HOLIDAY MODE
- ABBIE JS
- Jun 16, 2017
- 3 min read
I've recently returned from an amazing 7 days all-inclusive in Turkey. I had such a negative perception of Turkey but it was absolutely beautiful and we managed to get a great deal with our friends in a 5 star spa resort. If anyone saw my holiday spam on my Instagram (lifeinlycra_) the hotel was Thomas Cook, SENTIDO Lykia Resort & Spa in Olu Deniz. I’ll show a few snaps from the holiday below – it was absolute bliss to relax, switch off and sip on cocktails!
However, I didn’t write this blog to big up the hotel, it was more to reflect on my mindset on the holiday.
At the beginning of the year I came back from 3 weeks in Cape Town and even though it was a great experience I came back feeling absolutely horrendous. We had 2 weeks of Christmas celebrations before our trip (4 Christmas dinners in the 4 days leading up to the holiday). I didn’t work out the whole trip and apart from a hike up Lions head, we were pretty inactive. On my return I looked in the mirror and was shocked at how much I’d abused my body, we had SO much to drink, so many dinners out and ate an excess of food. I felt like shit.
As I’ve usually always been ‘working towards’ a holiday with my workouts I felt like I was in a constant cycle of slimming down for holidays, blowing out on holiday, booking another holiday and doing the same thing over and over again. Very draining.
When I got back I completely changed my mindset towards working out and eating healthy, I wanted to do it so I never felt like that again. It’s easy to go into ‘deprive mode’ after holiday mode - you want quick results to counteract and end up starving yourself or hammering the gym excessively. I literally felt minging and didn’t even want another holiday anytime soon (U k hun?!) However when I say I changed my mindset - I also didn’t want to stop living life. I’ve been out most weekends since January but now I’m just more mindful of what I’m doing. Sure my progress would be A LOT quicker if I didn’t do this and I am trying to make this less every weekend but #FOMO.
I was pretty happy with what I achieved in the months leading up to my holiday (thanks to my coach @nikki_harvey_fitness) and was getting, stronger, and fitter and deffinatley more mindful. And when I got to Turkey? My mindset remained. Now don’t get me wrong I wasn’t a saint by any means, if I wanted a Margarita after lunch/with lunch/one day even at 11am I had it. But I wasn’t shoveling my face with everything I could at every meal time with 6 plates, bread basket and bottles of wine. There was so much fresh food, fish, salads, juices - and of course I tried out the desserts, but not at breakfast, lunch and dinner (Genuinely me 2013). We walked every morning, I went to the gym a few times (we even tried out Aqua aerobics a few times, it’s a lot harder than it looks!) but I did this because it made me feel energized for the day and less sluggish in the week I was there. Of course you are going to gain water weight on holiday and your body will look differently, I drank every single day, ate more carbs, was lay on a sunbed reading a book for the majority of the day. But I think its easy to be on holiday and be like SHOW ME THE FOOD, and eat loads of junk from the moment you get to the airport till the following Monday after you get home...
Above is a picture of me on the day I arrived vs the day before we left (I was dying in bed from a bacterial infection on the last day; wash your hands abroad kids!). As you can see in these pictures, there is quite a difference in just 5 days, but my body also looks different after a big meal, different times of the month and if I drink alcohol. This kind of thing would usually have put my mind into overdrive, planning all the workouts and diets I need to be on when I’m home and making sure I made the most of everything while in 'holiday mode' because when I get back it would be a strict regime.
But did I deprive myself when I got home to get back to my original shape ASAP? Nope. I just went back to my training, being mindful and living life - and guess what? My body bounced back pretty quick, I feel great and have no regrets - just great holiday memories - looking forward to my next trip!
AbbieJS
xxx
Comments