3 REASONS TO KEEP WORKING OUT ON VACATION

As I was packing my bags for St. Lucia, I did what a lot of people never would:  I double checked to make sure I had my P90X3 workout routines, and plenty of workout clothes. Entering into Phase 3 of X3 had me feeling motivated, and I didn't want to mess with the momentum I had gained over the last two months.

Vacation seems to carry with it this feeling that we are able to have complete abandonment when it comes to our seemingly regular daily routines, and this includes our diet and exercise.  What I want to give you here are 3 reasons why staying on track with your diet and exercise for at least 80% of your vacation, will keep you motivated and help you feel like you're making the most of your time.

1. Your Metabolism Will Work with You

I would be lying if I said I jumped out of bed every morning and went straight to the gym.  There will be days that a workout just isn't going to happen.  When boarding a boat at 8 a.m. I really wasn't too concerned about making sure I was up at six in order to get my workout in before the excursion. However, making sure you fit your workouts in on most of your days allows you a little leeway when it comes to your diet.

When you are working out on a regular basis, and you have built a solid amount of muscle mass, you gain a bit of a "free pass" when it comes to your buffets. That is not to say that you should wake up and stuff your face every day, but if you're making pretty solid food choices throughout the day, having one dessert every night is not going to completely derail your weight loss.

I will not forget the shock in Chad's voice when we got home and he weighed himself and he had not gained any weight.  This doesn't shock me because I know how active we were, and more importantly, I knew that after two months of solid workouts, his body had built enough muscle, and his body's metabolism had gained enough momentum that a few bad food choices and couple lazy days were not going to cause a five pound weight gain.

My point is this: if you stay mostly active, and make mostly good food choices, the other 20% of the time is not going to destroy your weight loss.  It certainly won't progress you forward, but it's not going to kill your momentum.  However, if you choose not to be at all active, drink all day, eat as much as you possibly can, and haven't been active for weeks or months, you're going to feel weighed down, and you're going to gain weight.  Set yourself up for success, and continue on that path for as much as your vacation as you can.

2. Believe It or Not, You Will Enjoy Your Vacation More

To quote Elle Woods: "Exercise give you endorphines. Endorphines make you happy.  Happy people just don't shoot their husbands. They just don't."

Want to be happier?  Want to fully enjoy your vacation with your loved ones? Want to have more energy and feel better? Work out!  It's not just about feeling accomplished, but also about your body producing endorphines. A solid 30-minute workout will provide you with extra energy, as well as help you make better food choices.

You will start to feel the difference in your body on the days that you fuel your body right, and the days you choose to eat crap. After working with several PT clients, I have found that most people make better food choices when they have worked out compared to sedentary days.  I'm not sure why there is a correlation between these two things (the lack of exercise with the lack of good food choices), but there seems to be one, and we can curb this by merely getting a workout in on as many days as possible.

3. Returning to Your Regular Schedule is Easier

Skip a whole week of workouts and the results can be far more devastating than you think, especially if you haven't been on a regular routine for more than three months.  You'll start to make excuses for missing workouts, and you'll start feeling lethargic from not moving regularly.  One week becomes two, two becomes three, and all of a sudden any gains you have made start to decline.  By making your workouts a regular part of your day, it won't be nearly as difficult to hop right back into your schedule when you return home.

Vacation helps us to decompress, but sometimes it can make us feel a tad bit depressed when we return to reality.  By keeping your workouts a regular part of your routine, it's one less thing for you to resent when you return home.  And, again, it increases our endorphines, which helps us feel happy.