End of the year travel plans is fast approaching us and you have worked really hard to stay on track towards your fitness goals the entire year and you don’t want to throw all your efforts to the bin just yet over a few weeks of holidaying and having a good time.

So I’ve come up with my own travel tips that has helped me stay on track the entire time I was travelling the islands of Thailand for 2 weeks. 🙂

1. Water – Bring a bottle of water anywhere you go. Sometimes or rather most of the time we are not really hungry, when we think we are hungry. We are actually thirsty. Always hydrate. You have been out all morning walking around, taking tons of pictures and you seem to get a little bit munchy  in the middle of the day and you are eyeing for the nearest ice-cream or the pastry in that corner coffee shop and that’s okay. But always hydrate first and see how you feel after. Save the unnecessary calories.

   

2. Move – Always choose to move. Walk, stroll, hike, bike, skate, stretch, whatever! Just keep moving! Chances are when you are on holiday, you tend to take your time and walk a little slower than usual and want to take the time to look-see instead of the usual crazy commute from home to work to the gym and back, where most Singaporean basically speed walks, myself included. Moving helps keep your metabolism rate flowing, try not to be too lazy… Especially if you are travelling for more than 4-5 days, I would stay indulge but as much as you can keep the body moving.

   

    

3. Don’t Diet – Treat yourself! We either eat whatever we want on a holiday or force ourselves to limit our food intake which in turn only makes you feel more miserable which isn’t necessary, you’re on holiday! Eat whatever you want, try whatever food that is available, especially everything local and authentic! Most importantly is to not overeat and know when you are full. Sometimes we force ourselves to finish that last slice of pizza even though we are not hungry anymore but because ‘we are on holiday’ and ‘we might never get to taste it again’, ‘I am going to force it down my throat’. And that’s not healthy either! Because you would only feel too full to function after and you would not want to move or get to try other delicacies because you would also be forcing it down your throat. It is okay to enjoy yourself! But still everything in moderation!

   

    

4. HIIT – 7 minute HIIT to 20 minute HIIT work outs are all available on my Instagram @bernsthehotnerd 🙂 Save it while you are on holiday the next time, give it a try and let me know! My workouts are super simple and most of the exercises do not need equipment too!

   Example:
   Exercises: Push ups, Mountain Climbers, Jump Squats, Burpees, Negative leg raises, Bicycle Crunches
   Work: 25 seconds Rest: 10 seconds

   

5. Take lots of pictures of food, drinks etc – Accountability! We are not on a strict regimen, we are on holiday! Repeat; HOLIDAY! We don’t need our workout buddy to be at our ears telling us what to eat and what not to eat but when I’m on holiday I take more photos of food than i usually do because one, they taste amazing, secondly, I want to remember what I ate when I was on holiday and where was that amazing eatery since I will be easily distracted with all the shopping and sight-seeing. So taking photos helps me to remember what i ate and also to make me rethink my next impulsive decision of if another bowl of Mango Sticky Rice with double scoop of coconut ice-cream is absolutely necessary. YUM!

Bonus TIP!

Take it easy! Keeping your diet and work out plans strict is one way to reach your fitness goals but it is not the only way. What I’ve learnt from the past couple of years is  that mental strength and mental stability is something that really helped me to achieve my goals. When I am hard on myself or stressed up about not staying on track with my diet, I get even more frustrated with myself and even if I stay on the track but I am not happy, somehow I don’t see the results I desire either. Have some fun. Live a little. 

If you don’t indulge every once in awhile, what’s there to go back when you’re back from your holiday? Sometimes a little detour ain’t gonna hurt nobody. 😉