7 Tips for Healthy Eating on Holiday
So if you've caught my posts on Instagram you'll probably notice that Beau and I are in Thailand at the moment on a nice little getaway. If you're anything like me then you probably don't want a few weeks of holiday and relaxation to mess up all your hard work. I've put together a few tips to help you stay on track with your eating habits, because yes it's nice to enjoy some treats and it's fantastic to get to try different foods whilst you're on vacation - but if you overdo it you're probably not going to end up feeling too crash hot when you get back home anyway.
1) Stay hydrated! Keeping hydrated is going to help stop your body from sending a false 'hunger' signal to your brain, more often than you realise your sense of 'hunger' (or wanting to just snack on whatever you see) is actually your body trying to tell you that you need to drink some water.
2) Try to avoid sugary drinks These may seem like a treat if you don't have them very often, but sugary drinks are just empty calories. If it's hot where you are and water isn't quite refreshing enough try to have a soda water and pop some fruit into the bottle if you can.
3) Don't worry about leftovers One thing that seems to have been drummed into most of us since we were kids is to "finish your plate". Once you're satisfied (not stuffed full) stop eating. Just because someone serves you a huge meal at a restaurant or hotel does not mean you have to eat everything on the plate.
4) Don't let yourself get hungry Hunger leads to poor food choices, make sure you've got snacks so that you're not just eating 3 basic meals a day.
5) Snack wisely Try to find somewhere to buy yourself a bunch of unprocessed, simple food that you can snack on if you really need something to eat between meals (nuts/fruit/veggies always make good snacks to just grab and go). Beau and I walked down the markets and picked up a bunch of fruit for the equivalent of just a few Australian dollars.
6) Use good judgement Does the food look fresh? Do you have a decent idea of what ingredients are in it?
7) Limit starchy carbohydrates At the hotel we are staying in Phuket they provide breakfast every morning, and a lot of the options tend to include things like toast, croissants, rice & noodle dishes, and other highly processed carbohydrates. On top of that many of the restaurants and food stalls around load up their meals with rice or noodles, so keep an eye on the amount of carbohydrates that you are eating (that aren't fruit/veg) because you don't necessarily want too many of these, they will fill you up but the sense of fullness will not last very long at all.
