Dumbbells and Drama

Travel often means a break in your fitness routine; you’re on your feet, pacing around dodging traffic, tourists and trying your best to eat everything that a new place has to offer. Normal routines are completely thrown out of the window. If you have been going to the gym, you suddenly land yourself in a spot where you do not have a gym membership. If you like going out for runs, you are not sure if you should be going out running in the new neighborhood. If you are used to certain meals, you’ll realise there are so many new things to try and you want to try all of it! Your sleep cycle is ruined. Your drinking habits change. It’s a vacation after all!

Luckily there is hope for the fit fam. Fitness peeps can totally take a vacation and not compromise on their workouts; you just HAVE to be smart about it. Plus if fitness is a lifestyle, it automatically comes to you.

Here’s something I followed while on my 16 day vacation (16 days, 16 full days of NO GYM/NO RUNNING TRACK!) Hopefully it will give you an idea of how simple things can make all the difference (like opting to walk those 500mt instead of taking the tram)

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Walk!

We completed a total of 250km on foot in 2 weeks. “Woah why would you do that to yourself?” So here’s the best part- we didn’t feel any of it! I mean at the end of the vacay I totally looked at the definition in my legs and wondered where had all that come from. We were super excited about seeing new towns, and we’d set out after a heavy breakfast and walk. We’d get lost in small alleys, end up at dead ends, explore the new, strange neighbourhood or simply look at the maps and say “2km? Meh, let’s walk it down” You’ll be surprised to know how beneficial walking is to your well being. So holiday or not, I recommend you walk!

Ditch Public Transport

If you know that the end destination is a couple of kilometers away, stop being lazy and walk the distance! You’ll also burn off that brownie, you know. We’d wake up early, stuff ourselves with some reaaaaallly good breakfast (mostly eggs, bread, milk, juice, cake and oats) and walk it down to the tram/metro station. Once at a central point, we’d get out and walk down to our destination (which was usually 2-3km away) This was a consciously planned effort. Plus the streets were super pretty, super clean, and the weather was pleasant. There were days we’d be walking 20km but we didn’t realise it till we hit the bed later that night.

Do not forget to carry water with you while you’re out walking. All the activity will dehydrate you and cause muscle cramping, but since the weather doesn’t make you feel too thirsty you might forget to drink water. Take special care with water, I can’t repeat myself enough.

Rent a Bike

In my opinion, this is the most fun way to stay fit. We rented out bikes in Rome and cycled all around. We discovered so many local places that we would not have otherwise (one of them being a thrift store where I picked up leather shoes and a leather bag for 10 euros each) On one day we cycled an up-hill route of 10km (totally died, lol) and I kid you not by the end of it my quads were POPPING. I love cycling. In fact I cycle around my neighborhood too back home, but the unruly traffic has me running for cover almost always *sigh*

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Eat Smart! 

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Eat a heavy breakfast, eat whatever it is that you want to because you know you’re going to burn it off before lunch (haha) We’d stuff ourselves, set out on our little adventures (the food had us energized to deal with all the tiny mishaps that the Universe decided to throw our way almost every single time- foreign language, wrong directions, walking longer distances than anticipated, etc) and be hungry again during lunch. Lunch was usually kept light- we’d share a shawarma or eat a croissant each or a small sandwich or a slice of pizza each. We’d then settle down for some rest at one of the parks, get out those beers (and milk) and laze around for a couple of hours. If we didn’t feel hungry during lunch we’d snack a couple of times before we settled in for an afternoon siesta.  We’d then set off once again later in the evening, walking around and taking in the sights and sounds that the city had to offer during sun-down. This way we’d work up an appetite and enjoy a hearty dinner. And obviously we’d end the night with a short walk once again, thus making it easier to fall asleep.

This works for regular days off vacation too- you usually enjoy a hearty breakfast, eat little during lunch and minimal during dinner. You sleep at least 45min after dinner. You eat a heavy meal after a great workout. You eat every 45min. You give your muscles some rest during the day too. 

You can always do home workouts too! As I said, if fitness is a lifestyle this will come easily to you. If not, you need to make a conscious effort. But it isn’t difficult, in fact you’ll realise being fit keeps you going, and you’ll be able to do so much more than what you thought 🙂  Plus you’ll realise once you’re back to your routine, getting back to the workouts won’t be difficult. If you need a little help figuring out a fitness schedule while on vacation, feel free to reach out 🙂 (do not give me dirts, working out on vacation is FUN!) email- dumbbellsanddrama@gmail.com

 

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