Committing To A Healthy Vacation

When I figured out that the first week of Laura’s 21-day Runner’s Reset coincided with my vacation, I almost backed out. I mean, who wants to commit to eating healthy foods, cutting back on sugar, and following a new fitness program while on vacation?

healthy vacation reset
But the more I thought about it, the more the timing actually made sense. We would be staying at a condo, so my food choices would be limited to whatever we bought at the grocery store and whatever I ordered when we went out. (No fully stocked pantry or leftover Christmas chocolate to tempt me.) We would be skiing all day, but I would have time in the morning for the shorter core/strength workouts Laura suggested. Maybe the different environment would even make it easier to break some of my bad habits …. 

I confirmed my promise to try the program and share my experiences, and even finished packing in time to join the kick-off conference call. 😉

Once I committed to a healthy vacation, the execution was easy.

  • I packed healthy snacks in my carry-on bag (nuts, dried fruit, protein bars)
  • I bought healthy foods at the grocery store for breakfast (eggs, broccoli slaw, whole wheat bread) and snacks (grape tomatoes, baby carrots, fruit)
  • I “brown-bagged” it on the slopes, stuffing a baggie of homemade trail mix (almonds, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries–no chocolate!) and a Cliff bar in my ski jacket pockets
  • I made relatively healthy choices at dinner

Fixing breakfast at home and bringing my own snacks also saved money–a bowl of chili was $10.95 on the slopes! 

The ski lifts didn’t open until 9:00, and with my early-bird tendencies and the time change working in my favor, I didn’t even need an alarm to get up in time to do the 10 minute core workout or 2 rounds of the 12-minute strength circuit before my husband came downstairs looking for coffee.

Even though I was committed to making it a healthy vacation, I wasn’t too strict with myself. After all, I was skiing all day!

On Tuesday, when I was still starving after eating my Cliff bar I accepted my husband’s offer of 1/2 of his grilled cheese sandwich. (Stretching it to feed two helped him feel better about the $20 price!) And while I ordered chicken fajitas instead of cheese enchiladas at the Mexican restaurant we tried on Wednesday , I enjoyed a cheeseburger and a beer at the brewpub we went to on Thursday.

My healthy vacation choices extended to our travel days. On our flight out, I had a sandwich and apple I brought from home, while on our flight back I had 2 hard-cooked eggs (made in the condo coffee maker thanks to Carla!), an apple, and the rest of the grape tomatoes and baby carrots. Even my husband thought my food was better than what he got in his $7.99 Classic Snack Box.

[Tweet “Committing to a Healthy #Vacation #motivation #fitfluential #sweatpink”]

All in all, I think I did a pretty good job of hitting the healthy reset button while on vacation. Instead of feeling deprived, I felt like I was making healthy choices to fuel full days of skiing and get the most of our time away. 

I’m joining the Weekly Wrap link up hosted by Holly at HoHo Runs and Tricia at MissSippiPiddlin.

Are you more likely to give in to high snack prices on an airplane, at the movies, or from a hottel mini-bar?

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32 Responses to Committing To A Healthy Vacation

  1. Steena says:

    That’s impressive you stuck with it on vacation! I can guarantee I wouldn’t!

  2. Awesome job sticking to your goals! I tend to eat healthy on vacation because I know how badly I’ll feel if I don’t. Live and learn? Maybe…

    Love the video of you skiing!

  3. HoHo Runs says:

    Great job in sticking with your plan, Coco! I love the video clip of you skiing (and the sound!). It’s one of our favorite things to do and I sometimes wish we lived closer to the slopes. It’s sadly been a couple of years. Those resort food prices are horrendous (and airport). They really gouge you. Who knew you could cook eggs in a coffee pot? What a great tip. Thanks for linking with us and enjoy your week!

  4. Karen says:

    I love it! You are right, sometimes being in a completely different place is good when you are trying to eat healthier. I always seem to lose weight when I visit my Mom, even though we have a few treat meals 🙂
    You are good on the slopes.

    • Coco says:

      Thanks! I didn’t know my husb was taking it — and he didn’t know it would end up on my blog — or maybe he did since he does put up with my selfies and photo staging. 😉

  5. Good for you sticking to your plan while on vacation! Loved all your photos it looks like you had a blast

  6. Carla says:

    For me everything feels easier on vacation because someone else is doing the work 🙂 the prep, the making, the cleanup. Healthy eating simplified.

  7. Wow, you did great on vacation. It’s all about balance and moderation and it seems like you handled it perfectly. Bringing your own snacks and meals saves soo much money. I hate paying ridiculous amounts on the slopes or at the airport, so most often bring my own little snack baggies!

  8. Wow! I have never heard of making hard boiled eggs in a coffee maker. Seriously, who came up with that? Thank you for the tip! Hopefully someday I’ll be able to utilize it!

    My husband and I are always at odds; I want a room with a fridge & microwave; he wants the cheapest room he can find (almost). But it definitely saves money!

    I think you did great and skiing is great for the core. Too bad I don’t like it, considering where I live. Although it’s really expensive!

    • Coco says:

      Maybe you can get your husband to factor in the savings on food if you have a fridge – although I think some hotels will provide one for free? Skiing is pricey – that’s one reason we didn’t do it more when the kids were younger.

  9. Pam says:

    Wow, what a fantastic job of sticking with your plan while on a ski vacation. We have not skied in a few years, but one thing I do remember is how hungry we got from being outside exercising in the brisk air.

  10. Marcia says:

    Way to nail down great eating on vacay! Where there’s a will there’s a way. Thanks for the coffee maker hb egg reminder. That is genius. I’m usually too cheap to succumb to any of those inflated snack prices. In the airport is where I’ll by nuts/water. etc if I have to.

  11. It can be so difficult to stick to healthy choices while on vacation- that’s AWESOME that you did so well! I definitely try to, but if I’m not prepared…man…being prepared is definitely the KEY to success!

  12. You did great on your vacation! I’m always horrified by the food prices on the slopes – crazy isn’t it?!

  13. We almost always rent a house or condo on vacation now and it makes eating healthy so much easier. I also always pack our snacks for the planes because the prices are ridiculous.

    Great job making good choices.

  14. Nice job staying healthy on vacation! That is no easy feat. However, let’s talk about that $20 grilled cheese and $11 bowl of chili – uhhhh WHAT?! That’s crazy talk! I’m glad you had your own food packed!

  15. Great job sticking to eating healthy while on vacation! I tend to splurge a little more on vacation. There’s something about eating things I can’t have back home. Looks like you had a great time! I’ve never been skiing.

  16. Kudos to you for staying with your healthy eating plan while on vacation. While it can definitely be done, its so easy to be tempted while you’re away from your own kitchen and not in your usual routine.

  17. I travel a lot and always choose to stay in a studio apartment, so that I can have a kitchen. I prefer to make my own rather than eating out.
    Sounds like you had a great vacation !

  18. Eggs in the coffee maker??? Oh wow! It is so much easier to eat healthy when you plan and you did just that. I need to work on the planning part more and I wouldn’t be tempted with easy to grab foods. Thank you for linking with us Coco!

  19. Jenn says:

    Sounds like you did great on vacation!

    I am pretty moderate in my eating choices, regardless of whether I am on vacation or not, but I will always splurge on movie theater popcorn. I don’t know why, but I love it so much.

  20. I am totally impressed!! I can’t even stick with it at home right now let alone on vacation!! Great job!

  21. Kim Hatting says:

    WoW! You did great! I usually bring a box of granola bars (easy to pack), not an ideal “clean” snack, but definitely better than the garbage in the mini bar (and MUCH cheaper).

  22. Kudos to you for hitting reset on vacation! For me, it’s more like hitting the rewind button sometimes. 😐 Look at you go on those slopes, by the way! You rock!

  23. jill conyers says:

    No to the plane and hotel snacks, but I do enjoy movie popcorn. I’ve resigned to just accept the outrageous prices.

  24. You did great!! It is not easy to make good choices on vacation… I’m glad you decided to join us regardless!

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