Taught Not Told Podcast

EP#33: How to Enjoy Your Vacation Without Feeling Guilty

August 14, 2024 • Tyler Studer

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In this video, I discuss the most important question to ask yourself before you go on vacation…

What is the desired outcome or intention for this trip?

You have 3 options… and I go in depth explaining all three so you can have a successful trip every single time!

So, if you have a vacation coming up but don’t want your results to suffer, this video is for you!

In This Video I Cover:
00:00 - You deserve to travel but…
00:49 - My goal for this video
02:00 - Set the intention (desired outcome)
03:56 - Option #1
05:28 - Option #2
09:25 - Option #3
11:22 - The biggest take away
13:02 - Thanks for watching!

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Hope you found this helpful!

Much love,
Coach Tyler🤍

Speaker 1:

Summertime is finally here, and I know that usually means one thing that most people, just like you, are probably going to be traveling this summer, just like most of my clients. This is when most people tend to take time off work to go travel and explore the world, and I think that is amazing and absolutely needed. We work so hard throughout the year so we can go on these vacations, so we can save up our money. Take our family, our loved ones, the people around us, on these amazing trips. But the one thing I know is that, more often than not, people come back from these vacations feeling like shit. They're upset with the things they ate, they're upset with how they look in the mirror, they're upset when they step on the scale. And so my one goal with today's video is to make sure that that is not you, so that when you go on this vacation and you return, you're not upset with those things, you're not upset with how you feel, you're not upset with how you look, you're not upset with what happens when you step on the scale. And so, more than anything, I want you to make sure that you set the right intention for the trip that you're going on, and the main reason I wanted to share this with you today is because this is what I used to stay on track for the past six weekends. Because for the past six weekends I've been out of town, traveling for a friend's bachelorette party, going to a music festival, seeing my family, going home for Mother's Day, going on a little vacation. So you can see, I've done a bunch of different things over the past six weeks. I haven't even had a weekend home yet. I accomplished my one goal, which was to come back feeling just as good as when I left. That was my goal, and the more important thing is that I want you to set your goal. I want you to set your intention for going on these trips.

Speaker 1:

So the first thing, I want you to ask yourself what is the desired outcome of this vacation. Do you want to just have fun? Do you want to stay on track with your goals? Do you kind of want to mix your both? Do you want to just maintain where you're at right now, or do you just want to make the most of it and focus on being extremely present and focus on the people around you? None of those things are bad, wrong or anything like that.

Speaker 1:

The most important aspect is making sure that there is zero guilt associated with the decision that you make. So if you want to go on this trip and have complete freedom, do eat and do whatever you want, that is totally fine. If you want to go on this trip and stay perfectly dialed in and stay exactly on track, doing the exact things you were doing while you were home in terms of your eating, your exercise, your workouts, that's also fine. Or if you kind of want to fall somewhere in the middle and kind of maintain your eating, your exercise, your workouts, that's also fine. Or if you kind of want to fall somewhere in the middle and kind of maintain your results and also have some freedom and some flexibility which, by the way, if you're doing your fitness journey right, you should already have that flexibility and freedom, but that's a topic for a whole other video.

Speaker 1:

My point is is that you need to set your intention. You need to make sure, whatever choice you make, there is zero guilt associated with the decision that you're making to enjoy or to have the balance on your trip. So once you decide what your goal is for a vacation, what your intended desire, your ideal outcome is from this vacation, then you can figure out how to plan and take action on the things that you are going to do. So, for example, let's dive into each of the three I mentioned and then I can give you tips and advice on each of those. So for the first example, where you just want to go, enjoy and be present and have the most amazing time, well, I want to prepare you. More than likely you will come back bloated and inflamed, and that's okay. It will go away in a few days. Don't stress out about it. Just know one thing you should not step on the scale when you get back. Give yourself at least a week, maybe even two weeks, before you step on the scale again, for your body weight to normalize and get back to where you were, because you're probably going to be a little inflamed from eating foods that you don't normally do.

Speaker 1:

And so, while you're on that vacation, what I suggest and what I want you to make the utmost priority is being extremely present. Whether you're with your wife, your kids, a family member or even alone, I want you to be extremely present. That means put your damn phone down, be present in the moment. Focus on the people around you, enjoy and soak in the atmosphere, focus on having deep, amazing conversations, focus on living in the moment. Stop being on your phone, if that is your goal, because I guarantee you you're going to enjoy that trip a lot more. Sure, you may not have as many pictures, but I'll bet you those memories will be way more important than any other picture you could possibly take while you're there. In my opinion, that's how you're going to have the most enjoyable trip possible If your goal is to simply enjoy. Moving on to the second option, which is completely staying on track. Staying on track Now.

Speaker 1:

Over these past six weeks of my own trips, there were some where I was just like I just mentioned completely free and enjoyed. When I was with my friends for his bachelor party, I was not worried about getting my protein in, I was not worried about getting a workout in. I do care about moving my body, so I did try to move around, get some steps in, but I wasn't tracking anything. I just wanted to have a good time and have a fantastic celebration for my friend who's about to get married to the woman of his dreams. I'm so excited for him and, more than anything, I wanted to be present and to enjoy it. You know it's funny, I came back with like three pictures from that whole trip. But, more importantly, I came back with tons of amazing memories and stories I will know and have and be able to share for a lifetime.

Speaker 1:

Now, on the flip side, I just went on a trip to Indiana. When I was in Indiana, number one was going to a client's wedding, which, by the way, I ate the food that was there. That was the option. But I also was staying at a friend's wedding which, by the way, I ate the food that was there. That was the option. But I also was staying at a friend's house, so one I could film a podcast, which, by the way, is going to be amazing. I'm so excited to share with you guys.

Speaker 1:

But on top of that, I stayed at his house. He opened up his house and his kitchen and his fridge and gave me pretty much access to anything I wanted. And what was beautiful about that is I was able to cook some meals, I was able to go on walks, I was able to get some work done, I was able to essentially stay in my normal routine, and so I was able to plan for that because I knew I was gonna be staying there and, by the way, my friend Jared's like probably the most amazing host whose house I've ever stayed at, and he was just so open to allowing me to do whatever in his house really, and so that was made it super easy for me to hit my protein goals, for me to move and be consistent. We didn't end up going to the gym, although we were supposed to, but it's all good, it just didn't work out. But, more importantly, that was the plan intention for that trip and I followed through and I came back feeling and looking exactly the same as how I left. That was my goal and I accomplished my goal.

Speaker 1:

So, to be very honest, I think it really depends on how serious or how tuned into your goals you really are. But in most cases, I don't suggest you stay completely on track on a vacation because it really takes away from the enjoyment and the opportunities you have while on vacation. If you're so worried about one week off, you're really not in the right place to be on a diet. So just a little side note if you are on a journey and you really want to stay on track for a trip.

Speaker 1:

I do have one thing I want to share with you. They did this study where they took two groups of people and one group of people. They had work out for 16 weeks straight with no breaks. The other group of people they had them work out for three weeks on and took one week off. Three weeks on, take one week off. And the reason I'm telling you about this study is because there was something really fascinating they figured out at the end the group that took one week off every three weeks and the group that worked out for 16 weeks straight both saw the same results in terms of strength and muscle building.

Speaker 1:

And the reason I'm sharing that with you is so you understand that taking one week off the gym is not going to ruin your progress, is not going to hinder your results. What's going to take a big toll on your results is if you eat like an asshole every day. So really staying on track doesn't have to look like working out every day. If you just focus on moving your body, you focus on eating a decent amount of protein and enjoying some great quality and great tasting food, you're going to come back perfectly fine, which ties nicely into the third one, which is, I think, what most people should do, which, again, is going to look a little different depending on your goals and what you're working towards right now. Like if you're on a strict fat loss diet and you're really focused on the caloric deficit but you also have a really slow metabolism because you're doing it the wrong way. Well, probably not ideal.

Speaker 1:

On the flip side, this is really what I teach my clients, because we focus on speeding up their metabolisms, preparing them for fat loss, getting them in a really good place to have flexibility and freedom so that when they're home, they already have the ability to enjoy their life. They already have the ability to enjoy the foods they love. When they go on vacation, it's just a little exaggerated and they're just not working out as consistently, but the one thing they're consistently doing is getting movement. Typically on vacation, we like to move more. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but when I'm on vacations, I like to go see new things. I like to get out of the hotel and go explore. That's what you should be doing, in my opinion.

Speaker 1:

And ultimately, if you don't have the freedom to order certain things off the menu because you're afraid of how you're going to look after you get back from your vacation, well, that sounds like a shitty life to live. You should be able to enjoy and order the foods that you really want Always not just on vacation, but if you do go on a vacation and you want to make sure that you're finding this balance of enjoyment and staying on track, just the one tip I give to clients is just hey, try to order at least one thing off the menu that's high in protein and, aside from that, eat the damn food that you enjoy. If you want the pasta, go for it, and if you want the dessert, get that too. Oh, you also want the appetizers. By all means, you should be able to do those things, but you also should be able to do those things already if you're doing it the right way. So my point with this whole video is to help you understand that if you're doing things the right way, you should be able to sustain that very easily on a vacation.

Speaker 1:

If you're following some extremely restrictive diet and doing tons of cardio and maybe working out here and there, but mostly just doing cardio, you're probably not in a good place to sustain results, and you're also probably not in a good place to have an enjoyable vacation that you can come back feeling great from. It's a sad truth and it's something that I've seen too often. In fact, I've had a few clients come back from vacations like that and end up signing up with me just so they can tell me how shitty they felt coming back from their vacation. And it always amazes me when my current clients come back from vacation like wow, I stepped on the scale and I thought I was going to be up like 10 pounds, like no, like that's what we worked the last six months to prepare for, so you can go on your trip and feel great, have the freedoms you desire, and come back feeling and looking exactly the same. We literally worked the last six months for that Isn't that great.

Speaker 1:

So my point is, if you're doing things the right way, going on vacation shouldn't be stressful, and so the one thing I want you to make sure is that when you do go on a trip, just make sure you set the intention for the desired outcome of this trip, and if you're very clear about what you intend to accomplish and achieve or see on this vacation, you'll come back feeling guilt free, you'll come back feeling satisfied and you'll be able to get right back into your routine you had before leaving for this trip. Last but not least, thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this video today. I appreciate you taking the time to do so, and if you ever have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me on Instagram. I'm you taking the time to do so and if you ever have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me on Instagram. I'm always open to answering any questions you may have and, aside from that, I'll catch you on the next one. Peace.

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Tyler Studer

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