Vacations are meant to be fun, but they also can feel hard. You want to indulge, but you also want cease the day without feeling too full to move . Fortunately, I have some tips for you that can help you enjoy your food and your vacation.
Healthy Eating Hacks for Vacations and Frequent Travelers
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When traveling, bring healthy snacks instead of stopping at fast food places.
Do the eating out tricks found in the “Eating Out post during your vacation.
Find a balance. If you are eating at a restaurant you have been looking forward to all year, then go for it; get what you want even if it is a little less nourishing. At other times, choose foods that will help your body thrive while on vacation. Check out The Nourishing Meal Builder for a list of foods that help with mood, bloating, energy, and brain focus.
Eat nourishing foods for breakfast and lunch and splurge a little at dinner.
Take a walk around the terminal while you are waiting for your flight.
Do crunches, push-ups, and stretches everyday in your hotel room.
Plan fun physical activities for your vacation like hiking, swimming, canoeing, skiing, and walking while sightseeing.
You have probably seen those Beachbody Exercise Programs on T.V. commercials. You know, this is the company that makes those famous workout programs like P90X, Insanity, 80 Day Obsession, Piyo, Core De Force, 21 Day Fix and so much more. In fact, Beachbody has 600+ workouts! Now you can get all of the Beachbody programs at once with the Beachbody on Demand app, but do these popular programs live up to all the hype…My answer is, ‘Yes, they do, and here are 10 reasons why…’
Do Those Beachbody Programs Actually Work?
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1. Positive Results
I can honeslty say I am in my best shape whenever I am doing one of these programs. I like to change up my workouts so I have tried all kinds of Beachbody and non-Beachbody programs, but I have gotten the best results from Beachbody, hands down.
2. Great For Busy People
Several of the Beachbody programs are only 25 minutes. These fantastic express programs include Shaun T’s Focus T25, 22 Minute Hard Corps, Insanity Max:30, P90X3, and more.
Plus if you don’t even have 25 minutes, you can stop and start these programs throughout the day on your phone. I have a 4 year old who sometimes interrupts my workouts. One minute I’m doing a mountain climber exercise, the next minutes I am fixing my daughter a heart-shaped cheese sandwich per her loud request. I simply pause the app, fix the snack, and then resume the workout in the kitchen. You know, because she insists that I stay in the kitchen while she eats.
3. Portability
Sooo portable! Since this is an app, I can take the workout anywhere. I have done a workout in the middle of a hotel room! You can play these workouts on your phone, tablet, computer, laptop, and AppleTV.
4. Variety
Variety is the spice of life AND workouts! I sometimes do a whole program or pick and choose workouts from different programs each day depending on my mood. I can do Hip Hop Abs with Shaun T one day, and then lift weights with Tony Horton the next. If I am not near any weights on a particular day then I can find a program that only uses your body weight for resistance. Did I mention there are 600+ workouts to choose from!
5. Your Entire Family Can Use the Program
If you have ever read any of my other posts, you know that I try to encourage the whole family to live an active lifestyle. It’s just so fun! Beachbody on Demand even includes workout programs for kids. How cool is that?!?!
6. You Can Easily Fit These Workouts Into Any Routine
I love a good workout class in the gym, but I often find that the time of the class doesn’t fit into my schedule. Sometimes my favorite class will fall right when my son has soccer practise every night or when I have a monthly meeting. Occasionally, I have gone to class to find that the instructor had to cancel due to illness or a family emergency. Hey, life happens, but with Beachbody, you can still get in your workout even when life gets crazy. You can fit your workout in anytime and anywhere! Like I mentioned earlier, you can even stop and start it in dfferent rooms if you need to.
Does Beachbody Live up to the Hype
7. You Get Interactive Support if you Want
When you purchase Beachbody on Demand, a Beachbody coach is included. These coaches give you online support and encouragement. You can go to them for support or do it on your own if you prefer. Do what works for you. Many of these coaches set up fun challenge groups, and when you join these groups you will find a whole group of people to motivate and cheer for you. I love how we encourage and uplift each other in these groups. By the way, my coach is Healther Wilson, and she is wonderful!
8. You Can Workout in your Own Home
No need to drive to a gym or even get dressed up. I workout in my sweat pants, and I don’t even brush my hair or wear makeup when I do these workouts, and its wonderful!
9. Saves Time
Sooo since you don’t have to drive to a gym or get dressed, you will save so much time for all the other things on your to-do list! And remember, Beachbody offers many workouts that are less than 30 minutes!
10. Healthy Cooking Shows included on Beachbody on Demand
My goal when I started this blog was to help people customize and find tips that will work specifically for them. We are all so individual, and there are many ways to get healthier. So although Beachbody is a great workout option for many reasons, maybe you want to try something different. I have several post that can help you pick which workout routines will work for you. Check out these workout posts below:
And that is it, my top 10 reasons why Beachbody on Demand is worth the Hype. I would love to hear from you in the comments. Do you use Beachbody on Demand? Which programs have you tried? Or have you found another way to workout that you love?
Sometimes we get bored with our regular exercise routine and are ready for a change. Or perhaps you have always found conventional exercise boring. If you are looking for creative ways to get in your exercise, you have come to the right post. Check out these fun and creative exercise ideas. What might be boring and conventional to one person might be a perfect fit for another. You find what works for you.
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5. Find different places to walk: Visit museums, zoos, farmer’s markets, parks, malls, or a pool. Walking is so much fun when you are surrounded by interesting scenerary.
12. Take up Golf. Walk instead of using a golf cart.
13. Take a karate class.
14. Take a dance class: ballroom, jazz, ballet, tap, clogging, contemporary, line dancing. So many fun choices!
15. Watch Youtube or music videos and try to learn the dances.
16. Take kickboxing.
17. Do an exercise video through an app. The choices are endless. I love Beachbody on Demand. You can try it for free by clicking this link: Stream over 600 workouts and 100+ healthy cooking shows 14 Days FREE on Beachbody on Demand!. You have probably seen their DVDs on a commercial. This is the company that makes those amazing workout programs like P90X, Insanity, Piyo, 80 Day Obsession, and so much more. In fact, they have 600+ workouts. Now instead of purchasing one of their workout programs, you can do ALL of them by purchasing Beachbody on Demand 12 Month Membership for $8.25/month. Once you purchase Beachbody on Demand, you can use any of their workouts for a whole year, and you can workout anywhere by playing them on your phone or iPad. They have everything from yoga to weight lifting to hip hop abs.
18. Try Yoga. You can do yoga at yoga studios and gyms or in your own home with the help of videos or yoga apps.
19. Palate. Like yoga, you can do palates at home or in a gym. Palates focuses on your core muscles and is a particularly great way to exercise your abs.
20. Try canoeing or kayaking. Canoeing is a great upper body workout you get to do in the beauty of nature.
You can also develop your own weight loss plan by using the free DIY Diet self assessment and evaluation developed by a registered dietitian. Use this questionaire to determine which tips work best for you.
What you Need to Know to Develop Your Own Exercise Plan
So you have decided to start an exercise plan or routine, but where do you begin? Use these tips below to develop an exercise plan that works for your lifestyle. You can always develop one plan, and then pick another plan if your original plan doesn’t workout (pun intended).
Develop your Exercise Plan
Consider these Basics When Developing an Exercise Routine
Remember to drink water before, during, and after workouts so that you won’t “hit the wall” or become dehydrated. Make sure you stay hydrated so that you can work out harder and burn more calories, and more importantly drinking water prevents dehydration which can be dangerous.
If you want to prevent plateauing, vary your activities. Changing up your exercises will cause muscle confusion so that your muscle are always having to work. Plus when you vary your activities you won’t get bored. Click here for 34 Creative Ways to Exercise.
Include strength training. Muscle burn more calories than fat, so try twenty minutes of strength straining two to three times a week. Strength training also reduces injury, improves balance, and helps maintain your bones.
When you do hit a plateau, increase either your exercise intensity or duration.
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Pick an Activity that Fits into Your Schedule
Are you a morning person? If you need to set your alarm an hour early so that you can workout before work, then do it! Many people find morning workouts ideal. Why? People often do better with their eating throughout the day when they have started the day off well. After you have had a hard exhilarating workout, you are motivated to keep going the rest of the day. The same goes for getting an early start during the week. If you do well on Monday with your exercise and eating habits, chances are you will stay motivated for the rest of the week; however, slipping up on Monday can slow down your motivation IF you let it.
What if working out in the morning just doesn’t fit in your schedule? Try working out after work. Some of my clients made a committment to workout right after work, before doing anything else. They even pack their shoes and workout clothes so that they don’t even have to go home first. Once you go home and begin relaxing, you might get too relaxed to jump up and exercise. Even if you exercise at home, you can still decide to exercise first- before you sit down.
Maybe you have to wait until the evening to get that workout in. Your kids need you until bedtime, but after bedtime you have free time to workout. This might be a little harder for some, but I know many who have made the committment to workout in the evening.
Okay, so you have read the three above tips, and your saying, “I hear you, Lacy, but I really don’t have 30 spare minutes in my day and I KNOW I’m not going to workout late at night OR get up earlier than I already have to! What do I do?” I have an idea you might enjoy. May I share it with you?…You can sneak in your exercise! To find out how, check out my post entitled, “How to Sneak in Exercise when you Don’t have Time to Exercise“
Perhaps your children are ALWAYS with you so you need to find a way to workout with them around. For exercise ideas you can do with your children check out “How to Exercise When Your Kids are ALWAYS Around” post.
Whether you workout in the morning or the evening, choose an activity that fits into your daily life and make sure you schedule your exercise into your week.
Pick an Activity that Fits your Personality
Choose activities you enjoy and you will be more likely to stick with them. Explore new physical activities or find a physical hobby. For more creative fun ideas, check out my post “Exercise Doesn’t Have to Be Boring” for ideas.
Ask yourself, several questions to determined what type of workout will work for you. Would you prefer working out in a group or alone. Do you want to go to a gym or workout at home? If you like working out in a group, perhaps you could join a walking group. Don’t know of a walking group? Create your own walking group! Do you want to workout with a friend? Ask a friend to workout with you. You can encourage and motivate each other! Do you prefer working out by yourself at home? You could try an exercise app like the Fitbit Coach app or the Beachbody on Demand 6 Month Membership for $9.84/month . These apps have a huge variety of workouts you can follow daily. These apps often even include calendars so you can either follow their schedule or pick which ever workout you feel like doing that day. You can find exercises in these apps that fit into any schedule, and you can watch these videos on your phone, ipad or stream it through compatable TVs. If you have the Fitbit Ionic Watch, you can even watch the Fitbit Coach app through your watch. You don’t even have to pull out your phone! Click on the link to check out the Fitbit Ionic watch: Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch, Blue-Gray/Silver, One Size (S & L Bands Included). On a personal note, I am currently doing Beachbody on Demand, and I love it! You can try it for free by clicking the link: Stream over 600 workouts and 100+ healthy cooking shows 14 Days FREE on Beachbody on Demand! I have used them for a long time so I know these workouts work! I also love having a set workout plan for an extended period of time, and I am currently doing an 80 day program. Beachbody on Demand even provides you an online coach. I love my Beacbody coach and friend. Her name is Heather Wilson and you can find her Beachbody link by clicking here.
Do you like variety? Pick a different activity to do each day. One day you could aerobics and another day you could wash your car. Or Pick exercise from the lists here,here, and here.
Plan for the Unplanned
So you have made your schedule. You have your routine down to a science and then…life happens. You can actually plan for the unexpected.
When you can’t get to your normal workout, you can try to sneak exercise into your day. Say you normally get up in the morning to exercise, but for some reason you couldn’t fall asleep last night and now you NEED to sleep in. Instead of doing an hour workout, try sneaking exercise in throughtout the day using the ideas in the “How to Sneak in Exercise” post.
If you normally walk or workout outside, but the weather is bag. Have a backup plan in place like “I will exercise with a video if the weather is bad.” Remember to find a way to stay active in the winter.
If you would like to evaluate your own diet and determine which tips work best for you, please take the free DIY Diet self assessment and evaluation developed by a registered dieititian.
to make exercise a game.
is a fun exercise set that includes an exercise jump rope.
) and do your own pool workout.
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. On a personal note, I am currently doing Beachbody on Demand, and I love it! You can try it for free by clicking the link: 