I spent this past weekend in Bermuda with Lu, as a truly final, last hoorah trip before the baby comes. We stayed at the lovely Rosewood Tucker’s Point.
There was a lot of relaxing, sleeping, and practicing self care (all while in the gorgeous Bermuda sun, of course!)
Today, I’m sharing some of my ‘staying healthy while traveling’ tips, along with my go-to smoothie recipe, which I always like to start the next day back from vacation with!
AND, I have an exciting giveaway with ALOHA, one of my favorite healthy lifestyle brands.
When I go on quick weekend trips, I like to keep it healthy with a few general tips I stay committed to – and then, when I get back, I always make sure that first day back, I get right back into the swing of things.
Keeping Healthy While Traveling
While I travel, I like to enjoy myself, of course. However, a healthy lifestyle is exactly that – a lifestyle. It’s not something you do Monday through Thursday. It’s something you commit to for your life, not just certain days or spans of time. I choose a healthy lifestyle because I want to feel good as much as humanly possible, instead of just certain days of the week.
I learned a long time ago that you don’t have to eat everything your heart desires and throw your healthy lifestyle out the window to enjoy yourself on vacation. And guess what? You won’t be enjoying yourself when you’re laying on the beach, feeling groggy in a food coma.
Here are my main 3 tips (and you can also read this post for more):
- MOVE! Exercise at the resort’s gym, do your own outdoor workout, or just make sure you’re walking and moving for a good portion of the day. If I know I’m going to laying down on a beach chair for the next 7 hours, I’m squeezing in a trip to the gym before breakfast. If I’m going to have a jam-packed, active day, I’ll skip the gym – but as long as I’m active, that’s what’s important.
- Drink a lot of water. It’s so simple and I say it all the time, because it’s so true. Don’t overlook this. Dehydration leads to a ton of gnarly symptoms – even hunger! Water makes your bodies function properly. Drink up!
- Eat veggies as much as possible. I try to eat vegan or vegetarian up until dinner while I travel – that’s what works best for me, but if you’re more of a carnivore, try just making sure you sneak in veggies at each meal – perhaps it’s just veggies in your morning omelette and greens in your sandwich. Whatever it is, make sure you get vegetables into your meals.
And also, I love to pack healthy snacks and keep my immune system bolstered while traveling, to avoid dehydration and/or getting sick.
One of my favorite brands to do this with is ALOHA, because they have a bunch of travel-friendly healthy products to keep you feeling good while traveling. Here are their products that I brought with me on this trip to Bermuda:
- Protein bars – my favorite flavors are ‘Peanut Butter & Jelly’ and then ‘Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip’ when I need something sweet. They’re jam-packed with protein, so a great way to get through the afternoon before dinner. I like having them on flights to keep me full while I wait to land and have a proper meal.
- Superfood Greens – this superfood powder comes in travel-sized pouches that are perfect to put in your luggage or purse and have for when you need a quick boost. I’ll simply stir them into a glass of water or like I did on this trip, into a lemonade. You can also put them into smoothies (just ask your waiter/server to add the pouch!) or ask for steamed almond milk and pour a pouch in for a latte!
- Teas – ALOHA has amazing tasting teas! I have to be careful now because I’m pregnant (herbal teas are kinda ‘unchartered territory’ in pregnancy and caffeine is somewhat discouraged), but the Protect Tea was doctor approved and good thing, because it has always been my favorite. It’s loaded with immunity-boosting ingredients. I love having tea on airplanes – the teas on airplanes are typically loaded with fillers and come in boring flavors (ugh, English Breakfast!)
If you want to try any of ALOHA’s products, use code INSPIRALIZED20 for 20% off!
How to Recover After Vacation
Here are my 3 tips on how to snap right back into it after an over-indulgent weekend or vacation.
No regrets! Shift your mindset.
Part of the issue with many people’s views on ‘getting back on track’ after vacation or an indulgent weekend is that they feel such guilt and anguish over it. And I’m definitely guilty of this in the past! You should never use words like “gross” or “fat” or “disgusting” to describe yourself. I hate when I get a text from a friend and they say, “Ugh, I feel like a gross pig, I drank and ate so much this weekend!”
A negative mind and attitude is something you need to rid yourself of. You shouldn’t feel regrets about a fun weekend spent with your friends – or whoever you were spending time with. Feel grateful for the time you got to spend with these people and all the memories you made. It’s okay to let your hair down and party – or eat a slice of cake. It’s all part of living life – and there are lots of people out there who don’t have the same opportunities as you do to lie a free, fun life. Never take those moments for granted and complain. And food should never bring fear or ‘regret.’ It’s just food – don’t give it to so much power, don’t let it rule your life, and you’ll find sticking to a healthy lifestyle much, much easier.
The less power you give food, the more power you give yourself – and thus, you won’t feel ruled by food. It’s liberating and allows you to enjoy life more!
Ease back into exercise
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to not overdue it. If I’ve really gone overboard (say, it’s like a July 4th weekend and I spent 4 days drinking, eating sweets, and loads of BBQ food), diet is most important when you get home. I’ll spend the first day back (say, a Monday) focusing on food – making the right food choices and drinking TONS of water. Then, I’ll either skip working out OR I’ll do a very low-impact, low-intensity form of exercise, such as an hour long walk. Just anything to get my blood flowing, but nothing to leave me haggard and tired again.
The worst thing you can do is overdue it by restricting your diet AND working out hardcore for an hour. Your body will be in shock and it’s not a sustainable way to recover.
Naturally detox by simply eating clean
I don’t believe in juice cleanses or detoxes. I find that these sorts of behaviors cause me personally to engage in restrictive behavior. Also, I hate the feeling of feeling hungry and not being able to eat – or worse, wanting to eat something healthy and not being able to. In my experience, eating clean (and primarily vegan) for 1-3 days straight is all you need for your body to naturally detox and get right back on track. You could feel like poop on a Monday morning and then come Wednesday, you feel like yourself again – just from properly nourishing your body through real, whole foods. No bitter green juice necessary.
One of my go-tos is a nourishing, protein-packed smoothie bowl the day back from vacation or a weekend spent with lots of unhealthy eats. I make sure all my ingredients are clean and that there are nourishing, anti-bloating, hydrating benefits to all the ingredients.
Here’s the recipe, using ALOHA’s plant-based protein powder in Vanilla (it’s my favorite protein powder!).
Spinach Protein Smoothie Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 medium frozen banana
- 1/4 cup frozen blueberries or a large handful
- 2-2.5 packed cups of spinach or kale
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon almond butter or peanut butter
- 1 scoop of ALOHA's Vanilla Protein Powder
- 1/4 - 1/3 cup of unsweetened almond milk enough to reach a smoothie consistency
- For topping: raspberries granola, chia seeds, toasted coconut flakes
Instructions
- In a high speed blender, combine the banana, blueberries, spinach, nut butter, protein powder, and almond milk and blend until smooth.
- Pour the smoothie into a bowl and top with desired toppings. I love raspberries, granola, chia seeds, and toasted coconut flakes. Serve!
ALOHA Giveaway
Giveaway time! One lucky reader will win an assortment of ALOHA’s Protein Bars, a tub of their Protein Powder (in the flavor of your choice!) and a tub of the Superfood Greens. To enter to win, use the widget below. Winner will be announced this Friday at 5pm EST, so be sure to check back! Open to US addresses only.
And if you can’t wait and want to order something for yourself, remember to use code INSPIRALIZED20 for 20% off your entire order!
Thank you to ALOHA for sponsoring this post and my trip to Bermuda. I love working with and featuring brands that align with my values about health. All opinions are my own, always.
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