Funny how as my children have gotten older I have begun to look forward to Spring Break again as I did when I was back in my school days. This year was no different. As we began preparing for our kids Spring Break this year we decided to make sure that it was fun and healthy at the same time. We are an outdoor family and thus most of our vacations are spent camping and fishing. The past problems with this is the typical camp diet, and desire to nap the days away. If you have read some of my previous post you know the only way to describe my current Diet is No Sugar No Grains, my wife is a Raw Vegan and we try hard to teach our children to make wise food choices. So the first step in planning the trip was “diet.” Secondly, if you are involved in the fitness world in some way or another you inevitably have heard the term “Active Rest,” if you are unfamiliar with this term it is implemented in work outs to maximize the benefits of your activity. Active rest uses the period between sets of exercises you'd typically do nothing other than rest, with light and easy activity. We decided to apply this principle to our vacation.
The outcome was as opposed to bringing with us a bunch of sugary treats, chips, and sodas… instead we brought loads of water, fruits/vegetables, eggs, and chicken. Our camping was planned with fishing and hiking as the daily activities with a football, baseball/gloves for down time and a campground that included a nice play area as well.
The day before we were to leave we were presented with a dilemma that could have been the downfall to all our planning. We were informed that our niece was alone and with nothing to do during this Spring Break period and were voluntold to bring her with us. She is not used to our diet and constant activity levels and at first we were starting to think of how we could add some normal stuff to our week. In the end we decided against changing anything with the idea that she understands how we live and eat and that it would be good for her to experience that for a few days.
The result was one of the most successful camping vacations we have ever had, and thus changed how we will proceed with these in the future. We had a spot on diet for the vacation, and while I did not have a gym for weightlifting, I was active for every waking moment with loads of Desert Mountain hiking and fishing. With extremely happy kids that now have loads of adventure stories to take with them to school this week to brag about.
In this journey we are on we can apply all we change in our daily lives to our weekends and vacations, which will make our typical off/cheat days and turn them into active downtime and continue to improve our health and weight loss goals. My challenge to all is to try and implement the things we learn for health and fitness and apply them to everyday, the result will be immeasurable benefits to our health and wellness.
My name is Travis, and I am healing myself.