The Road To Workout Recovery After Vacation

Taking time off from working out is very similar to taking time off from school or your job. When you are in the swing of things, it is very easy to remain consistent and on task as it is a daily routine. When this daily routine is altered or completely aborted, it becomes quite difficult to properly manage one's time and there is sometimes no greater culprit to this, than taking a vacation.

To be perfectly clear, I am not against vacations but I accept the fact that they are not conducive to a physically healthy lifestyle (although the mental health they provide is greatly needed). Think about what happens when you go on vacation... do you typically overeat at meals? Do you trade a 3 mile run for a walk out to get some ice cream? If you answered yes to either of these questions, do not feel bad, it is completely normal and completely acceptable because you're on vacation!

A common tactic among those who are in constant physical training is what's known as a "cheat day". This is generally one day a week where you allow yourself a small indulgence. Perhaps a small brownie or single (reasonably sized) scoop of ice cream which act as a bit of a reward system for staying on task the other 6 days out of the week. The "cheat day" serves another purpose, it acts as a way to satisfy urges for treats that you are normally depriving yourself of.

So what is the best way to get back on task after having six consecutive "cheat days"? I prefer the jump right in approach. For example, today for breakfast I ate a banana with cherries (my normal hard boiled eggs seemed a bit too old and not worth the risk), lunch was a grilled pork tenderloin with a variety of potatoes, my afternoon snack was a cup of Greek yogurt, and dinner was grilled chicken with red beans and rice, and a hearty helping of green beans (had to make up for no veggies at lunch). Tomorrow's meals will be very similar except this time I'll have my egg protein in the morning plus the banana. I also ran today in addition to performing some ab exercises. I have to admit, any lethargy I was experiencing post vacation has pretty much all been washed away. All that is left now... is a good night's rest.