Vacation! Time to completely relax and let the daily grind fall away from you. Sleep in, do fun things and of course enjoy a nice ice cream or local delicacies. Do you still want to pay a little attention to eating healthy even at your vacation destination? Because if you don't cook for yourself, this can be quite a challenge. Here are some tips on how to enjoy and eat healthy on vacation.
Preparation is half the battle!
Do some research on the Internet to find out which restaurants serve healthy or vegetarian food at your vacation destination. Eating healthy at your vacation destination can be quite a challenge. You may be in unfamiliar territory or regularly on the road during your vacation. Quick snacks (ready-made sugar bombs) are lurking. Therefore, make sure you always carry a healthy snack for on the go.
Have healthy snacks in your hand luggage
I'm going on vacation and I'm taking... Raw vegetables, (dried) fruit, nuts or a slice of banana bread. This can go perfectly well in your hand luggage and this way you always have a healthy snack for the road. This way you avoid being at the mercy of unhealthy sandwiches or snacks. Also make sure you stay hydrated while flying. Drink plenty of water and make sure you always have a bottle of water with you.
Have a healthy breakfast, even on vacation
If you have breakfast at home with a protein shake, yogurt with granola or a smoothie, do the same on vacation. Try to maintain your healthy breakfast habit and eat as few luxury breads such as croissants as possible. Make sure you look for a large supermarket and stock up on yogurt, fruit, eggs so you can always put a healthy breakfast on the table. Do you have a breakfast buffet at a hotel? Then have a bowl of fruit first, that way you have laid a foundation and can more easily leave the unhealthy options.
Go for fruits and vegetables
If you make sure you eat enough fruits and vegetables every day, you will at least get your daily doses of vitamins. There is often a greater supply of tropical fruits abroad, so go for the fresh pineapples, melons and papayas. Also look for fruits and vegetables that are not easily found in the Netherlands. Also, choose a nice salad more often. They are high in fiber and low in calories. So you can safely eat a whole plate of these every day without worrying about those extra pounds. Besides, a good portion of salad fills you up well because of the fiber.
Go local
Choose (organic) local products, then you are most likely to get a super fresh meal. If you're on the coast, order a fish, because it really doesn't get any fresher. Also, go to a market more often and shop fresh produce there.
Muscles
You might say that if you sin for a short week, it has little effect on your body. If you eat healthy for the rest of the year, those few days don't matter either, right? Unfortunately, research has shown that your muscles do begin to protest such an "unhealthy" week. You can read about the study conducted at Virginia Tech in the Research Journal Obesity. Healthy students were served unhealthy and fatty foods for five days. It was then found that muscles have a harder time oxidizing glucose after a period of eating fatty foods which increases susceptibility to obesity. This effect occurred after only five days; a relatively short period of time. Another reason to choose healthy meals more often during the vacations
Drink enough!
Oops ... sorry we don't mean wine, cocktails or beer by this. We mean that it is wise to drink enough water. The body sometimes does not know the difference between hunger or thirst. So often you think you are hungry when in fact you should be drinking something. Especially with hot weather, your body really needs more fluids. And especially on vacation this can suddenly slip away!
Enjoy!
The most important tip: ENJOY. Vacations are for relaxing and doing things you like. Make sure you give your body the chance to recharge and de-stress. That way you will return from the vacations refreshed and ready to go again.
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