How to Get Back into a Healthy Routine after Vacation
Vacation is our absolute favorite time of the year because it is the one time when we can just forget about all our worries and problems and simply let go and focus on ourselves.
However, if you are trying to start living a healthy lifestyle, you’ll sometimes find that it’s a bit difficult to get back on track with it after a long, wonderful vacation.
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I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen by offering you some advice on how to quickly get back to your healthy routine once your time off comes to an end. It’s not as difficult as you might think as long as you have the correct approach, and today I want to share some essential points on what I consider that to be.
Make Your Vacation Fulfilling
One of the first points that I want to make is that the better your vacation is, the easier it will be to get adjusted to your regular routine, exercise, healthy meals, and everything else once it’s over.
And an important part of a fulfilling vacation (in my opinion, at least) is letting go completely and not caring what you eat (and how much), how much sleep you’re getting, or anything else. This is the one time in the year when there are no rules, and you should enjoy that until it’s over.
With such a mindset, you’ll give both your body and your mind the rest that they wholeheartedly deserve, and get all your excess stress out of your system. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should purposely eat as much junk food as you can possibly fit into your body and party every day until the sun goes up – just as much as it feels good to you.
As long as you do that, you’ll have a nice, fulfilling vacation that will leave you prepared for all your daily challenges afterward.
Catch Up On Your Sleep
Alright, so you’re home, you’re probably exhausted from your trip, and tomorrow is a work day during which you also have to go to the gym and do a load of other activities. If this is what the end of your vacation looks like, then I highly recommend that you try taking an extra day off before you actually start any of that stuff.
This is just one extra day that you get to spend at home doing absolutely nothing, just preparing your body and mind for the potentially strenuous week in front of you. But most importantly, it’s to help you catch up on all the sleep you potentially lost during the last few days, and a lot of people tend to do just that; they stay up as long as they possibly can with a myriad of different planned activities because they want to make the most of their time off.
This is great, but you need to factor this in when it comes to returning to your normal, healthy routine, and realize that your body will need some time to catch up.
Rehydrate Yourself
Your total energy level depends on a wide range of things, and one of the most critical of them is your water intake and how hydrated you are. To this day, I’m appalled by the fact that countless people don’t drink water at all – they substitute it with soft drinks, coffee, alcoholic drinks, and (maybe worst of all) energy drinks.’
This is an incredibly bad idea and a lot of people are not only impairing their health but also significantly affecting their energy level, leaving them feeling groggy and tired when in reality they aren’t – their organism just needs more water.
When returning from a trip, most people even tend to consciously cut down on the water to make trips to the bathroom less frequent and less necessary, so if this is the case with you, you need to realize that your body will have to make up for that once you get home.
I highly recommend that you drink at least 11 cups of water every day, and you’ll feel that your energy levels will skyrocket compared to what they were before.
Vanessa Davis is a 32-year-old fitness enthusiast, mother of two, and content writer at www.diet.st. She's originally from Long Island, New York, and when she isn't cooking up some new health and fitness article, she enjoys doing yoga and figuring out new, delicious organic-based recipes for herself and her kids.
How about you? Do you have a tip for getting back into a healthy routine after vacation? Do tell!
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I find it difficult to get to a workout routine as well, especially since it’s physically harder than before vacation
@Sandra, it’s better when you go to a city like Paris, Tokyo or New York where you walk and walk and walk – at least you get those steps in!
Great tips! It can be so hard to get back into a familiar routine after vacation. I always take an extra day off so I can sleep, catch up on laundry and have time to transition back into it all.
@Kait, me too, it is a must!
I LOVE this!!! It’s sooo hard for me to get back into my routine after vacation. I was in Italy a few months ago and I was so off after getting back for almost an entire week! Great tips!!
@Adriana, coming back from Europe is hard, it takes me about a week too!
These are great tips. I have a hard time getting back in the swing of things after a vacation.
You definitely need that extra day off. Our bodies do not come with “on and off” switches and transitioning from vacation mode to work mode needs time.
@Annemarie, it is a must for me!
We often forget to eat healthy and take care of ourselves when we’re on vacation. I think these are great tips. Catching up on your sleep is really important since you’re busy with touring and all that while you were on vacation.
@Elizabeth, agreed so much of our health is dependent on how well we sleep, something I’ve learned a lot about recently.
After indulging in food and wine, I think the best way is to detox after returning from vacation. Our bodies will thank us for sure. An extra rest day can also go a long way!
@OurFamilyWorld, GREAT tip!
Great tips! I heartily add my vote to the catching up on sleep! I almost need an extra day or two of vacation from my vacations! 😀
@Kristin, I try to make sure I am back one day before I need to so that I can catch up before the mad rush of returning to work.
Oh my goodness, that’s so hard to do. I remember how tough it was last year. Great tips!
Never noticed how hard it is, because I haven’t gone on vacation in years!
I love vacation time. Time to sit back, relax and have fun. It is usually hard to get back into a great routine when you get back home. Thank you so much for sharing this. Summer vacations will be starting soon for alot of us
@Linda, I suppose it is the price to pay!
a vacation sounds nice!