How to stick to your diet plan over your summer holidays

We know that it’s not always easy to stick to your diet plan. There can be temptations and cravings, and if you’re spending time with others who aren’t dieting, it’s all too easy for little slip ups to happen.

In your day-to-day life, you can get into a routine of what you eat and when which will hopefully become second nature after a while. However, summer holidays can pose their own unique challenges, especially if you’re taking a trip somewhere.

If you’re on holiday, it’s natural to want to eat tasty food, have a few drinks and not have to think about dieting. If you do want to take a break from your diet over your summer holiday, then that’s absolutely fine to do so – it will likely just take you longer to reach your weight loss goals. But if you do want to try and stick to your diet plan while on your summer hols, here are some tips that might help you…

1. Remember your motivation

If things start to get a little tough with your diet when you’re away and temptation comes calling, try and remember your motivation for losing weight in the first place. Think about how far you’ve come already and how much progress you’ve made. Do you have any motivational photos or pieces of clothing that can remind you why losing weight is so important to you?

By stopping, taking a breath and remembering why you’re trying to lose weight can be an incredibly powerful way of fighting off temptation.

2. Get support from friends and family

Trying to diet and lose weight when spending time with people that aren’t can be very difficult, so if you can get them to help you out, you might find it a bit easier. This doesn’t mean they have to diet as well, but they can help you stay on track if they can see you’re tempted to fall off track.

They could make small changes to their eating and drinking habits, such as not snacking in front of you or switching to diet soft drinks. It doesn’t have to be anything too major, but every little helps.

3. Plan your meals before you go

One of the most important things you can do to stay on your diet plan is to plan your meals well in advance of your holiday. Try and work out as best you can what you’re going to be having as meal replacements each day so you know exactly what products to take with you.

If possible, try and plan what you’ll be having for any actual meals as well. This is easier to do if you’re self catering and making your own food rather than relying on eating out anywhere.

Take a look at our shop to see what products you could take with you on your holiday. We have plenty of meal replacements, such as our snack bars, that you can just throw in your bag if you’re out and about. Similarly, our diet shakes can be prepped in advance so you can take with you wherever you are. Even our ready meals don’t take long to knock together with minimal preparation.

Take a look at our shop to see our full range of meal replacements.

4. Research restaurants

If you do go and eat out at any point, it might be worth doing your research about what food they serve and if anything will be suitable for your diet plan. Fast food places are obviously not the best if you’re trying to lose weight, but most other types of restaurant should be able to accommodate you in some way. And if you do have a meal that doesn’t quite meet your diet plan guidelines, don’t worry too much – you deserve a treat.

5. Eat more fibre

There are various health benefits of getting more fibre in your diet. One of these benefits is that it can help you feel fuller for longer and, in turn, fight off those pesky cravings between meals that we can all suffer from. This is because it takes longer to digest. [1]

It’s not always easy to get more fibre in your diet while losing weight, but many of our products are specially formulated to contain high levels of fibre. We also have protein supplements that make it even easier to up your daily fibre intake.

6. Drink plenty of water

Drinking enough water is incredibly important not just when losing weight but in order to lead a healthy lifestyle. Water can help you feel fuller and suppress your appetite and it also helps to speed up your metabolism which is very important if you’re trying to shed those pounds.

Here is how much water you should be drinking each and every day:

Women: should drink a minimum of 2 litres per day

Men: should drink at least 2.5 litres per day.

Obviously if the weather is hot then you will likely have to up your water intake as you’ll lose more through sweating. You should also make sure that you drink little and often rather than drinking large quantities all at once.

Make sure you take a water bottle with you when you’re out and about so that you can stay hydrated wherever you are.

Learn more about the importance of drinking enough water when losing weight.

7. Make sure there are meal replacements in for when you get home

Planning your meals for when you’re away is important, but don’t forget to make sure you have enough meal replacements in the cupboards for when you get home as well. The last thing you want is to get home and realise you don’t have any meals left and have to either cobble something together or rely on takeaways or eating out.

Stock up before you go and the stress of post holidays meals will be taken care of when you return home.

8. Don’t beat yourself up if you do fall off track

Probably the most important thing about dieting when you’re on holiday is to just try your best and to not feel guilty if you slip up and don’t 100% follow your plan. A slip here or there for a week or two might set you back slightly but probably not that far in the grand scheme of things.

Just pick up where you left off and try not to worry about it. Having a relaxing and enjoyable holiday has its own mental and physical health benefits, so if you are going away this summer, the biggest thing to remember is to have a good time!