I just got back from vacation and I am so glad to be home. It’s not just getting to sleep in my own bed or having all my creature comforts around me. It’s getting back to my normal. Namely getting back to home cooked healthy food and my workouts.
I timed my vacation week to be my recovery week from weight training. No workouts for me for 5 days. The closest thing to a workout was all the walking (we must have went up and down Michigan Ave. at least 20 times) and a little time playing in the pool. By day 3 I felt different. Maybe it’s all in my head, but I felt like I had lost a little of my bounce without my workouts. Normally when I take my week off from weights I still do cardio, yoga or other active rest type activities. Not this week, my activity was limited to walking from shop to shop and around museums.
Then the food was almost always at a restaurant. The first day in Chicago I did make a visit to Whole Foods and stocked up on Greek yogurt and fruit. So every morning I had a clean breakfast and some green tea. This was a great way to start the day. The rest of the day, however, was another story.
I love Gino’s East deep dish pizza. Since I make it to Chicago maybe once every two years I do not deny myself the things there I love. So I had my deep dish, brunch at Grand Luxe Café and a giant BBQ “Beef” (otherwise known as seitan) sandwich with sweet potato fries at the Chicago Diner. The night before we left I couldn’t sleep because my stomach was very grumpy with me about what I had eaten. Going on vacation can be a time to indulge a bit, but also a great reminder of why I don’t eat any of what I just described normally.
I was also a bit “puffy” from the higher sodium intake and resulting water retention. Restaurant food has so much sodium in it, so different than how I cook at home. After one meal in particular I had a salty feeling in my mouth hours later. Yuck.
Needless to say, I really did enjoy myself and there is nothing wrong with that. If we eat clean and live fit 360 days of the year, then indulging for 5 is not a big deal. However, the day we came home, before I even got back, I started getting closer to a normal nutrition plan. Lunch at the airport was steamed veggies, steamed rice and spicy tofu. I then had a protein bar on the plane instead of some other snack I could have grabbed in the airport (like Garrett’s Popcorn). At home, the next day, I was already starting to feel like myself again. The puffiness was diminishing and I loved eating my favorite Egg White and Spinach Omelet for lunch.
This morning I got up and decided to do sprints in the park. It felt good to move, to sweat, and to feel my heart pounding. I really miss it when I don’t work out. After that workout today and a couple of days back into my normal clean eating, I really feel like myself again with the added bonus of being a bit more rested since I got away from home and the PC. I am ready to take on the world again.
