Create that Vacation Weight Deficit Now, So You Can Enjoy Yourself Later!

Controversy, controversy, everywhere there’s controversy, especially when it comes to the “ideal” body image. Before I proceed I want to drop you the link for MARKET READY-Take 1 as a refresher to how I feel not about body image but about getting to and maintaining a weight that works for each individual woman. Further a weight you can easily or with a little effort maintain without fad diets, fitness gimmicks and the like. Also I would like to share with you an excerpt from About Kim—I have been a certified Group Exercise Instructor since 1998, have gained, lost and maintained that loss of 50, 53, and 43 lbs respectively, with each baby—Believe me, I have done the legwork for this article for years! Because I am so strict with my day to day let me just call it what it is—weight regimen (obsession just sounds so negative  😛 )—it is very difficult for me to let go when on vacation and just enjoy food and drink without always thinking about the possible ramifications of said letting go, on the scale. I also thank goodness have the inert wisdom and healthy relationship with myself to know, life is short and vacations are supposed to be a fun and joyful escape from “everyday normal  life”. This realization, 1992, being my earliest recollection is where my Vacation Deficit program came into being. I have tweaked the program over the years building upon the successes but the core plan has always remained the same—easy to follow, healthy and effective. My goal is always to lose between 5-7 lbs and I always give myself at least 2-3 months before vacation time to do so. My averages have sometimes been a little less, little more depending on how my body wants to cooperate with me (especially as I age), nonetheless it has always worked. This article isn’t for everyone but hopefully to those women and men that have the desire to let go and let loose on vacation may you find it beneficial.  🙂

NOTE: This is what works for me, if you have any dietary limitations or other health problems please consult your doctor and make the necessary adjustments as needed.

It’s as Easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

1. Incorporate as many fresh fruits and vegetables as you can into your diet. **I will use the term diet in this article only to define the whole of your eating plan, not to be mistaken as deprivation so commonly associated with the term.** I eat a big bowl of fruit for breakfast everyday and when I say big, I mean big. I pick from the bowl all morning long. Fruit is so full of water, fiber, nutrients and vitamins, it truly is Nature’s Candy. It leaves you feeling so light yet so satisfied and believe me full of energy. Most mornings I would teach 2 hours of exercise classes, fueled by this one bowl of fruit and I could substantiate my energy levels were above par and have many a participant who would gladly give testimonial to just that fact.

   

   1.2-Veggies!!! This is one of my go to tips everyday but especially when I am in deficit mode. I substitute higher calorie, higher fat ingredients with vegetables. For example if I am making a beef stew in the crocker, or a risotto or a lasagna I will substitute some of the meat or rice (in the case of the risotto) with vegetables, lots and lots of vegetables. I will also at times, skip the meat in a lasagna and make a vege lasagna in the crocker, YUM! As much as I sing the praises of fruit, vegetables share the same attributes and they are so versatile in cooking. There is NO loss or deprivation with #1, in my humble opinion. So many fruits and vegetables to try, so little time!  😉

   

   

   

2. Practice being PC, no not politically correct—Portion Controlled. Believe me, I don’t like to limit myself especially when I am eating something really tasty. In my early deficit days (years ago) I would use Nutrisystem® or Weight Watchers Personal Cuisine® (I believe that is what it was called, we are talking early 90’s here) to practice portion control. And it always worked, but was very expensive. I would pay upwards of $700 to lose 7 lbs-$100 a lb, no bargain there. Then luckily and with age and wisdom I devised my own portion control plan. There are really only twoish-three parts to it too, very easy: •use small dishes, the size of a bread plate, think of it as a magician’s trick. •Now don’t make anything different for lunch or dinner than what you are making for your family. Just serve yourself a fist sized portion of whatever you are having to eat. This goes for eating out as well. Bread plates are usually already on the table, when your entrée comes take a fist size portion and put in on your plate. To sum that up an example plate might have: a fist sized portion of protein, a fist sized portion of rice or potato, or the like and the caveat here as much salad as you can put on that plate. Just watch the dressing and even have seconds and thirds if you like. Because I said this step is twoish-three parts, now thinking maybe more, I will conclude with this final piece which can be very controversial so proceed with caution—limit your choice to one food item and eat until you are full. Hear me out as again I have been doing this for years. I love potatoes, no secret, love them! In fact I would go as far to say if there was a potato famine I might consider that the apocalypse. When I am in deficit mode and make dinner or go out for dinner, I will sometimes (a lot of the time) stick to one food group i.e. either starch OR protein, meat OR potatoes. In my potato example I will have only the potatoes and eat until I am satisfied—note I did not say full, there is a difference. If there is a nice filet on the line, I will eat only the filet and protein is a good filler so a palm size cut is usually more than adequate to satiate me. I will eat my protein OR starch accompanied by a nice salad and again with a little dressing will eat as much as I like. I love potatoes, so eating just them is very easy for me. For you it might be rice, or turkey, just pick one with a salad and eat until you are satisfied. Calories count for sure when creating that deficit but eliminating one food group from your meals and adding in a nice sized salad already deducts calories as long as you eat until you are satisfied, again not full.

   

   

3. Avoid alcohol, sweets or your trigger foods most days of the week. No secret, alcohol, chips, cookies and pies are higher in calories, nil in nutrition, yet oh so tasty! I am not going to dwell too much on this step as I am sure in this day and age with so much health information right at our fingertips I don’t wish to hammer redundancy. I do practice self-control almost to a fault with this step to get the maximum results, however life is short and chocolate is good so most days of the week will work too! Stopping myself from going for one of these ⇓ right now!  😛

   

   

4. Amp up your exercise regime. I am not talking about adding crazy amounts of exercise here nor am I talking about adding exercise extremes—run until you drop, for example. If you workout 3 days a week, add a 4th. If you workout for 30 minutes a session, add 10 minutes. While watching TV at night, get up and walk in place during the commercials. If you normally perform steady state exercises, cardio in nature, interval train instead. Add bouts of higher intensity moves with strength training. When you add manageable quantities of exercise to your routine, the results really add up over time and get you to goal that much faster.

   

5. Finally, take a well deserved day or two off! I used to say in my exercise classes all of the time, being a human in the normal course of a “normal” day is hard enough, when you add any “extra” life stuff on top of that, the challenge surmounts. Sometimes just not even thinking about what you are going to eat and did you exercise today is enough to keep the momentum going the other days of the week. It really is all about balance. However, I don’t recommend taking more than two days off—we have a goal here!  😉

   

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   Post Script: Before writing this article, I consulted with 3 very WMR-WOMAN Market Ready women. One is preparing for an upcoming vacation, one is an exercise enthusiast and the final WMR I spoke with always has a weight line she will not cross. In speaking with these women I found that the one common thread among them was their devotion to find their balance between the food they eat, the energy they expend and the results they wish to achieve. Whether your goal is to create a vacation deficit, exercise so you can eat that pizza you so enjoy or maintaining your desired weight, every breakthrough begins by taking that first step, then another until autopilot towards your goals is the only way you fly!  🙂

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Kimberly

Author; Blogger; Self-Proclaimed “Woman” of all trades and Self-Proclaimed “Master” of some! AFAA Certified Group Aerobics Instructor since 1998; MA Licensed Real Estate Agent since 1995; former Certified Financial Counselor and Passionate Advocator of Financial Education for Women. Tech Geek; Home Cook & Most Importantly, Mother of 3, my #1 Reason for Living!!!

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