The holidays are just around the corner, along with mountains of food temptation and staying healthy can become something of a tough slog! However, when the occasional urge to indulge kicks in, like when the compulsory Pina Coladas come out, it can be tough on those possessing even the most admirable will power.

However, by implementing a few simple changes to your habits and your mindset towards your holiday health, you can genuinely walk away from your 10-day getaway with an amazing post-holiday glow!

Make simple compromises

What’s the point in keeping healthy both mentally and physically if you can’t indulge in the things you love occasionally? Too much of a good thing can sometimes not be so good.. Imagine, too many pizzas, too many ice creams, or even too much working out can certainly take its’ toll, and in turn, suck the fun away from some of our favourite guilty pleasures. For this reason, the key to holiday health and an equal amount of holiday happiness, is to compromise. If it’s pizza night, instead of completely rejecting the idea, ask for yours with a side salad or with no cheese but loads of veggies (yum!), or perhaps if every family member is grabbing an ice cream, don’t feel you must miss out, opt for the fruit based sorbets instead – they’re equally as delicious but with a whole lot healthier! Coming to a compromise can be extremely self-satisfying as there’s nothing to provoke feelings of social isolation, or self-deprivation, but rather the opposite; a trip filled with happiness and health!

Remaining healthy on our holidays really can be super easy, efficient and honestly, pretty liberating. It’s always extremely satisfying to achieve the best of both worlds: a trip full of perfect indulgences, but without any looming consequences.

Relax

While you’re on holiday, use it as an opportunity for self-care; allow yourself some real ‘you’ time, whether that be reading a book you’ve been meaning to finish for months, going for an early morning stroll, or simply soaking up the sun in for an hour.

You would be surprised at just how beneficial this can be for our overall health; we spend our whirlwind lives building up stress, whether it be financial, social, or relationship orientated, and don’t always allow ourselves to ‘just be’. So, simply chill out this holiday season, and in a nut shell.. relax and don’t apologise for it!

Snacks on hand

Putting together a variety of no-fuss style snacks and health-boosting essentials will leave you safe in the knowledge that your hard-earned glow and abundant energy levels won’t go down the drain before the holiday is up. One good way of achieving this is by stocking up on fruit and nut bars, energy balls, maybe some nut butter that you can snack on with apple.

Also, creating your own trail mix of small collections of dried fruit and nuts is a fantastic fool-proof way of adding a brilliant source of protein into your potentially not-so-protein-filled meals! So stocking up is definitely a fantastic way to indulge in the flavours you love whilst away without an ounce of guilt accompanying it! Small prep like this, as well as making a tiny commitment to include fruit/veggies into at least 1-2 meals per day for example, will leave you feeling just as beautiful and healthy as you were getting off the plane!

Stay active

On holidays we tend to turn into a couch potato since majority of the time it’s a warmer climate. However inevitable this is, there are ways in which we can avoid remaining laying down for the entire time. Something which really is great on holiday is the idea that when displayed with the opportunity to freely embrace the fresh outdoors and sunshine, we should use it to its’ fullest capacity.

Whether it be running along the beach or in your hotel gym for half an hour, practising yoga or pilates, or taking a stroll through the nearby towns. So allow yourself the opportunity to really enjoy your wonderfully exotic surroundings and simply get that body moving in whichever way takes your fancy!