The European Fitness Plan
OK, maybe we should call it the Costa Del Sol Fitness Program. This past summer, my wife and I travelled to the south of Spain for a sun filled vacation to relax and embrace the beach culture. Our itinerary included the small beach town of Nerja, Seville (Capital of Andalusia), and finally the beautiful Marbella!
[Spending your days at a beautiful beach like this one in Nerja, Spain is easy. Being able to take in the culture, indulge in local cuisine, and embrace the laid back atmosphere is also easy. Returning home from vacation 5 pounds lighter after having a blast is the ultimate accomplishment. You can have your cake and eat it too!....Find out how.....]
Daily Trends
When we travel our days usually follow this pattern; eat, sun bathe, eat, drink, eat, drink! Believing this would be the case again, I envisioned returning home to Canada carrying a few extra pounds. When we went to Hawaii last year I came back 10 pounds heavier!
What Happened In Spain?
In addition to experiencing the idyllic scenery, fine cuisine, bull fights, and flamenco dancing I had one more goal on my agenda. The goal was to not obsess about the weight I was going to gain! Not wanting to be one of those obsessive compulsive health dudes, I made a conscious effort to not weigh myself, or really follow a particular diet for the duration of the trip. Since I had made great progress over the last several months I didn’t want a 12 day binge to ruin that. Let’s just say I was ecstatic to return home a few pounds lighter than when we departed! I ended up dropping 5 pounds in 12 days, while having the occasional alcoholic beverage, dessert, small serving of bread, and not over thinking my food choices.
How Was This Possible?
Instead of Eat, Drink, Eat, and Drink again. Our days looked more like this:
Walk - To and from the beach!
Lounge – In the sun at the beach
Eat - Local cuisine
Sleep -At the beach, or at rental accomodations (siesta!)
Eat - Local cuisine again, maybe a dessert to finish it off
Walk - Through the town, or along the beach again!
Sleep - Great restful vacation sleep
Meals
Our meals consisted of fresh fish, and other seafood most days. I also fell in love with the Spanish omelet , which I ate at anytime of the day, not just breakfast! What we inadvertently did however, was reduce our number of meals per day from 3 to 2! We still indulged in the occasional drink, but our meals were spaced out with little to no snacking in between. Like I said, this wasn’t intentional; we just followed the eating pattern of the locals. I think this eating schedule contributes to the general attractiveness of the countries residence.
Exercise
Our main source of exercise consisted of long walks on the beach. This sounds romantic almost! But seriously, we would probably walk for a few hours a day whether it was on the smoking hot beaches or in the city centers. I almost forgot our daily sprints. This wasn’t intentional exercise either, rather it was a necessity. The sand was so hot, than when we worked up the courage to leave our lounger and take a plunge in the ocean we had little choice but to break into an all our sprint to protect our barefeet from burning!
We also stumbled upon this cool fitness circuit overlooking the beach. The city governments encourage their residents and visitors to be active. Check it out! They even have a picture flowchart with a suggested circuit. All that was missing was a pull up bar! I could attempt some dips at least.
[Living in a land locked city made this place feel like heaven. Working out in this setting is enjoyable to say the least......Not sure how to use the equipment? Don't worry, there is a detailed diagram with suggested circuit training routines with time intervals and all...pretty cool!]
Summary
- We ate 2 meals a day (mostly fresh fish and omelets)
- Walked 1 hour per day (minimum)
- All out sprints (daily)
- Barefoot training!
- Occasional beverages
- 5 pounds lost in 12 days!
I think this type of result is possible on most vacations with the right planning, but it is a vacation after all! In the end I was happy about the weight loss, but more happy that I was able to accomplish that while still enjoying myself and not over thinking it!
I know exactly how you feel it happens to me too when I go on holidays I tend to lose weight not gain. I think your activities and nutrition certainly made it happen but possibly too: your body needed a reset!
I don’t know what your training and diet was like leading up to it but before I go on holidays usually 1-2 months prior I step up the workouts and lower my calories so by the time holidays hit, I’m in any active recovery.
Raymond
Raymond,
We both know about resetting our bodies!My diet leading up to the trip was pretty decent. I think what happened was something that I had been consciously trying to create for the past year! The bonus was that it happened naturally. Eating twice a day (or fasting now and then), big breaks between meals, and walking are things that I believe are essential to weight loss or weight maintenance.
Well, this is my first visit to your site, and I already hate you because you are chillin’ in Spain! Just kidding of course.
I did the same in Puerto Rico recently, along with some awesome surfing, and had a great vacation! Cheers!
Josh,
Thanks for checking out this site. I know, it sounds like I was going on about how much fun I had in Spain, but I was just being honest! I bet you had a killer time in Puerto Rico. I’ve tried surfing once, and was disappointed with my performance. I would love to try again!
Looks like an awesome vacation and not losing all your fitness progress makes it all that much better. I think vacation is definitely the time to let fitness routine go a little, but it’s great that you actually improved your weight just by doing what the locals do. More walking, less meals…makes sense to me!
I been travelling also and I think I lose a lot of the weight from all the walking. Walking is the unexpected fat killer…
It is true. Walking seems inconsequential, but it is a very effective fat burning exercise.