Tips to feel comfy in your skin on holiday!

*Trust that one week of high calories is not going to reverse a shit ton of hard work.

1) The hard work you have done is not all about the lbs you've lost. So if you do gain fat... you've still spent time building muscle/habits/routine that will be there for you when you're back.

2) Most lbs you gain on hols will be water/bloat. It takes an extra 3500 cals added onto your total maintenance cals to gain 1lb of actual fat. That's an extra 500 cals a day. (Its possible to do that if you walk less & eat more on hols) but it's rectifiable. See below

*If tracking (and if not, the science still applies) look at your progress over the course of one month. Not a week. If you have 2 weeks at maintenance 1 week in a deficit and 1 week in a surplus. That month will level out to maintenance. So chill.

Side note: that doesn't mean starve in the lead up to a holiday.

My month looked like this

I maintain on 2200 cals.

Week 1: 2200

Week 2: 2000

Week 3: 2600

Week 4: 1800

Average: 2150 cals over the month

*Once the science of it all sinks in and you realise 1 or even 2 weeks out of your life isn't gonna make or break your journey. Look at the routine that you "can" Keep in

Side note: Keep them cos they make you feel good. Don't keep them just to control your energy balance/body etc…

1) Don't set your alarm if you literally need the rest. But I try and set my alarm for 7hrs post the time I sleep so if I go to bed at 4am I will set my alarm for 11 so I still get sleep but I don't miss the whole day.

2) Keep walking in because you want to view the city or you wanna get some podcast listening in or you want the fresh air and some alone time. If walking is your ideal of Hell on holiday then cool. Just find acceptance for the fact that you are burning less energy. Don’t feel guilty for that. That choice is not about being good or bad.

3) drink water. I mean. It's a given. But it keeps you awake, energised, hydrated (which helps with your mood and general well being.

*Keep listening to your body. Eat when you are hungry. Stop when you are full. Take stock of where you are and how you actually feel in your skin.

And try to remember, feeling full is NOT "feeling fat" Fat isnt a feeling.

*Remind yourself of your home. The house you live in. The walls the rooms the things in the rooms.

These things don't make your home a home. The same way your abs (or lack of) doesn't make your body "home" or not. Home is a feeling. It's nostalgia, it's care, nurture, it's a safe place.

I find that being away out of routine can sometimes bring on the feeling of homesickness and discomfort. But just doing that good ol faithful "focus on what your grateful for" shit. You can remind yourself of what you DO have.

And nurture it.

Nurture what you have. Take care of your body.

Whether it be by

Daily affirmations

Eating till fullness and not beyond

Eating when hungry and not starving

Remember.Treating yourself well is not always about 1g protein per body weight and 30g fibre everyday.

It's not about only drinking water and not having some cocktails.

It's about your thoughts about the above whether you stick to “your" routine or not.

Who you are without tupperware or 30g overnight oats is still valid and worthy AF.

And just so you're aware. You're worthy and valid and enough, even when you don't stick to any of the rules you set in place before your hols or the ones you may follow after your hols.

Feeling at home in your skin at home and away is about self acceptance for the choices you make.

You can build a home with stones and hay. If You dont respect it and treat it with kindness its never gonna feel like home.

Even if you don't clean that hut of yours for just one week, its cool. Habitually. You will clean it when you are back. You dont denounce your home a home judt because you didn’t take care of it for one week.

Basically it's a long winded way of saying... It's all about what you think about your body that counts. And so much less to do with what it looks like.

It can feel like home even when it's messy. Life gets messy. Routines get messy. Your choices get messy.

This holiday my energy balance balanced over the course of one month. I didn't eat enough protein or fibre. I walked my normal 10k step average. I slept a decent amount. I drank more calories in booze than I ate in food (yes I know. So very #fitspo) but ya know what.

I felt the most comfy I've ever felt in my skin. No stressing. No over doing it. No over indulging or over planning. I ate when hungry. I stopped when full. I drank cocktails and not just gin and I came back weighing the same. Feeling albeit tired and a bit rough. But nothing that a ton of water and a lifting session couldn't fix.

Balacne is so so hard to find and nail. I'm not saying it's piss easy. I'm just saying. It's not as complicated as we make it.

Let go of the idea of what you "should" do and just be ok with what you actually do. Cos it's only your perception that has power over you.

Not the food, not the exercise and not your body at all.