In this video:
00:12 – Philip asks “How do you regain motivation after a holiday?”
00:23 – People tend to go back to their old bad habits while on holiday
01:53 – People think that you’ll stay at the ideal weight after losing the fats you wanted
02:26 – It takes 2 years for your body to be at a new weight
02:50 – You can still enjoy your holiday without overdoing your eating
03:18 – Prepare a healthy protein and fat breakfast for when you get back
04:15 – Book in to exercise as soon as you come back
04:55 – Always have the right foods on hand and ready at your house
Hi! This is Mark and Stephen Gray from TheDVCC.com,
the place to be if you want to lose weight and increase your muscle tone!
So today, we’re answering another question posted
by – this time it was Philip.
And he basically asks,
“How do you regain your motivation after a holiday?”
So, let me set the scene. You’ve been exercising really well.
You’ve lost weight and you’re feeling great and ready for your holiday.
You got that goal of the holiday – getting in your bikini
or swimsuit or your little Budgy Smugglers and…
Stephen: Davis Sexton.
Mark: David Sexton. Your little Budgys. And you’ve got that goal so you’ve been working very hard towards that. So you go on holiday. The first couple of days, you feel great because you’re still feeling the effects of all your good food and healthy eating and exercise. Obviously, you start losing off. You’re eating foods that perhaps you wouldn’t eat in real life. When I say “real life,” as in everyday workday real life. You start feeling a little bit bloated, you’re having lots of all the nice things, but all the things that probably have got you to putting on weight in the first place. Gradually, you’ll end up feeling more lethargic and probably less motivated to exercise. Certainly, the more weight you carry all day, the less energized you are, the less likely you are to exercise.
So you start heading towards the end of your holiday, and then you’re coming back. You’re on the flight and you get straight back and you obviously have work generally the next day because not everybody has holidays for life, so you’re getting straight back in to work. And your exercise is the last thing on your mind because you feel like crap, you are eating like crap. And therefore, you’re getting back into perhaps your old ways that you wanted to kick in the first place. So, how do you get out of that?
Stephen: So, I actually wanted to mention something here, seeing as we’re talking about holidays. I’ve been talking to quite a few people and I’ve had in the past where people have gone away for 2 weeks and found that they’ve eaten, like Mark says, all the foods that actually got them to put on weight in the first place that they wouldn’t eat now in everyday life, but they eat loads of bread, loads of sugar and things like that and drink a lot of alcohol. And then, they expect not to put on much weight because I think people have the misconception that as soon as you’ve lost weight, your body should stay at that weight no matter what you do to it.
And actually, what happens, it takes 2 years for your body to be at a new weight. So, if you’ve lost, for example, 2 stone, it’ll take 2 years of being 2 stone lighter before your body recognizes that as its norm.
Mark: Your set point.
Stephen: Your set point, it’s called. So, until that point, your body is very quick to try and get back to how it sees as normal, which actually was when you were 2 stone heavier. So if you go away on a holiday, be aware that – we’re not saying don’t eat…
Mark: Oh no. Of course not. It’s a holiday.
Stephen: But, don’t expect to be able to go to the all-inclusive buffet 4 times a day, drink 2 bottles of wine every night and not to put on weight. That’s the one thing.
Mark: Naturally, you will if you carry on those habits. But, it’s not to say you shouldn’t do.
Stephen: No.
Mark: The point is this is how you get past that, getting your motivation back for when you’re back from holiday. Basically, before you go, you should have what is a healthy breakfast. That’s protein and a healthy fat. I want you to store that in your freezer. If you’re having salmon, you can store it in the freezer. If you’re having sausage, you can store it in the freezer. If you’re having chicken breast even for breakfast, you can store it in the freezer, but you have a healthy breakfast set for you for when you come back. When you fly back, most people – even if you come midday – you can take the food out for the next morning. You could still eat crap for the rest of the day. And I am swearing because I am talking…
Stephen: Like an American?
Mark: Like an American. And you can still eat the same stuff you were for the rest of the day, but it’s the next morning. It’s that first breakfast I want you to focus on and you start with a good protein and fat breakfast. And if you keep that going for the next few days, you will – fact – get back into your healthy ways because you’ll feel better, you’ll feel more motivated. Both of those things increase your brain function, which is actually one of the key things for motivation anyway.
Stephen: And actually, one of the important things to do as well is to make sure that you book in to exercise as soon after you come back as possible. So, even though you’re going to be tired, even though you’ve got washing and things like that to do, still, book in for that exercise and do the exercise. And then, you’ll find that you managed to get back into the swing of things, get back into the habit of things. Because all it is is you’ll be out of the habit, and all you need to do is get back into that habit.
Mark: So combine that breakfast with an early booking of a session, or if you’re in a gym yourself, that you’ve booked in to your personal diary, and you will be well on the way to getting motivated again because you simply just need the good food in your body. And also, the endorphins released when you exercise to get straight back into it.
Stephen: Oh, and one quick thing you could do as well to make sure, like Mark says, having the right food in the house. If you do a Tesco shop or wherever you shop or whatever supermarket and set it to come maybe the day after you return or the day you return, then you’re always going to have food in the house. Because half the battle is actually having the right food in the house.
