Small Steps to Health

Pre-Emptive Strike on Exercise and Food for Travel

February 5th, 2008 by asithi · No Comments

I am going to Orlando for my belated honeymoon next week. I am a little anxious. No matter how good you are doing at home, once you get away from a controlled environment (my home), I am afraid that I will fall back on my old habits of getting “my money’s worth when eating out” or eating most of the meal since I have no way of reheating my meal if I get a doggie bag.

This week I am in pre-emptive strike mode. My goal is to return from my honeymoon with good memory and no extra baggage on my waistline (unlike my 5 pound gain from Mexico last year). These are following things that I am doing this week to prepare myself for all the eating out I will be doing next week:

Workout 5 days this week, 45-60 minutes each session.
This is not too difficult. I am already in a regular exercise routine, but just not five days and for such a long duration. I keep telling myself that if I put in the effort now I can eat next week without guilt.

Limit my calories this week.
This is a hard one for me. On average, I am closer to 1800-1900 calories. The 1600 calorie range is the recommended amount for me to loose 1 pound a week. I find it easier to incorporate small changes to loose 1-1.5 pounds a month. Real slow, but more manageable since I do not need to make drastic lifestyle changes. It will probably take over 2 years to loose 20-25 pounds, but that is okay. I want to be able to do that by making small lifestyle changes like quitting soda, my morning coffee, or eating at least one soup meal a week, etc. Tiny things that will still allow me to enjoy most of my current lifestyle. But for the week prior to my honeymoon, I am willing to cut out all the “extras” in my diet.

I just hope that I do not get this idea stuck in my head that I now have a free pass to eat anything I want on my honeymoon because I am preparing myself for my trip by increasing my physical activity and decreasing my eating this week.

Until next time and thanks for stopping by.

Tagged Dining Out, Fitness, Healthy Eating