How to stay on track while on holiday
I promise I also went inside the Balinese gym…
In a few days I will be setting off on a three week trip overseas. I’m predominantly spending my time in the UK at home with my parents but will also be taking a week long break in Italy to watch some of my closest mates tie the knot.
I’m super excited! I haven’t been back to the UK in two years, I’ve never been to Italy and I bloody love a good wedding!
The only thing is… I’m 6 weeks into a 21 week prep for my next bodybuilding competition (WBFF October 2019).
At my parents it will be relatively easy to prep all my food, access a good gym and stick to my prep plan.
However, Italy… the land of pasta, pizza, gelato and wine? Well, that’s a very different story indeed.
It’s unrealistic of me to say I’m going to be able to properly prep for those six days. It would require some mammoth planning and probably mean I wouldn’t be able to relax and enjoy the holiday and time with my friends. However, ‘relax’ doesn’t mean I’m going to go off the rails entirely.
Here’s what I’m going to be doing to help stay on track while in Italy, while still making the most out of the trip!
1. Train when and if I can
I’m not going to go out of my way to train. I know that sounds silly given I’m preparing for a bodybuilding competition. However, seeing as I’m going to be travelling with friends most of the time, the last thing I want to do is make people hang around for me while I train (I doubt they would any way!). I’ve researched local gyms at all the places we'll be so I’m not wasting time wandering around trying to find the best ones. If that fails, the only Italian phrase I’ve learned ahead of my trip is “dov'è la palestra?”. When possible, I’ll be getting up early so I can train before people wake up and I’ll also be taking a couple of resistance bands with me so I can turn any hotel room into a my very own globo gym!
2. Focus on full body workouts
Most successful training regimes aim to target each muscle group twice a week, so if I’m only going to be training sporadically over the holiday, my best bet is to fit in full body sessions rather than my usual bro split. As I’m only in Italy for six days, my aim is really just to keep moving. I’m not going to lose my gains in a week (although it may feel like it), so as long as I keep my energy expenditure relatively high, I should be grand. It will be back to business as usual as soon as I touch down in the UK again.
3. Get my steps in
Given I might not be training as often as I would normally, I’m going to make sure I’m hitting a daily step target. This isn’t going to be particularly hard given we’re going to be sightseeing and my group of friends bloody love a good walk. My usual step target each day at the moment is 8,000-10,000. Given I might be enjoying a few more calories, I’m going to pump that up to 15,000-20,000 most days.
4. Meal timing and choices
I’m confident that I am mentally strong enough to make good choices most of the time. I don’t want to be that person eating grilled chicken and salad for every meal, but choosing a healthier option 80% of the time means I can enjoy a slice of pizza here and there (and gelato of course) without feeling guilty or restrictive and stressed. The main thing I’m going to aim for each day is to adopt a very loose IIFYM approach, focussing on a calorie and protein target.
Calorie target - Thanks to a solid off season, my BMR is pretty high. My calories currently sit between 1850 and 2000 depending on what I’m training. So, coach has suggested I just aim to hit around 2,000 calories or less a day while in Italy. Given that I’ll be doing a lot of walking around being a tourist, and hitting a full body workout every now and then, I should be safe with that target.
Protein target - I’m not going to be overly particular about my macro split (it’s going to be pretty hard to do on the fly), so I’m just going to aim to hit a certain protein target and fill up the rest as I please. I’ll use My Fitness Pal to loosely track everything to make sure I’m not going way over, and I’ll be overestimating everything I put in just to be safe.
To make sure I’m staying within my calorie and macro targets, I’m going to eat two main meals a day (whether that’s breakfast and dinner or lunch and dinner) and then eat healthy snacks/protein bars in between to tide me over. And, yes. I will be indulging in some fine Italian wine because life’s too bloody short not to. I’ll work it into my carb allowance and dance it off at the wedding!
5. Keep snacks on me
Speaking of snacks! At home, if I’m going out anywhere where I might be out longer than expected, I always carry either my next meal or at least a healthy snack/protein bar just in case. I know from previous experience that I make poor choices when I’m hungry (I also get super grumpy but that’s irrelevant). Italy is going to be no different. I’ve been stocking up on my fave low carb protein bars (seriously, If you’ve not had Maxine’s red velvet cupcake protein bar, you haven’t lived!) to take with me, as well as protein shake sachets that will easily fit in my handbag. Therefore, if we’re out for a long time I can have a quick snack on the go and not be too tempted to get up close and personal with a giant bowl of pasta.
6. Enjoy myself!
Last but not least… I’m going to bloody enjoy myself!
Regardless of whether you’re also prepping for a bodybuilding comp, or just trying to stay lean/healthy while overseas, you MUST enjoy yourself. There will ALWAYS be more time to diet. There will always be more shows. But how often to get to visit a place like Italy and watch your friends declare their love for each other in a super cute Italian villa? At the end of the day, when I look back, I’m not going to remember how well I stuck to my exact macros, I’m going to remember the things I’ve seen and the fun I’ve had.
That being said, ‘enjoy myself’ is not a ticket to go wild, but more of a direction to relax and not think about food 24/7 (easier said than done when you’re in prep!). Just because I’m on holiday doesn’t mean I’m not accountable to myself. I’ve worked my butt off since stepping off the last stage and I’ve set my goals pretty high this year.
Luckily, I’m feeling confident that I’m going to be able to make good choices and, more importantly, have a good time while still never losing sight of what I want to achieve.
If you have any additional tips for me, please let me know in the comments below!
Robyn xxx