Latest / Cameron's Conversations: The last weight loss podcast you'll ever need. / Episode 63: How to get going again after a holiday!
Transcript
- Cameron Cummings: Welcome to the Cameron's Conversations podcast. So in today's episode, I want to talk a little bit about how you get back into the swing of things with your nutrition and training after being on holiday. So I am just back from Stag Do, which was good fun and involved quite a lot of tequila, which for someone who doesn't drink very much was brave, but I actually came off okay. I will say that the, ⁓ is it the groom to be? I don't know what the term is, but anyway the groom was definitely suffering. after he went all out on night one and then was basically a shell for a day the day after which was quite good fun at his expense that just tells you you shouldn't go too hard on the first night but there we go he has previous for that but that was good laugh anyway the point is is that when it comes to getting back into swing of things post holiday one of the best things you can do is Remember that the way you feel post holiday often passes. Now, stag do is probably a more extreme example of that because you are probably, if you're coming off of something like a stag your head and do, you're probably feeling a little bit worse for wear. I wasn't actually feeling too bad, but I was pretty sleep deprived. I was probably getting like four or five hours sleep, well probably four hours sleep realistically, for about three, about four nights actually because the night we flew out was a very, very early start as well, the following morning. Yeah, it doesn't really matter too much, but basically you're looking at poor sleep, you're looking at poor recovery from alcohol consumption and all the rest of it, from a normal holiday, maybe a little bit less of that, maybe just more bit of tiredness from travel, a bit of tiredness from changing time zone, even if that's just getting up a couple of hours later slash earlier. All these kind of normal adjustments are going to have an impact, I guess, is the way I would frame it. So that all has a little bit of a knock-on effect, but certainly when it comes to sort of getting back into the swing of it, One of the best things you can remember is that this passes, right? Because everyone's had a little bit of the post-holiday blues, although I don't think I had that after the stag do, I was just quite glad to have survived. But it's normal to have a little bit of those post-holiday blues, feel a bit slumpy, you know, not exactly running into your work and all the rest of it, right? So I think what can be quite important here is that you want to almost, and this is what I tend to do, you want to almost think about what are the things that make you feel good? Well, I knew it on day one. getting back that I had a monster work day because I was meant to get back kind of like late Monday afternoon because our flights were delayed and all the rest of it that just didn't happen so I ended up not working at all on Monday because I just couldn't and by the time I got home it was like 9 p.m. so I was done after a long day of traveling so I knew I was gonna have to do a really long Tuesday so I focused on some really boring basic stuff having a bit more fruit I made sure I was really well hydrated I made sure I got out for three really short walks I was really strapped for time but I did get out for 15 minutes three times throughout the day, once in the morning, once at lunch, and then once in the evening after I'd finished, and I finished quite late on the Tuesday. So that just meant that I got a little bit of movement in, and I felt a lot better for it, because I know full well that if I get some sunlight, which isn't guaranteed in Scotland, but we try, if I get some sunlight, if I'm well hydrated and I get some fruit, and I feel like I've eaten some veggies and stuff too, I'm probably gonna feel pretty good, right? So that kind of worked. felt on Tuesday, I didn't feel amazing, I felt okay. And then yesterday I started to feel a little bit better as well, energy wise, I bounced back a little bit, I had a really productive day, wasn't quite as stretched work wise, got out for a longer walk early in the morning, so I did 5,000 steps, and then in the evening I went and did a 5k, which by the way, was hard. When I go basically to the village I'm from, and I'm up north right now with my family at my family house, there is a sort of a beach, a beautiful beach right beside me, so. I ran along the cliff, down the cliff, which is great, along the track, which is stunning, absolutely beautiful at this time of year, didn't see a soul. And then there's a giant hill back up the road, which actually turns out after a stag do, running uphill, a very steep hill like that, is quite the challenge. I was definitely struggling by the end. I was definitely struggling because it's kind of like a very, very steep hill that then starts to flatten out and it's like a gradual hill to finish. But it goes on for about like a kilometer and probably 1.3, 1.4 K. of just like steady, slow uphill. So that was brutal, absolutely brutal. But even doing that, by the time I was done, although I was fried, I was definitely done, I couldn't have done another 5K, did not fancy it, but it meant that I felt really good, right? I came back, for a shower, I felt pretty chilled out, and again, because I had a good amount of fruit, I'd hydrated, I went to bed at a reasonable time that night as well, it all starts to come together a little bit. So again, I started to feel a little bit better coming into today. Today I've managed to get to the gym too. The point of all this is is that It's just the basic stuff. Like, it's amazing the difference if you're like, right, okay, I'm back tomorrow, I'm gonna make sure I'm really well hydrated and I'm gonna do an easy exercise session. I'm gonna go to the gym for 30, 40 minutes. I'm not gonna push that hard, but I'm gonna turn up. Cool. Well, you're hydrated, you've now exercised, so you feel a bit more into routine and you've eaten some fruit and veggies. So you probably feel twice as motivated as you did the day before when you were getting back, right? You probably still feel tired, you're not quite in your rhythm, but you're not far off it. And another day of that and then you're back to it. The biggest problem a of people have is they put things off like, ⁓ but I feel tired, I can't be bothered, I'm really knackered and work's really busy. Like, I get all that and that's always gonna be the case. You're always gonna have that post-holiday unless you're one of these really smart people who has like another day off, you know, the day you get back, which is great. But the reality is you're probably always gonna feel a bit of that. You're always gonna feel a bit flat, a bit demotivated and you have a choice. You basically have a choice which is you'll, like you'll lean into it and you're just like, well, if you're knackered, I can't be bothered, I can't be arsed with this, I'm just gonna chill out. Okay, cool. But then that just means that you extend that time frame that you feel like that or you just kind of say to yourself, what are the basic things I can do? Well, hydration, eat a bit more fruit, have a good meal, have a really good dinner that's chock full of veg. Okay, cool, I feel like I'm a bit more of the swing about track that first day back. Even if it's not perfect, at least it's tracked. All of a sudden you have a little bit of momentum going for you and it feels much easier the next day to build in that, okay, well I tracked yesterday, it was a wee bit over my calories, but you know what? I'll tighten things up a little bit today, cool. Right, I've done that. Now I'm also eating a bit more fruit, I'm more hydrated, I'm getting a bit of exercise in. Like it starts to build very, very, very quickly, but I think it's quite normal to just feel very, like as I say, like not very, but a little flat when you get back from holiday. And I do think sometimes people can kind of almost indulge it a little bit too much. It seems a bit harsh, but I think that's true. I was definitely guilty of that before. I was like, ⁓ can't be bothered. First few days back at work, know. And now I don't feel like that at all because I'm very good at just cracking on. and I make sure that I still have a good day the first day I'm back, right? Doing all the things that make me feel good, even if I don't necessarily want to. I'm not gonna pretend to you that I was super excited to work for that run. I kinda was in the afternoon, I was like, ⁓ I'm gonna work for run today. And then when the rubber hit the road from the evening and actually it was time to go, I was like, ⁓ I can't really be bothered, but I'm gonna make myself go. And I did feel super stiff and yeah, my hips and my knees were really stiff after all the travel and sitting. But then once I got going 10 minutes in, I was like, ⁓ I feel pretty good. And then 35 minutes later, I was like, ⁓ I feel great now that it's done. So I think it's having that perspective on things is incredibly important basically. I think it's really important to just get into it and it doesn't have to be that you go for a massive gym session. I can't stress that enough or if you run or whatever, don't go for a huge run. Put the bar really low. I literally could have run 3K and probably got the benefit of it. know, even if it had been 15 minutes or 20 minutes of running, that would have been enough. Like even if it's a jog around the village I'm in or potentially... a 30, 40 minute gym session, like it just makes such a difference. So having that perspective is so, so, so, helpful. So that's kind of the way that I would look at that. So there are some thoughts around getting back into the swing of your holiday and hopefully that's helpful because I know it will be, well it kind of is getting into holiday season and it can be good to kind of get back into the swing of it. So those are the places I'd start, basic stuff, hydration, having a little bit of fruit, having a good meal that you would normally have, making sure you track anyway, even if it's not perfect in that first day back. The goal is to track your calories so that the next day when you wake up you feel a lot more motivated and back into the swing of things. Hopefully that was helpful. If you are struggling a bit at the moment with your own weight loss journey and you're not getting and not seeing the progress you want, then click into the show notes and there is a link to book a chat for one-to-one coaching. If you're a good fit and I feel like it can help you in the way that I would like to as a coach, then we can have a little bit of chat about getting started with one-to-one coaching. and if not you will still come away having a lot more context and a bit of an idea of your next steps too so it wouldn't win for you in that regard and of course very chill and there's no pressure at all I want to make sure that it's the right decision for you to come into coaching at that time so there is no pressure whatsoever but if that's of interest in the show notes otherwise I will speak to you on the next episode