Category: New healthy lifestyle tips

COROLLARY TO VACATION TIP #5

As you recall, vacation tip #5 exhorted you to not drink alcohol at lunch during your vacation. However, the corollary is all-encompassing. The corollary to “don’t drink at lunch” is, never, never, never have a drink which sports an umbrella. Really, people, think about it. An umbrella drink typically has fruit juices (100+ calories), one or more shots of alcohol (100 per shot), and sugar (about 50 per tablespoon.) So you’ve got a tall drink there that can cost you about 400-500 calories. That’s probably about 1/4 to 1/3 of your daily intake. A glass of wine runs around 100 calories depending on the alcohol content. Beer is also manageable. But unless you are planning on taking the umbrella with you on a 3 or 4 mile run, leave it where it belongs – safely with the bartender.

VACATION DIET TIP #5

This an easy tip. For many people, it is no problem at all. Don’t drink at lunch. By drink, I mean in the alcoholic beverage genre. A glass of wine or a mixed drink adds 100+ calories to your lunch. Really, you need to keep breakfast and lunch at a minimum. (This gives me an idea for a new vacation diet tip!) Then you can go out to dinner and throw caution to the wind. Not really, but if you are following the other tips, caution is already in play. So let’s keep those fun beverages until 5 PM or later.

Tomorrow, an important corollary to Vacation Tip #5!

If you must have dessert, don’t eat it after a meal. If you are going to blow that many calories on something sweet, it deserves its own time and place not piggybacked (pun intended) on top of a big meal in a restaurant. It also gives you a chance to really think about whether you actually want it.

I know, I know. Given the last paragraph, who am I be giving out diet tips. Well, you can’t have tips if you haven’t enjoyed the good life.

Vacation Tip #3 – Don’t eat anything deep fried. Simple. That means no french fries, no fish and chips, no calamari fritti, or anything else that has been doing the backstroke in a bath of oil. For you dilettantes, that means no confit either. But if you are following the tips, you are having fun on vacation, getting out every day to do something, and eating well-prepared fish, chicken, seafood and vegetables. See, it’s not so hard!

Vacation Rule #2 – Don’t eat red meat. Or to put it more positively, do eat vegetables, tofu, chicken, fish and shellfish; veal if you must. Also do not kid yourself that the pork you get in a restaurant is “the other white meat.” Why do you think it tastes so much better than the dried out pork loin you get at home? Fat! These were happy, well-fed pigs before they became the giant, succulent chops on your plate. Also, just in case your entree comes with a sauce, it’s so much better calorie-wise poured on top of shrimp than steak.

When I was a Weight Watchers leader, I made up five rules for not gaining weight on vacation. Here’s number 1.

Do something every day!

You’re some place new and different so go outside and do something! Take a walk, ride a bike, go for a swim, play golf, tennis, ski, anything. Every extra calorie you burn means something extra you can eat. In fact, and you know this, it’s true every day, vacation or not.