Staying Healthy on Vacation

***Spring break is coming up next week for us, so this will be the only post for the next two weeks. *** (I know you will miss me, but try to handle it.)  How can we stay healthy on vacation?  It is so easy to eat too much and be too lazy, true?  I say the answer is to make a plan for the opposite.  What if you lost 5 pounds on vacation instead of gaining 10?  You would be 15 pounds better off!  What if you built muscle instead of lost it? Decide now to exercise some each day.  You will feel better!  Going to a cabin with your family?  Take time out to take a walk each morning and find the beauty in God's world.

by Dan, freedigitalphotos.net

Cool!  That sounds like a healthy start to our day, physically and spiritually. 

The other challenge on vacation is the food.  Many times on vacation we can't control how food is prepared.  We can control how much we eat, however.  How about if you really want something rich that you love, have a taste!  Is that all you really wanted?  Sometimes it is, just to taste.  If it is too hard for you to just have a taste, tell yourself you can have more later if you want.  Sometimes the craving will go away.  Sometimes not. If not, ask yourself, is it really hunger?  If it is, eat something healthy first, then if you still want it, have a little more.  I think God made good food for us to enjoy.  He also wants us to learn to be self-disciplined and make good choices.  So enjoy and be thankful, but maybe do it a little less than you would have otherwise.  We really do eat too much food.  (What a blessing that we have that problem!)  Your body really needs much less than most people think.  I realized that when I started counting calories.  I really do not need as much as I had been eating!  We are actually healthier when we eat less.  According to a study done at Harvard Medical School, scientists believe that calorie restriction actually slows down the aging process.  (They believe exercise does this also! :-) Check out this article if you want to learn more about that:

Eat Less To Live Longer: Calorie Restriction Linked To Long Healthy Lives

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070920122209.htm

So, to sum it up:

Have a great spring! 

 Eat less, move more, thank God, and be happy.

Sounds like a great plan.