Normalizing

I am back from vacation and had a great time!  Hopefully there are pictures to come soon! 

Usually at the end of any vacation - even a 2 day one - getting back into normal eating and fitness habits is tough.  Here are my tips for getting out of vacation mode and back into normal mode.

1)  Put away or give away any leftover vacation food. In my case, I gave away two boxes of snack cakes and brought a box of cookies to work.  You are probably wondering what I was doing with the items to begin with?  V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N ... it sometimes includes junk food.

2)  Make your next meal SUPER healthy!  My afternoon snack yesterday was Quaker Squares mixed with plain unsalted peanuts - satisfying and healthy.  My dinner with grilled chicken and eggplant along with roasted broccoli.

3)  Do not deprive yourself.  I usually go for something sweet after dinner (usually a scoop of dark chocolate peanut butter or a handful of sweet potato chips).  Last night was no different...except it has half of a leftover cookie.

4) Get a good nights sleep. It makes everything easier.

5)  Get back into your weekday food routine...plus added snacks if necessary.  If you are like me, you maybe eat a little more when on vacation.  I think that that is normal.  Now, what happens is you show up at work the next day armed with a granola bar, some almonds, a peach, tuna and salad...not bad.  But you are going to be hungry...you need to ease back into your normal routine or you are going to be cranky and may crash and burn.  I added some crackers and peanut butter to my usual lunch.

6) Get to the gym.  Go for a run.  Do SOMETHING to burn some calories and get rid of that vacation-is-over funk.

7)  Drink water - TONS.  You probably ingested a ton of sodium over vacation.  Flush it out.

By the end of your weekday, you should hopefully be back in your normal routine and not craving bizarre vacation food and drinks.  In fact, you should be feeling lighter and have a bit more energy.  I personally have a few more of these steps to complete before I am normalized!