I was beyond excited to find myself down to two pounds after recently returning from Las Vegas. So how did I lose weight on vacation? I found the middle ground between “Hi, it’s vacation, I’ll do whatever I want!” and restricting myself too much to the point where I didn’t enjoy the ride. (Trust me I’ve done both.)

This was really an experiment. In the past, I’ve traveled to Las Vegas, eaten and drank everything under the sun, and come back the same weight I left. So I thought to myself… what will happen if I make a little effort? Success, that’s what!

So here it is…

location is everything

From the beginning of your planning process, choose a place where you can be active. In Las Vegas, my man loves to walk and explore; we do at least four miles a day. There are many cities with excellent public transportation that make this feasible: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston, to name a few. If that’s not your thing, choose a vacation with activities you’ll enjoy. We golfed 18 holes while we were there. If you like wintery places, try skiing or snowboarding. If you’re naturally drawn to warmer climates like I am, all-inclusive resorts are great for snorkeling, swimming, water biking, and all kinds of activities to keep you moving. In almost all places you can do one of my favorite options: go dancing!

If your idea of ​​a vacation is total relaxation, lying on the beach, or driving everywhere, you’re going to have to work up the calories if you want the flexibility to eat what you want. Stay at a hotel or resort with a gym or fitness center – commit to doing it first thing in the morning and get over it. It is an hour of the day. Sorry for the tough love, but trust me, when you’re eating delicious regional specialties and still watching the scale drop when you get home, you’ll thank me.

pick and choose

When you get up in the morning, decide what food you are going to splurge on. We’re not usually breakfast people so we just have protein bars and bananas and that’s good enough for breakfast. However, when we know we’re going to be super active, like the day we played golf, we go for a bigger breakfast later. If we want to go to a buffet or somewhere we’ll eat a ton, we try to have a light snack at lunchtime and then go around 3 or 4 to help us through the night.

leave it there

This is by far the hardest for me. Don’t eat everything on your plate. The portions are always too big. I have terrible clothes in this apartment. During the holidays, I especially felt that I had to finish everything because there was no fridge in our hotel to take her back. My man kept saying “you don’t have to finish it”. I really appreciated this support because he is one of the cheapest people I have ever met.

keep it simple

I didn’t track my calories while I was out, but I was mindful of consuming protein and vegetables at each meal. If you try to do this, you know you’re getting some nutrients and not all the junk 🙂

While I’m drinking shit, don’t spend all your calories on liquid. I’m not saying cut out all margaritas, martinis, and fru fru drinks because trust me, I love them. However, the sugar content is so high in all of these, it goes right into your belly (I’m not a dietitian or a doctor, but I’ve worked as a weight loss consultant and, come on, you know that’s true). The same happens. with the fancy lemonades and shakes. So have one or two on the trip, but stick mostly to water, diet soda (I know this one can be controversial but I can’t seem to put it down), light beer, wine, vodka or rum and diet, etc. .

You can do those things, right? Of course he can! Have a nice holiday; I’m sure you deserve it.

One last thing, a vacation beauty tip: DO NOT cut your hair the day before vacation or you might end up with bangs like me. They are only now beginning to reach a normal length.