Vacation: Pizza, French Fries and Beer … OH MY!
How To Get Away From It All Without Gaining It All
July 2, 2009
By Candace Grasso, CEO and Founder of Fit Is It, Inc.
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Summer is finally here. Time to fish out the beach towel, cooler, inner tube and sunscreen. You’ll need your SPF15, 30 and 50, too. I actually saw an SPF of 70 the other day. Then I was told you could buy a Super Shear 100+, but that store didn’t carry it. I said, “No worries, if I can’t find it I’ll just drape myself in burlap from head to toe, that should do the trick.” I mean, give me a break!Getting ready for summer vacation can be a daunting task, but I swear it’s getting harder to just get through the sunscreen aisle at the local drug store without having a nervous breakdown. It’s a virtual cornucopia of creams, oils and sprays (not to be confused with “continuous” sprays and disposable towelettes). Paba free, organic, water proof (but still need to reapply after jumping in) and sweat proof, but don’t let it get in your eyes … WHAT?
By the time my sunscreen shopping was over, I also needed to buy some aspirin, take the day off and lie down in a dark room until the pain of the experience had passed.
In all seriousness, we need to protect our skin from the damaging rays of the sun. It’s not to be taken lightly. Skin cancer can be one of the most insidious of all cancers. Every year I have a full body check — from head to toe — by my dermatologist.
However, extremes on either side of the equation can lead to dangerous imbalances. In our attempt to avoid what can be a bad thing, we’ve forgotten that a little is good — great, even! We’re now a nation that is so sun phobic, we’re winning the race toward becoming the supreme Super Power among the walking “vitamin D deficient” sunless supremacists!
It’s all about balance. Balance is what most of us are truly seeking and yet find so hard to achieve.
The Nutrition Branch of our company has overwhelmingly become a great example of things out of balance. In the last two months, it’s exploded with clients calling left and right. Most are calling with a common theme, and most are sounding quite panicked.
You’d think it would be something along the lines of “I beg you, help me! My husband and I are going on a cruise for our 25th anniversary. I haven’t worked out since college and I’ve got about 50 pounds to lose. I want to surprise my husband and knock his socks off by wearing the bikini I wore 25 years ago on our honeymoon cruise. Of course, that was before the four kids and two c-sections … and we’re leaving in six weeks.” Interestingly enough, I actually do get these types of unrealistic, passionate pleas, but being a bit of a straight shooter, I’m likely to tell you that if they still believe in the tooth fairy, they are still holding out for Madonna doing a “PG” tour you can feel comfortable taking your 12 year old to, and you believe in your heart of hearts that Social Security will be available another 25 years from now, you’re in luck! Otherwise, you’ll definitely knock his socks off … but the rest of him might go overboard! (I think these things - I don’t actually say them out loud, or I’d have no career. What comes out is a much more supportive reality check.)
So what is it that has the majority of my clients so panicked? It’s still about vacation, and while I’ve yet to meet a woman who just can’t wait to go bathing suit shopping no matter how good they may be feeling about their physique, that’s not it either.
It sounds more like this: “Candace, you know how hard I worked to get those 15 pounds off … and now I’m leaving for Barbados! What the heck am I going to do? I’m gonna gain it back with all of the eating and drinking I’ll be doing. I’m freaking out!”
During the early part of my career, calls like this used to leave me dumbfounded. Not anymore. I’ve got a handle on this one. And I’ve got great news for you — you can win this fight!
Somewhere along the way, as we pictured the perfect vacation, we began to equate having a great time, letting our hair down and getting away from it all with eating it all! Oh yeah, and in some cases, drinking ourselves silly, too. To that, all I can think to say in response is, “What the heck is all that about?”
When I go on vacation, it’s about the experience. It’s about the places we see. It’s about the people we meet. The sights, the sounds, the total relaxation and rejuvenation of my body, mind and spirit — that’s what gets me stoked!
The restaurants where we’ll be dining are a part of that picture, to be sure. But my thoughts are about the atmosphere, the tastes of the wonderful dishes the chefs have prepared, the views and the time alone with my husband. None of that includes the idea of how much food I’ll be able to shovel in and the “inevitable” weight gain I’ll experience, and then what I’ll have to feel like later and the work required to get rid of it again. It’s just not a part of the picture, nor should it be. Where’s the fun in that?
No matter what you eat, if you eat a reasonable portion you’ll be just fine when it’s all said and done.
Something has happened to this country and I don’t know how, why, when or where we began to equate having a good time with gluttany. Does anyone really like the feeling of being overstuffed … really? Is that what makes your vacation a great experience? And still it continues to happen over and over every year at this time. I’m asked to help people learn how to not do that to themselves.
I usually have this conversation with my clients in private, but now … well … let’s just rip it open and get to the bottom of this insanity.
My dad was from Oklahoma and always had so many great expressions. You know, the kind of statements that cut right to the chase. I wish I’d written them all down. One of them applies beautifully to this scenario.
If you’re afraid to go on vacation for fear of what the food and drink will do to your weight, may I use my father’s words to express the wisdom I’ve learned? “You’ve got the tail wagging the dog!”
The translation is something you’ve most likely heard before: We should be eating to live, not living to eat. If we have it backwards, we’ll never fix it until we find out why we started to think like this in the first place.
That’s my main focus when dealing with nutrition — changing one’s mindset, empowering people to have a proper perspective about food., understanding why we eat when we aren’t hungry and what we can do instead.
Once you learn these things, you’ll win this battle once and for all. And that’s when you start wagging the tail instead of the tail wagging you!
Really, it’s a mental battle, but when you dig deep, go after it and win, you can finally R-E-L-A-X and start to recapture some of the precious energy you’ve lost fighting with this contrary mindset for so many years. It’s more than worth the time it takes to conquer this new way of thinking.
For now, I suggest that you get a journal and take it with you on your trip. Write down all of your experiences, including your confrontations with food. This will help to keep you in line.
If you do break down — doing the ugly American thing and eating everything in sight — take some time to write about how you feel afterward when you are so stuffed you can’t breathe. Is it pleasant? Is there a better way? It’s eye-opening, but more than that, for this trip anyway, it just might stop you from continuing that pattern. (More on this later … possibly another column on creating a new mindset about food.)
It’s important to understand that you have the ability to choose what means more to you. If you don’t want to gain eight or 10 pounds on vacation, great news, YOU DON’T HAVE TO!
I just got back from a good, long trip to Hawaii, where I actually lost weight! I normally do when I’m away, especially if I go to Europe when I walk every darn place I go.
In Hawaii, fresh fruit, veggies and fish are in abundance — but if I had wanted to, I could have done the ugly vacation food thing. I agree that some vacation destinations make it harder to lay off the food, but no matter where you go, you can make great choices — it’s as simple as wanting to.
Once, my client in San Diego flew me out to work with her for the week. On her agenda was a night when she would take me to a restaurant and we’d play what I like to call “Beat the Menu.” I had her pick a restaurant that posed the greatest threat to her healthy life eating plan.
We went there, I looked at the menu (Italian) and, in four minutes flat, I had picked out a low caloric, delicious, healthful meal: broiled fish without the high saturated fat, calorie-dense sauce, no mashed potatoes please and could we substitute two of the vegetable side dishes instead. One six-ounce glass of dry wine, 150 calories … DONE! That was an easy one.
I had a meeting at a Chili’s restaurant recently. They have a guiltless menu. Did you know that? I had a great broiled chicken breast and instead of some of the sides, asked for those to be left off and “twice the steamed broccoli instead, please.” DONE!
On the other side of the equation, when in Italy last year, plate after plate of creamy pasta flowed freely at pre-fixed dinners. In those situations, the key is to eat serving-sizes that are small enough to not sideline your waistline. I did, and I lost a few pounds there, too.
I’m not genetically gifted with one of those testosterone-laden, muscle-driven, male-like metabolisms where I can just pack it in and exercise later to keep my weight in check. Most likely, you aren’t either.
For both of my children’s births, I weighed 189 pounds — and I’m only 5-feet, 4-inches tall. Picture it. I was an EGG! I’m right here in the ring with you in this fight, but we’re never to be counted down and out unless we choose to throw in the towel.
At 47, I’m now in the best shape of my life. It’s not some special formula — it’s just wanting it bad enough. You can’t pry that towel out of my hands. You with me, sisters?
So here are three tips that will have you coming home just as you left while having a fabulous vacation:
- Decide ahead of time what indulging really means to you. Prepare your mind for a new way of thinking. For me in Hawaii, my dinners were often overshadowed by my handsome husband and the sunset. For you it might be something else, but everyone and every place has its charm.
- Enjoy your food and have some wine if that’s what you like. I did. Remember, no food is off limits. It’s all about serving sizes. I had a little desert each night. A few bites are all you need to enjoy the flavor.Remember to drink water and other low-calorie drinks. When you travel, especially if you fly, you can become dehydrated, and thirst is often mistaken for hunger.
- Move daily. Each morning I ran. If morning doesn’t work, do it in the afternoon (which I also did twice). If the kids are with you, be creative. If you’re hoofing it through Disney, that will take care of itself. Just don’t feel the need to eat an entire plate of chili cheese fries!
Rest well, my friends. We don’t get away from it all to stuff ourselves silly and come back feeling like Shamu … what fun is that? We get away to GET AWAY! Resting up can actually aid you in maintaining a healthy weight while you enjoy your vacation to its fullest.
I’m home today. I’m happy, well rested and reflecting on one of the best vacations I’ve ever had. And yes, some of those memories included dining at great restaurants. I honestly can’t tell you everything I ate at every meal, but I can tell you the colors of the sunsets and what my husband and I laughed about. I can also tell you what it feels like to have enjoyed all of that as well as what it feels like to be wearing my “skinny jeans” today … fitting quite nicely, I might add!!
I truly indulged in the ways that matter most to me. Give it a try and R-E-L-A-X!
Until next time, aloha and, as always … Power On!
Candace Grasso is CEO and Founder of Fit Is It, Inc. With more than 18 years of experience in the fitness industry, she holds six national certifications, including Nutrition Specialist with The American Academy of Sports Dietitians and Nutritionists. As a professional athlete, she has been honored by PowerBar with membership to the prestigious Team Elite. She has traveled the world coaching, teaching and motivating others, and can be seen on WBAL, Baltimore’s NBC television affiliate, as a weekend fitness expert. Visit www.fitisitcardio.com to learn how you can download her new Cardio Fit workouts, including stress management with her Stretch Fit & Relax series.
