Healthy post-vacation advice: Keep moving
With nearly half of Canadians taking a spring vacation, many may wonder how to maintain their post-holiday high after the trip is over.
According to the Journal of Occupational Health, brief vacations have a positive overall effect on health and well-being from two to four weeks after coming home.
Zoe Tremblay, a trainer at the Hat’s Goodlife Fitness, says the best way to maintain these feelings is to hit the gym.
“It’s really important to move that energy (from the vacation) into working out,” said Tremblay. “You take a day, you relax, you unpack, then get mentally ready and jump right into it. You don’t want to take too much of a break.”
People returning may be tempted to ride out their vacation high, but if they want to sustain it for as long as possible, it’s important to get back to working out as soon as possible.
“They just want to carry over their vacation high into their work routine, but it’s going to fade eventually. You want to keep it going. You want to keep your body moving,” she said.
With exercise, you can almost keep the buzz going into your next vacation, Tremblay added.
“You can keep feeling really good, releasing those endorphins (and) feeling really empowered,” she said.
You don’t have to just go to the gym to get exercise.
“Just get outdoors,” said Tremblay. “It’s starting to get really nice out. Go for walks, go for runs, go up and down stairs. “There’s tons of options.” She suggests always working towards goals that are slightly outside of one’s comfort zone.
“Maybe you’re not quite there yet, but you also have to realize that in order to make some real change, you have to push yourself a little bit outside your comfort zone,” Tremblay said.
She also recommends putting your fitness goals, whatever they may be, in writing to serve as a motivation.
“You need that pen to paper. You’re actually getting it out of your brain and onto paper,” Tremblay said.
Putting your written down goals on the fridge, or somewhere else visible, can be a good way to remind yourself of what you’ve committed too, she added.
Tremblay admits it can be hard to motivate yourself to get back to the gym after a vacation, but it’s the feeling after the workout that makes it worth it.
“It’s hard. It’s mentally challenging. It’s physically challenging.
But then afterwards, you’re sitting there and all those endorphins are released, and you feel that sense of being stress free.
“You can have that feeling all the time.”