Vacation season is upon us! After a few months of dealing with the cold, people including myself, are eager to get away and enjoy some warm weather. I personally have a trip planned to Mexico next month. Vacations are exciting and with all the excitement it can be easy to forget about eating right and staying active. We all work so hard to get in shape and show off our beach bodies, but it can be easy to forget how you got in shape when you’re vacationing.

Usually when on a trip, you tend to eat out often, drink too much, and not exercise at all! We justify this routine by saying “I’m on vacation and it won’t last for too long” which is true, since eating unhealthy and not being active isn’t the end of the world, in moderation. But there are a few simple things you can do to avoid the bad habits on vacation, keep some sort of routine, and still have a good old time!

The first thing I suggest is packing a few simple, healthy snacks or meals. For instance, I pack oatmeal containing fruit when I am traveling for more then a couple days. It is a great breakfast option full of fiber and its low in fat. Another positive is that it saves me money as well, instead of having to go out for breakfast I can just roll out of bed and make a quick bowl of oatmeal and be on my way. If you are in a hotel and don’t have access to a kitchen don’t worry you can use a coffee maker to boil water and then you are all set, just pick up some paper bowls and silverware at a local store.

Another thing I like to pack is some sort of granola or almond bar. They are a nice healthy snack, low in sugar and fat, and contain a decent sum of protein. The great thing about the bars too, is that they’re easy to pack, don’t take up much space, and taste pretty good. One other thing I always bring when traveling is EAS or Muscle Milk light ready to drink protein shakes. You can pick these up at your local supermarket or online at many different sites. They contain many nutrients and are full of protein and low in fat, not to mention that they are also small and easy to pack. Those are just a few suggestions, you might like other things, but just remember next time you are traveling to pack a few healthy options, whether they are breakfast solutions or just a few snacks, they are easy to bring along, save money and their hassle free solutions to help keep you eating healthy.

Another problem people have on vacation is that they don’t exercise at all. Taking a week off isn’t a bad thing and sometimes it can be helpful to let the body rest, but there are a few simple things you can do to burn sum of those unhealthy calories you might be eating on vacation. One suggestion is to go for a run on the beach a few times over the trip. It is an easy way to burn calories and it can be very enjoyable. You can go early in the morning and watch the sunrise with a loved one or you can work up a sweat before going for a swim. Most of us don’t live on a beach and we might not be able to run on one very often, so take advantage of your opportunity.

If you aren’t near a beach, a run can be a great way to check out the scenery and enjoy the sights of the area. Either way running at a light pace for just 30-60 minutes can burn between 300-600+ calories, so it is a great way to burn off some of those empty calories from all those margaritas. Another way to stay active is to take advantage of your hotel or resorts fitness rooms. I know some of these supposed fitness rooms don’t have much in them, but you can do a lot with a few dumbbells or machines. Even if you are just using there fitness rooms to do some basic things like sit-ups or push-ups, either way it helps. You don’t have to go in there every morning of the trip and do your workout routine, you go on vacations to get away from that, but try going in their a couple times and spend 20 minutes or so. It will help you stay on track and keep you looking good too, not to mention help curve some of the guilt from eating unhealthy or drinking too much.

One last tip to consider when vacationing is try not to drink too much too often. One of the most popular vacation drinks is a margarita, but did you know that a 12oz margarita contains about 540 calories! Thats all carbs to. Now if you have a few of these we are talking about 1500 calories, wow that is a ton of calories, almost a full days worth, especially when you are most likely not doing any exercise. Another common vacation alcoholic drink is the pina colada, 644 calories per drink. Most people don’t know that those frozen concoctions that they love contain so many calories. So does that mean you are doomed to a vacation of sobriety? No, it doesn’t, there are a couple solutions.

First, it’s hard for the body to process and eliminate many alcohols at one time, so try to stick to one, also since unused sugar in the body makes you fat try to avoid the sugary drinks as much as possible. I suggest getting your liquor of choice on the rocks or simply do a shot of it, either way it will contain way less calories then those mixed drinks and cocktails. If you are going to indulge in a couple margaritas, the earlier the better, since you will have more time to burn those extra calories off before you go to bed. There is nothing wrong with enjoying yourself on vacation but be aware of what you are putting in your body.

So next time you go on vacation try a few of these tips and keep that beach body that you worked so hard for.