3-ish month assessment and see my progress from the beginning! I'm a little nervous, but excited about seeing improvement, I'll be sure to share! :)