Yes i do sometimes take a break longer than the drive down to Cornwall and back
And Friday i set of for the south of France, for a few days of ridiculously cheap red wine, uncooked meat, croissants, baguettes, aperitifs, cheese and a whole lot more culinary delights!
Well at least some of that lot
For some of clients they have been or are about to head away too, for a well deserved break…but just how deserved…
Some of my clients train or trained for a holiday; to look and feel good on the beach…this is by no means a shallow thing at all. We all want to look good, feel confident, relax and enjoy our time away.
Others are in for a longer time and see a holiday as a blip in the journey that they will enjoy but then get back on the horse right after (no names mentioned here, they know who they are!!)
Neither of these is a wrong or right approach, as often those who train with me for a holiday come back and continue on right where they left off
HOWEVER
The size of that BLIP is what we need to look at
Now im going away and i will relax, but i have an overall long term goal, plus an inbuilt way of life now whereby as much as i relax i still want to maintain that lifestyle to SOME degree.
And yes im aware that a lot of my clients don’t want to live the way i do, sometimes i don’t either. But i enjoy feeling strong, fit, healthy and lean and therefore won’t let a few days on a beach completely set me back
Now im not talking monster gym sessions every day, running and anything i can do to prevent this slippery slope…but i will do the odd run (i find it an amazing way to see a lot of the local area) i will swim in the sea, i will take a skipping rope to add a little variety and i may find a gym to have one session whilst there. Again…i don’t expect this of you…im a pt and its my job to be on it…but this represents a downgrade from my current schedule
So its the size of the blip and any work undone from it you need to be concerned with
Its a case of enjoying yourself, but knowing that IF its a case of 2 steps forward 5 steps back…then theres a world of hard work on their return
However, what a lot of my clients will simply try to achieve is MAINTENANCE
IF you can go away, enjoy yourself, relax, eat and drink a few things that are not necessarily the best for you BUT put in a little effort whilst away to prevent that backwards momentum, then thats a success. On your return you wont face a mammoth task, be gutted by losing all the hard work you put in and lose motivation in the knowledge of the work thats needs to be done
Maintenance actually isn’t that difficult to achieve
You don’t have to be in a calorie deficit, just burn the same as you consume…which is easier than eating less…approaching the task from a being more active point of view rather than a watching what you eat and drink point of view
And all you have to do to achieve this is to NOT just lay on a sun lounger for the WHOLE time you are away…getting cocktails delivered half hourly
BE MORE ACTIVE
Walk, play tennis, jog, use the hotel gym, swim in the pool or sea, run in the pool or sea, play golf, hire some bikes, hire some pedalo’s, play bat and ball on the beach, dig a hole for your kids, surf, scuba, windsurfing, volleyball…the list goes on
It doesn’t take a huge amount of time or effort to get enough activity to ensure a homeostasis of energy in V energy out, youd be surprised
And coming back having had fun, enjoyed the local cuisine whilst being in no worse a position (maybe a pound or two gain) will make it even more a pleasant memory
Next newsletter i write (from the beach) ill explain how this approach can actually pay benefit on your return and boost some fat loss
So au revoir for now and itll be bonjour next week!!
Paul