How To Slay Your Vacay (The Yummy Mummy Way)
One of the main reasons I struggled to lose weight for those 20 years before I applied the Yummy Mummy method was because I was doing 80/20 or even 70/30 when I was traveling a lot. With so much “on and off”, losing weight became an impossible battle that I just couldn't win.
But when I did lose weight for the last time, I realized I had to honor my protocol 99/1, which meant sticking to it even on vacay. Yes, those “once-in-a-lifetime” vacations get their own little caveat…but if you want to lose weight for the last time, you have to be willing to honor your plan and your protocol when you travel.
So today, I want you to just play with the idea that you could lose or maintain your weight on vacation and actually have MORE fun that way. I’m giving you nine genius strategies you can pack up with you on your next vacay so that YOU can lose weight for the last freakin’ time!!
Bon voyage besties!!
Adopt the mindset that it IS possible to lose or maintain on vacation.
Think about how gross you feel when you eat sh*t on vacation. You’re essentially robbing yourself of feeling good on this vacation that you potentially spent a lot of money on. Or you're robbing yourself of that energy when you're with your friends that you never get to see and you're just feeling like a shell of yourself. Adopt this mindset and believe me that for your next trip, you could maintain (or even lose!) and it will make you feel better!
2. Move your body.
Go for walks, get in the pool, tread water with your kids, play with your kids in the pool, go for a hike, hit the gym - there are so many ways to move your body on your trip. But this is not necessarily for calories in and calories out - moving your body on vacation will simply help you to feel better. And when you feel better, you do better.
When you feel light, alive and vibrant, it's easier to pick foods that go along with that energetic state. It'll just be easier to pick the salad because you're on that trajectory - when you feel good and light in your body, you make good choices. Sometimes all that travel and sitting in a plane for hours can cause inflammation, so even just some yoga in your room can help. Remember it's not just about weight loss, it’s about you feeling good in your body.
3. Be in charge.
When you're in charge of the plans, you get to pick the restaurants, and you get to pick the schedule of the day. And people love when you're in charge of the plans! When you’re in charge of where you make the reservations, you can eat at places that you like that are healthy. In every restaurant you can find something that works for you, and something that's on plan, even if it might not be your favorite meal ever.
4. Look at menus ahead of time
Once you've got the restaurants nailed down and you have the reservations, look at the menus before you go. This is NOT “diet brainy”, it is simply setting your future self up for success. Think about money - when you go on vacation, you might look at your bank account, and plan out how much you're going to spend on different parts of the trip.
When you decide ahead of time, you're using your prefrontal cortex, but when you decide in the moment, your lower brain is on loudspeaker. You’ll just hear: “F*ck it, who cares?! It's vacation. We'll clean it up when we get home. Let's get the nachos.” This is not treating your future self with love and respect!
5. Journal every single day
Here’s what I want you to write down:
What are you going to eat today?
How do you want to feel today?
What are you grateful for today?
What is your big ‘why’?
Plan it out and set yourself up for success. Checking in with yourself with a journal takes three minutes and helps you to remember your intentions and what you truly want. If you don't remind yourself on a daily basis that you want to maintain on this vacation, your default brain will take over and start operating like it's always operated on vacation - aka eating and drinking all the things all of the time!
6. Don't pack snacks.
OK, if you’re going on a really long distance trip, you may want to pack some snacks that you like. But if you're flying for two, three, four hours, your flight's not that long. I find that if I pack snacks, I eat them. It's like popcorn at the movies - the second you get on the plane, you sit down and eat your snacks.But are you really hungry when you sit down on the plane? Or are you just eating your snacks?
I would love for you to experiment with not packing snacks, because in the worst case scenario, you can always find something. And if you really can't, you can also fast and use the fat on your body for fuel. A lot of people are operating from scarcity and worry there won’t be anything available but your hunger is not an emergency, you're not going to die. Plus, there probably is an option (and some good ones too!).
7. Focus on what you can eat.
There are literally hundreds of different types of foods that we can eat. If you've chosen to not eat certain things, don't focus on what you can't eat, focus on what you can eat on vacation.
There are so many delicious foods that are on your protocol that you could enjoy while you’re away!
8. Don’t give a flying F about what other people think!
Let the people think what they wanna think about you and your eating. Let the people have their thoughts. Because who cares?! Let them judge you and think “Oh my god, she's so weird. I can't believe she's not eating the bread.” You are responsible for you. You might even feel like you're disappointing someone - but do you care about disappointing Aunt Meg or your future self? Do not make a decision that's going to screw you later because of a sentence in someone else’s brain! Plus, most people don't actually give a sh*t what we are doing anyway.
9. Weigh yourself on vacation.
If this sounds a little crazy…think about this: Might it keep you more accountable? Might it keep you on track? Might it be your friend? Be willing to be a weirdo and pack a scale (they have travel scales btw). Is this diet brain? No. This is you checking in on you. This is you checking how your body is responding to the choices that you’re making. Because if you have an intention, or a goal, or a result you want to create in your life, you’ve got to track that sh*t.
But remember: it doesn't get to dictate your feelings or tell you your worthiness. It's literally your gravitational pull.
So - are you picking up what I'm putting down?! Do you have anything that you would add? Have any of these tips helped you out on a vacation?
Let me know by emailing me at laura@lauraconley.com! I LOVE hearing from you guys and how you’re getting on.
Have the best week ever,
Laura