Even the best jet setters need to get grounded sometimes.
6 practical strategies to get you back on track after a trip.
One of the best features of F-Factor is that you can travel anywhere in the world and maintain your program. F-Factor allows for mindful indulgences, enjoying cocktails, and dining out, so you can return from your trip with your weight maintained or even lose weight. But maybe the whole OOO time has wrecked havoc on your good habits. Or maybe you indulged more than you intended to. Or maybe you’re not even back yet but already nervous about how you are going to clean up any diet damage done when you return.
The good news is, when you get back, we’ve got your back. Whether you’re returning with some extra excess weight that needs to be addressed, or just need help getting back into the grove of things, here’s 6 tips to help ensure success upon your arrival home.
JUMP BACK IN
It may seem obvious, but having a program to follow with a solid framework for eating will significantly help you bounce back after a trip with ease. Without some level of structure, it’s almost impossible for people to track progress and succeed. Structure is important for people to be able to hold themselves accountable.
The beauty of F-Factor is that Step 1 is always waiting for you as a reset. Step 1 was designed to boost weight loss immediately. While it is the most focused stage of the diet, it’s also the basis of the diet; it’s where everyone who lives the F-Factor Way begins. Therefore, resetting and starting again with Step 1 is not only effective, but easy to maintain. For tips on doing a Step 1 Reset, click here.
HYDRATE
If you feel especially thirsty in-flight, or after a flight, it’s because flying is inherently dehydrating. This is because the air pulled into the aircraft at higher altitudes is much dryer than the air we’re used to inhaling on the ground. In flight we exhale moisture-rich air, and inhale dry air and the result leaves us feeling parched all over. Therefore, after long flights, it’s especially important to attain and surpass your 3L of water per day goal to restore hydration. If that task seems like a tall glass to fill (pun intended), consider eating for hydration. Incorporate fruits and vegetables with high water content to get the added hydration benefit. Celery, cucumbers and strawberries all have a water content above 90%.
FOCUS ON FIBER
Whether you’re following F-Factor or not, you want to aim to eat at least 35g of fiber per day, but this is especially important when you get back from a trip that had you traveling across different time zones. That’s because traveling, changing time zones and being off your normal schedule can wreak havoc on your regularity. In fact, constipation is one of the most common jet lag-induced complaints. Fiber, among it’s many other benefits benefits, promotes regularity, so place an extra emphasis on meeting those daily fiber needs upon returning in order to keep things moving along the way you’re used.
FOOD SHOP
If you return home from a trip to nothing in your fridge it’s going to be pretty difficult to return to your normal routine right away, and when you’re tired from traveling, and anxious to get back to work, it can be all too easy to put off food shopping. Plan to food shop as soon as you get back or place an order for groceries to be delivered immediately. The longer you delay stocking your fridge the harder it will be to get back on track. Another thing you can do to set yourself up for success when you return is to make 20/20 waffles or 20/20 muffins and freeze them before you leave, so you have something for that first morning you get back.
BOOK A WORKOUT
Between recovering, unpacking, getting back to work, debating what you’re going to do with all the amazing pictures you took while traveling and trying to locate your that one tank that you’re fairly certain you brought with you, it’s incredibly easy to skip the gym when you first get back. Safeguard yourself from giving in and book a workout that you enjoy ahead of time. Pilates and yoga are great low impact, strength training activities that can help stretch out tense muscles after long flights. You may be exhausted but working out will help to fight jet lag and the structure of having it already booked will help get you back on your normal schedule. It will also allow you to sweat out water you may be retaining from flying and consuming salty foods in flight (plane food is notoriously salty because the altitude impacts your tastebuds).
GIVE YOURSELF SOME CREDIT
So you had a great vacation, indulged a bit and enjoyed yourself. Good, you were supposed to! Now, leave it at that and move on. Don’t freak out now and start eliminating whole food groups from your diet. With just a few days of Step 1 you’ll feel back to your normal self in no time. Read about Step 1 Reset here, remain clam and feel empowered. The fork is in your hand here, you got this.