13 Proven Tips to Lose Weight While on Vacation
Have a morning-heavy itinerary
Avoid the heat of the day by scheduling your most active activities for before noon. You’ll be more energized and less sweaty, and you’ll have the rest of the day to relax.
Take a walking tour
Spending time on foot is the best way to get a real feel of any city, village, or resort. As soon as you arrive at your destination, take the opportunity to walk around and explore your surroundings. Pick a few restaurants along your path and make reservations, and check out the nearby shopping, museums, and parks. Here are tricks to make your walk even happier.
Plan around an activity
Choose a sport you love, or one that you’ve been meaning to try, and pick a destination where you can participate in it all day. Your family might love hiking, surfing, skiing, or sailing. Kids might especially like a spot where they can hunt for dinosaur bones.
Pause your road trip every two hours
The best vacation memories don’t happen in a car seat, no matter how lovely the view out the window is. Instead of waiting until you need a food or bathroom break to pull over, make stops along the way just for fun. Visit cool landmarks, have a picnic, go shopping, or just stretch your legs. Here are fun car games to play along the way. Plus stopping to stretch and walk around can help you take extra steps (aren’t we supposed to be hitting 10,000 a day?!) and burn extra calories.
Don’t indulge at every meal
Whether you love breakfast buffets, ice cream sundaes, or fresh seafood, food splurges are one of the most fun parts of every vacation. Don’t deny yourself of those pleasures, but don’t make it an all-or-nothing approach either. Limit yourself to one culinary indulgence every day.
Get into the water
Instead of watching your kids splash around, join in on the fun at a beach, lake, or pool. Even standing in waist-deep in the waves is a decent workout as you hold yourself up in the surf.
Or get on the water
Whether you like rowboats, canoes, or kayaks, a boat ride will give you an arm workout that’s so much more fun than lifting weights. Even standing on a steamboat will bring exhilaration you wouldn’t get on dry land.
Choose a cruise
Spending days confined on a boat is way more active than you’d think. Most cruise lines offer onboard pools, rock walls, fitness classes, and golf simulators. Plus, you could get a chance to scuba dive, horseback ride, or hike during sea and land excursions. These little cruise hacks make vacation a breeze.
Play an outdoor game
You don’t need to be a basketball or volleyball star to play an active sport. Badminton and bocce are more laid-back but get you moving, and a water fight is a refreshing way to run around in the heat.
Make up a tournament
Your kids will go wild over a mini family Olympics. At the pool, see who can make the biggest splash, for example. They can be silly contests, as long as everyone’s involved. These are some of the best beach games the whole family can play.
Play mini golf
You burn more calories standing than sitting, and sitting than walking. Miniature golf is an enjoyable way to get on your feet and into a healthy competition.
Fly a kite
Flying a stunt kite is a fun activity for a large open space like a beach. You can put them together and taken them apart easily, which makes them easy to pack in your luggage. Plus you’ll get a good workout—your upper body will struggle to control the kite, while you’ll get cardio while keeping up with your kite as it flies (or after it falls).
Don’t miss sunrises and sunsets
There’s something incredibly rejuvenating about watching the light transition from day to night, or vice versa. Make a daily ritual out of watching the beautiful sky, and you’ll feel completely refreshed as you start and end the day. Getting up early for sunrises on vacation is also a great way to squeeze in morning workouts.
