Hello there!!
It’s been a little while because I recently got back from an amazing trip to the Emerald Isle; Ireland!!! It was my 30th birthday and we decided to go all out and travel to one of the places on my bucket list. If you want to read more about my vacation, check out my blog HERE.
But I was worried about enjoying myself too much and gaining a large amount of weight. I decided that I was going to give myself permission to enjoy myself and partake in their local foods and drinks. You don’t travel around the world and don’t enjoy yourself, right?
BUT I DIDN’T GAIN ANY WEIGHT AND ATE WHAT I WANTED!!!!
You may wonder, how did this happen?
So this is what I did. I ate carbs, BUT I limited myself to them and I was choosey too. I only had 1/2 a piece of toast or a scone (scones are amazing btw) with black currant jam (which is amazing as well). I had them at breakfast in order to supply energy for the day. I made sure I got good sources of protein in throughout the day as well.
Sometimes we skipped lunch and ate Quest bars instead, so that saved on calories for the day and gave us more time to explore. Exploring was mostly on foot. We would park the car and walk and walk and walk. Walking is definitely the best way to explore the tiny, cute towns of Ireland. We also went on several guided tours of castles and noteworthy sites of tourism. So being quite active definitely helped keep the pounds off.
I also watched my portions of food and drink. If I decided to partake in local beverage, I would limit my carb intake elsewhere; not as many potatoes, bread, etc. Ciders and beers are full of carbs and I knew I needed to limit myself on them and other carb sources, or else I would be busting out of my pants before the trip was over.
Local ciders and beers are fabulous in Ireland, by the way. I definitely recommend if you go, to try local foods and drinks. Fish is freshly caught and their local beef and lamb are quite delicious as well.
Giving myself permission to have fun and have a good time during a trip of a lifetime took a lot of stress off of me. I can always take the weight off later, I can’t always go back to Ireland. So, who cares if I gain 5 pounds on the trip of a lifetime?
When I came home, I was only a couple pounds heavier that when we left. BUT I didn’t drink as much water as I usually do. So the next 2 days I went back to drinking my 120ish ounces of water and at the end of those 2 days, I was actually 1 pound less than I was before I left! Bloating from not drinking enough water can definitely make the scale skewed for you.
So, my advice if you’re taking a trip like this: don’t stress, have fun, try the local food and drink, be active, eat your protein and drink your water!!
You got this!
