Holiday Extremes!

It has been some time since my last post. It's that/this/the time of year! Sorry! (Its been even more time as I hadn't posted this...news is: I'm living in Perth and studying Fitness, more of that to come in future posts). 

My latest thoughts have been about holidaying and sustaining health and activity while on holiday without the holiday becoming all about said health and activity. And here we are again, talking about balance!

On holiday I have two extremes. The first is neurotic exercising Sally. I wake up early, I put my gym clothes on and I head out the door only to return 2 hours later, knackered and reluctant to participate in any sight-seeing festivities much preferring  to lay on the coach and mentally high-five myself for training so hard (while watching reality TV...there's always reality TV when I'm on holiday. Who have I become?).

The other extreme is binge eating, I'm on holiday and I'm going to do whatever the hell I want to do Sally. A standard day with this Sally would involve rolling out of bed whenever, eating a delicious breakfast (with bacon. Holiday food = bacon), maybe seeing some sights, definitely eating a delicious lunch and most certainly finishing a hard day (of eating) with a delicious dinner! Then mix alcohol into this. It all gets very messy.

This holiday season, I decided, was going to be different. I headed off to the west coast - a bag full (17kgs for 7 days...coz I wouldn't be a Duckworth if it were lighter, must pack for all seasons regardless of heatwaves!) of enough gym clothes for everyday, boxing gloves and pads, boxing wraps, skipping rope...you get the idea. This was all mixed in with a few bikinis and other necessary items. By the time I landed in Western Australia the holiday could have gone either the binge or neurotic way (although I had just flown business class for what may be the only time in my life so felt eating the cheese platter was somewhat obligatory...binge holiday-1, neurotic holiday-0).

I landed on Christmas eve and was super full after the 3 course meal (individual courses, not compartmentalised like in economy-holy shit!) so had a cruisy evening. The next day was Christmas, however I was staying with a raw vegan so ate delicious unprocessed salads, zucchini pastas and raw sweets. Then something tweaked in my head and an un-ignore-able alarm was screaming in my head IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY!!! YOU HAVE TO EAT DELICIOUS FOOD. Where did this voice come from? Why do I have to eat unhealthily on Christmas day. I appeased this with a handful of lollies, the alarm stopped ringing however the binge holiday was now in the lead, binge holiday-2, neurotic holiday-0.

A few days in, attempts to run in the heat wave were beaten to the ground by dehydration, I was struck with an epiphany. It doesn't have to be either a binging or neurotic holiday! It can be a balanced holiday! Woah, Woah, Woah! I realised that I could eat food that I may not eat on a day to day basis, ensuring that I wasn't over-indulging while also having an active holiday. This activity didn't mean running until I could no longer move coz've the heat exhaustion (it happened one day actually) but rather incorporating holiday activities that i would enjoy.

All in all, it was a flipping brilliant holiday! I finally tried paddle boarding, did some snorkeling, prepared tasty food (raw blueberry cheesecake being the absolute highlight), started every day with a swim, rode a bike (must train bum to tolerate bike seats), jogged and it was exactly the holiday that it should've been - balanced. I didn't have to feel guilty about eating pizza coz I was active everyday and I was listening to how my body responded to food and didn't feel the desire to eat all the bad food that was in sight!

I guess there isn't much of a moral to all of this except that it's a reminder of how important it is to live a balanced life. As well as another time for me to try and defeat the idea of food being a reward.

New Years Resolutions -

Lose 6kgs! Now 4kgs - a sea change (plus balance) can do great things

Stop buying crap I don't need!

Pour my heart into lovely friends and family members!

Stay positive, look ahead!

My advice for now: drink coconut water, it's delicious!