A week off the wagon...

Soooo I'm on the heels (as blistered as they are from SCUBA DIVING) of bouncing back from an epic and amazing 8 day trip to the Yucatan, Mexico.  As wonderful as vacation can be it can also serve as a serious KILLER to any eating / exercise routine.  A weeklong eating binge (which generally happens on vacation) can result in 5-7 lbs of weight gain.  You can easily take in 4,000+ calories in a day (I mean... YOLO right?) which translates to 5 LBS after 7 days of this type of consumption.

So...how do you BOUNCE BACK?

It has been recommended to me to take a gradual approach.  Research shows the most effective 'bounce back' means:

- Avoiding desserts that are rich in sugar and fat for 7-10 days to help curb the craving for sweets
- halve your portions for the week following vacation
- Try to schedule a day of intense calorie burning physical activity.  One uphill hike can burn an extra couple thousand calories and jump start the vacation weight loss
- DON'T get down on yourself (leading to another eating binge)...take the bull by the horns and get back into routine!
- Don't go too extreme.  Just return to normal eating habits.  Restricting your food intake too drastically can send your body into shock and have a reverse reaction.


In this most recent 'bounce back' this week, I had a couple memorable moments.  I felt like COMPLETE SHIT on Monday and Pure Barre was SO hard.  My legs were shaking like crazy and my friend Karen was realizing that I NEVER shake this much in my Pure Barre class.  The following day I had greatly improved.  Karen looked at me and said "you look better!" to which I replied - "I feel 1,000 times better!".  What she said put a smile on my face.  She stated:  "THAT'S HOW YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN SHAPE!"  This made me realize that it's not the end of the world and vacation was EXACTLY what I needed, but now it's time to get back to routine.  Sometimes you think you've lost it all, but in reality - there is such a thing as 'muscle memory' after all. 

Another realization I had was when a fellow cyclist in my Full Psycle class saw how much I was dragging in my class on Wednesday.  I told him I might as well have been sweating out tequila and apologized if he was getting a contact high.  "I'm trying to get back to normal" I stated...to which he replied, "well you have your whole life".  So there you have it, there is no quick fix, it's about hard work - and dedication.  Goals, goals and more goals - but dammit....Mexico was amazing and I don't regret a single tortilla chip (or huge plate of Justin's amazing chicken mole...)

Some photos of eating, drinking, consuming and enjoying.....

Til the next time Cozumel.... #vivamontanos!