(Part 2 of a Series)
Vacation. Warm sunshine, tropical breezes, and the smell of piña coladas and suntan lotion wafting through the air. I once received a postcard from a client that looked as if the picture were a picture taken from the perspective of someone lying in a hammock. A pair of feet in a hammock, white sand, blue water and palm trees filled the background, with a caption that read, “My feet, Cayman Islands”. On the back of the postcard, my client scribbled, “I continue to do my workouts as depicted on this card.” For many, the idea of “vacation” means total relaxation. But all that laying around can cause some serious weight gain. In Part One, I talked about pre-vacation starvation being one key to vacation weight gain. Today, I want to address some other ways to be healthy on vacation.
Weight control comes down to this: It’s all about the math. Outgo versus income of calories. Remember the lady who gained 11 pounds in 7 days? I believe one reason for her weight gain was lack of movement.
Additionally, so many of us think what we need on vacation is REST, when many times we really need a get-away from our regular routine. The whole idea of vacation is that we vacate, right? Getting out of the rut. Leaving normalcy. Living outside the box (or cubicle), as it were. As we age, how many times do we have the opportunity to feel the child-like wonder of a new experience? Remember the first time you rode a roller-coaster? Or, the first time you went to Six Flags or Disneyland? The science supports that people who experience child-like wonder and excitement in their later years have less of the negatives of the aging process than those who don’t. In fact, just reminiscing about those experiences (even years later) can have an immediate positive effect on the human body.
Now with both said – Keeping activity high, and getting out of the rut of normalcy – vacation can be the perfect time to rev up your body and stimulate your senses.
Most of my daily routine requires me to be indoors. Many days, I may only see one hour of daylight. So, to break outside the box, I wanted to go outdoors. On our Carnival Cruise, we were given a list of “shore-tours”, chances to disembark at the ports, and see the local area. There were myriad opportunities to get moving, and to experience some of the best Mexico has to offer. My favorite experience was the Five-Star Natural Adventure Tour at Tres Rios, a five-hour shore tour outside Calica. What caught my eye about this particular tour was the statement, “This is an active excursion and guests should be in reasonable physical condition to participate”.
As we left our ship, Katya Peredo, a very fit, young Mexican woman, with beautiful brown skin and a warm smile greeted us. She would be our guide for the day. As we rode in the charter bus, she told us Tres Rios is a natural reserve with three rivers fed by crystal clear, fresh-water springs called cenotes (ke-NO-tes), that spill into the open sea. When we arrived, Katya led us on a brisk hike through the jungle, until we arrived at our bikes. Yes, bikes. Now, these weren’t fancy geared bikes—they were big bicycles with little seats and wobbly pedals. It reminded me of the bike I first learned to ride on as a kid. We bicycled even further into the jungle, until we reached the beach.
There, we stripped down to swimsuits, and climbed into two-man kayaks. We paddled against the flow of the river to a turn-around point deep in the jungle. There, we rested and cooled ourselves in the water, while Katya told us more about the area, and how they keep it pristine and beautiful. Afterwards, we headed back – this time with the flow of the river.
Now, you might be saying to yourself, “That was a nice little trip”. But, it didn’t end there. When we reached the point where we began in kayaks, Katya led us downriver, to the open ocean. We paddled vigorously straight into the waves, until we passed over the reefs; then kayaked parallel to the shore, until we reached yet another inlet. We kayaked up river again; then back out into the ocean in the opposite direction, until we arrived back at our starting point.
There was still more adventure awaiting us. We beached the kayaks, climbed back on the bikes (again!), and pedaled back along the river to its beginning. From there, we all grabbed snorkels, climbed a makeshift waterslide, and jumped in one-by-one to the cheers of our tour-mates. It was fun watching middle-aged people squeal like kids, as they slid down and hit the water! The cenote sprang underground from this spot, so this snorkel-swim was with the flow of the river back to the sea. Katya told us by keeping our ears out of the water, we could hear jungle sounds as we snorkeled our way down river. It was sensory-overload, as we listened to wildlife in the jungle canopy above, and viewed the underwater life below.
Afterwards, we ate a wonderful buffet, and had a few minutes left to lie around and enjoy the white sand beach, blue water; and yes, even drink a piña colada in a hammock, if we wanted. Then, we had to ride those bikes back through the jungle, all the way back to the bus! (Not surprisingly, most people slept on the bus ride home.)
I must say just writing about what I did on my summer vacation has me feeling better. I stayed active on this trip. Not only did it help keep my weight under control; but it took me outside the box. Riding that big bike and sliding down the water slide took me back to childhood memories. Kayaking and snorkeling were brand new experiences for me. The warm ocean, cool cenotes, and abundant sunshine were just what this trainer needed to break out of the box.
On your next vacation, make a point to search out experiences that produce the wonder you felt as a child. Stay active. Do things that you’ve never done before. Make your vacation an experience that reliving brings about a warm feeling from inside.
Your body and mind will thank you for it.
Don't Go Overboard!