5 EASY STEPS to regret-free vacations

A client of mine recently shared that she was nervous about an upcoming vacation she had planned because she wasn’t sure how it fit in to our weight loss program.

She was nervous about the eating, drinking, and weight gain that vacations “always entail”.

Here’s the thing:

Vacations don’t have to always entail anything.

A vacation, by definition, does not include the words “food” or “alcohol” at all.

Merriam-Webster says that a vacation is a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation;  a respite or a time of respite from something.

Respite is defined as a period of rest or relief.

The next time you plan a vacation, ask yourself what is a respite for me?

What brings you deep rest and relief from your day-to-day hustle?

Be honest.

Is a respite for you a time of overconsumption and indulgence?

Does gorging at an all you can eat buffet and downing sugary cocktails and a bottle of wine bring you deep relaxation?

Um, no.

That shit just brings you stress, anxiety, and discomfort.

Your anxious ahead of time about the weight gain.

Your worry, maybe subconsciously, during the indulgence about the looming food/booze hangover and the inevitability of weight gain.

You stress after the event about how you are going to make up for it all-- the hangover, the bloat, the weight gain.

Then you start your frenetic mental planning.

Planning to “be better”.

To not eat carbs tomorrow.

To workout more.

Go Paleo.

Do portion control.

The whole bit.

And the vicious diet drama cycle continues.

As it has for ages.

And you spend your precious life energy beating yourself up for it all.

Knowing damn well you’ll do it all again on your next vacation.

“But I had fun!” you’ll say.

And you did...

But the net result is negative.

So really, it wasn’t that fun.

And here’s the thing:

 You deserve to have mind-blowing fun in your life. ​

You deserve to have so much fun you can’t see straight.
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Your life should be full of real fun.

Real fun always has a net positive result.

And that means having fun on vacation and not “paying for it later”.

Fun is not transactional with self-loathing.

How to have more fun--and no regrets-- on your next vacation

The goal of any vacation should be to have a net positive experience.

Here's how to make that happen.

Spend some time thinking-- or better yet, writing--, ahead of time, about the following questions.
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1. What is real “fun” for you?
2. What is a respite for you?
3. What is the purpose or focus for this vacation? Is it for fun? Respite? Both?
4. Choose activities ahead of time that foster these feelings (fun and/or respite). Maybe you want to dance the night away, or hike through the mountains, lay on the beach, sleep in, or take yoga classes. Choose wisely.
5. How do you want to feel after consuming food and alcohol? Decide what that feeling is and then choose food and booze, and in quantities, that foster that feeling.

It all comes down to spending time, ahead of time, thinking about how you want to feel, planning to take action so that feeling that way is inevitable, and then committing to the plan.

Vacations don’t “have” to be anything.

In fact, they should be only what you want them to be.

You get to choose, MamaBoss.

You are in charge.
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Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

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