It’s been a glorious summer, even here in England, although it looks like it’s over now. Whether you’ve taken advantage of that to holiday at home, or still taken your break on the continent, chances are you’ve let your diet slip a little. And quite right too – you’re on holiday, so your priority is to enjoy yourself. A little indulgence now and then is hardly going to trouble you. As long as you’re able to return to your healthy lifestyle once you get home.
Unless you’ve gone self-catering, you’ve probably been eating out a lot. Restaurant meals are often as full of calories as fast food. You eat larger portions, you can’t control what they’ve added to the food, and you probably drink more alcohol or fizzy drinks with it.
Maybe you’ve been on a sporty holiday with lots of activity, and kept your fitness levels up, but many of you will have just lain on the beach like you deserve, and you’ll almost certainly feel out of breath when you start running again at home.
So what do you need to do to make sure this relaxed but unhealthy lifestyle doesn’t become routine?
The first thing is don’t equate relaxed with unhealthy. Stress plays a factor in weight gain and also causes you to crave foods with high sugar and fat content. So getting your stress down is really good. Try to remember that relaxed feeling even as you return to work and don’t let a wall of stress overwhelm you. Look into mindfulness and relaxation techniques to help.
Routine is also key to keeping your diet or any other resolution going. If you were well into a routine with your work and fitness life before you went on holiday, then let your return to work trigger your old routine. Easing yourself back into work by allowing yourself a few more days of eating out, or promising you’ll get back to your fitness regime once you’ve settled at work will only make it harder to kick start your routine again. Of course, you may need to lower your targets at first, eg shorter runs, smaller weights to build yourself back up, but get straight back into the routine, and adjust your targets gradually.
Drink water. If your appetite has increased while you were away, you’ll feel hunger pangs when you return to your healthy diet. Take a glass of water, it’ll help you feel fuller and often the hunger will pass in 10 minutes or so. Find something to keep you occupied for 10 or 20 minutes and you’ll find you’ve forgotten you were hungry.
If you do eat out, try setting aside a third of your meal. Ask for a doggy bag and have the leftovers for your lunch the next day. Not only is it great value for money, but you’ll be surprised how easy it is to eat a smaller portion and still feel full.
Don’t beat yourself up. It’s not easy sticking to a diet at the best of times. When you’ve had a break and are trying to get things going again, you’re likely to fail now and again. Don’t worry about it. Acknowledge it, and go easy the next day to make up for it. Feeling like a failure will only increase your stress levels and drive you to comfort eating again. If it helps, allow yourself a little splurge once a week or fortnight. If you know you’re allowed it at the weekend, it’ll help you look forward to that instead of sneaking it in during the week.
Of course, the easiest way to stick to your diet is to let us do it for you. Tell us your aims and what foods you like or don’t like, and we’ll deliver a delicious, fresh and healthy food plan to your door every day. It’s fully personalized, stress free and takes all the confusion out of what to buy and when to cook. All you have to do is eat it.
Contact us 7 days per week on 020 86269360 between 9.00am and 21.00pm or via www.totaldietfood.com
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After the Holiday | Total Diet Food - London's Fresh and Personalised Diet Delivery Service
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