This is the latest in a series of posts on how to survive vacations and keep your health goals. I had previously discussed cruising and theme parks, so check those out too.

This year we went on a 10-day All-Inclusive trip to a Resort in the Maya Rivera in Mexico.

All-inclusive means that all your food and drinks (including alcohol and snacks) are included in the price.

Like many vacations, having 24hr access to all the food and drink you could want can lead to debauchery and poor decisions.

I only gained 3 pounds in these 10 days and was back to my normal weight in 3 days after our return. I was actually surprised it took 3 days to get back to baseline, but I chalk that up to the strenuous travel schedule we had on our return trip home. That is a story for another day!

So, let’s focus on only gaining 3 pounds in 10 days. How did I do it?

Well many of the same strategies I discussed in those previous posts.

First, start off with health snacks for the travel days (nuts, lots of water, coffee with the BulletProof InstaMix product).

Secondly, Stick to normal routines:

1. I still did my fasted workout in the morning, a little cardio, some strength training and stretching. Nothing excessive, pretty much what I do at home.
2. I intermittent fast normally, so I kept up with that during the trip. I didn’t go down to the breakfast buffet, I just had my coffee, relaxed and read and fasted until somewhere between Noon and 2:30pm depending on that day’s activities.

Things that were different from my normal:

1. I did drink more than normal. To be clear I rarely drink at home, maybe 2-3 drinks every few months. For the first few days I probably had 3-4 drinks per day spread out during the day. Some people might see the free alcohol as a reason to go crazy, and I certainly saw a lot of that, especially with the fruity, sugary, frozen drinks. I stuck with my usual’s, either scotch with water or red wine at dinner. In reality, by the tail end of the trip, my body was done with alcohol and I had one or no drinks the last few days.
2. Whether at the buffet or the ala carte restaurants, there was definitely a lack of vegetables, especially that were not slathered in some mystery inflammatory oil or sauce. To be fair there was a salad bar, but I was pretty cautious with produce that may be washed in questionable water sources. I made sure I had a daily dose of a greens power that I brought mixed in a bottle of water. So, I got my 10-15 servings of fruit and vegetables, all the vitamins and minerals in one quick shot.
3. While I had a ton of avocados (a nice healthy fat source), I was left to fill my plate with the best protein sources I could find. I probably ate more protein than normal as a result.
4. When hanging at the beach or poolside, there is ample opportunity for swimming, snorkeling, sand castle building etc. I also did two scuba dives on this trip. So yes, my overall activity level was a bit higher due to the water related activities, and this likely helped offset the extra protein and the alcohol.
5. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, my sleep quality was not the best on this trip and this also likely had a negative effect to my body and weight gain.
6. While I have a very simple menu rotation of foods at home, repeating nutritious health meals multiple times a week. I found the repetitiveness of the food at the resort to be boring and by the last few days of the trip I was eating what my body needed and not anymore, so this likely helped as well.
7. It was really hot down in Mexico, so I drank more water than normal to stay hydrated. This also helps flush the alcohol out of your system faster and helps with appetite control too.

As I have stated before, just because you are on vacation, somewhere new and exciting and experiencing cool things, you can still enjoy yourself without falling off the wagon and sticking to what you do at home as best as possible.

If you would like more insight into how I vacation with health in mind or how I work on nutrition with my clients click here.