The party is over but that's ok

I was recently away as my kids had spring break. Before I complain, you should know that I fully appreciated the warm weather, the leisure time (although I am guilty of scheduling vacation days) and opportunity to explore a new place. On this trip I tried sour sop, star apple, naseberry, Blue Mountain coffee and pretty much jerk everything. The trip was invigorating, special, adventurous, beautiful etc.

When our plane landed at JFK last night I received an email from a friend.

When are you working out this week? I am aiming to go everyday this starting tomorrow at 9:30. I need to get back to my routine, traveling with the family vacation left me totally out of shape

I’ll have you know via Facebook I know for a fact this friend doesn’t appear out of shape and never has but I totally understand that she felt it. She added.

I know it’s against the Slayton rule to start over on Monday but I am.

I joked that it’s so sad. I was away at a place with an organic farm. I was eating greens, active and hardly boozing it up but still felt more than a little off. I told her I was rebooting today as well.

My healthy friend added I brought my nutribullet, my miraculous powders and found kale at a market in the Bahamas it’s not like I was pounding pina coladas but still...

If you’re still with me after the post Jamaica woe is meing let me explain. It doesn’t take a lot, especially when you’re in a good routine, to feel off after a week away. The three main culprits are the salt (when you’re eating most meals out), slightly less exercise (or less intense exercise) and a GI slowdown many experience.

Post vacation plan: 

• Go Plain Jane- hard-boiled eggs, simply grilled chicken or poached salmon are perfect. Befriend the steamer or hit the farmer’s markets for some fresh, raw greens. For condiments apple cider vinegar, walnut or coconut oil and lemon are where it's at.
• P and C or probiotics and chia daily. If your GI system slows down with the rest of you while away, I hear you. I love the cocochia packets as they contain both probiotics and chia. If your probiotic supplement is hiding in the cabinet time to put it near your toothbrush so you remember to take it.
• Sweat- cardio helps with jetlag if you have it and it also helps you loose that fluid. 180-200 minutes per week post vacation.
• Tea and turmeric- Yogi detox tea and Fennel tea are great post vacation tools. And turmeric is good for mood and inflammation…sprinkle away.

The silver lining in coming home feeling a little off is that it makes getting back into your routine (work included) sort of nice. At least I think so.
Do you feel off when you get back from a trip? In what way? What do you do to remedy it? 

Don't Let Summer Make You Loosey-Goosey (or just "Loosey")

For the last 9 or so months Friday morning for me went something like this. Wake up at 5:00am, finish up the day’s blog post, return emails, hop on a phone session with a client in Taiwan, get the kids up, take them to school and go for a run. Today is a little different and not only because I “slept in” until 5:30. Today is different because there is no school. Our family is in that post school year purgatory period where academics are over but camp has not started. I was reminded of this when I read a post on Vicarious Chelsea aptly titled “routine” where she expressed excitement in all that comes with summertime but also fear that her productivity would cease with the school year.

Regardless of whether or not you have kids, most of us find our routine changing. One of our interns (the best part about summer) told me she enjoyed a recent post on weekend eating. She was a little concerned because “now that I graduated every day, over the summer, is like a weekend.”  Summer invites us to relax, to spend more time outside, to go to barbeques and out after work. In the summer we go away more and we (ok I) drink more. You know

“There'll be music everywhere

There'll be swingin' swayin', and records playin” 

but I digress. It’s just so easy to get charmed by summer and all its perks but Chelsea was fearful for a reason, summer has a dark side.

You see in my world and my client’s worlds routine is good. It’s good to know what and when you’ll eat and when you will exercise. In the summer you’re at the mercy of other people’s schedules and menus and margaritas. In the summer we often wing it. Winging it and weight loss don’t go together. If this is all sounding fatalistic, don’t worry. Once you identify a potential (3 month) pitfall you can take steps around it.

• Summer is a great time to train for a race. Whether a 5K or a sprint triathlon, a training schedule can be a great way to organize your workouts.
• Instead of ice cream, experiment with DIY popsicles, we’ll be featuring some in our June newsletter so be sure to sign up.
• Healthy BBQ- not everyone wants a giant burger and nitrate-filled hot dogs when they come to your house.  I wrote about Hardwick beef and my favorite turkey burger and tuna burger, branch out a bit.
• Use the additional hours of daylight to do something active after dinner-a walk or a bike ride is a great way to end the day.

In many ways, over the summer, you’ll do best if you make a new routine versus being loosey-goosey (or just loosey).

Do you find summer is less rigid or routinized? Do you like loosey goosey? Do you gain weight or lose weight over the summer? What are your slimming summer strategies?