How to go on holiday without it wrecking your progress
How to go on holiday without it wrecking your progress
Summer is genuinely disruptive. It’s one of the most routine-scrambling seasons of the year, and yet it’s the one we expect to breeze through.
There’s definitely a gap between the idea of summer and the reality of it, and this is where people lose their footing.
There’s that repeating question…’should I just let it happen or stop the downhill slide?’
But it doesn’t have to be one or the other. There’s a third option….have the holiday you want without throwing your health out the window.
Sounds like an impossible task? Let me show you my strategy.
First, acknowledge that we all have a holiday mode. That mental switch gets flicked to ‘out of office’, and with it goes everything else. The morning walk, the water bottle, the rough sense of when you're eating and when you're stopping. The things that, back home, make you feel like yourself.
It feels like full suspension of normal life; a break from everything, health habits included.
And if that honestly makes you feel good…brilliant.
For a lot of people though, this doesn't land as rest. It lands as sluggish, foggy, heavier and bloated. The background hum of I'll sort this when I get back. Easier said than done.
Here's a reframe worth trying.
Holidays aren't the enemy of your health habits. A lack of intention is.
Here's what's actually true: some of the things you do at home are genuinely non-negotiable. Things that make you feel well, energised, like you.
And some of them are just... habit. Things you do because it's Tuesday. Not because they matter deeply, just because that's the routine.
Holiday is actually a brilliant opportunity to find out which is which. To come back with insight you can use to strip back and streamline.
So, before you go - or if you're already away - it's worth asking yourself a simple question:
Which habits, if I kept them loosely, would make me feel noticeably better on this holiday?
Not all of the ones you usually try and do. Just the ones that truly move the needle for you. The list is probably shorter than you think. It might be:
Getting outside and moving in the morning, even briefly
Eating something substantial at breakfast rather than running on coffee until 2pm
Drinking water consistently, especially in the heat
Getting to bed within an hour or so of your usual time, most nights
That's not a regime; that's four loose anchors. Kept roughly rather than rigidly they’ll make an enormous difference to how you feel on holiday. And how easily you slide back into your normal rhythm when you return.
The goal isn't to be the person tracking meals on a sun lounger. It's to feel good while you're away, and to come home feeling like yourself rather than in recovery.
Summer doesn't have to be written off. It just needs a little honest attention.
Let’s make healthy simple
Choose your anchor holiday habit(s) that will help you return refreshed (even one habit can be enough to keep the thread)
Decide how you’ll stick to them while on holiday (roughly, not rigidly, remember!)
If you’d like to chat to create the best list for you, hit reply