What If Vacation Didn't Ruin Your Progress in Your Health Journey? (Listen BEFORE Vacation)

Summer is full of opportunities to make memories, enjoy time with family and friends, and step away from your normal routine. But for many women, vacations can also bring anxiety about food, exercise, and the fear of "falling off track."

In this episode, we're talking about how to approach vacations with a healthy mindset so you can fully enjoy your trip while still feeling good physically and mentally. Instead of chasing perfection or trying to maintain your entire routine, you'll learn how to establish "bare minimum" goals that help you stay grounded without taking away from the vacation experience.

The goal isn't to lose weight on vacation. The goal isn't to earn your meals or burn off every indulgence. The goal is to enjoy your life, create memories, and return home feeling proud of how you showed up for yourself.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Why vacations often trigger an all-or-nothing mindset
• The biggest mistake people make before, during, and after a trip
• How to create realistic "bare minimum" goals that support your health
• Examples of simple habits to prioritize while traveling
• Why consistency matters more than perfection
• How to enjoy vacation foods without guilt or regret
• The mindset shift that helps you stop viewing vacations as a setback
• How to return home without needing to "start over" on Monday

Key Takeaway

Your healthiest life should include vacations. When you learn how to maintain a few foundational habits and approach travel with flexibility, you can enjoy your trip without sacrificing your progress or your peace of mind!

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• Seismic Shift: Group Health Coaching (code POWERFUL for 10% off)
• 1:1 Coaching

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JOIN EDUCATE AND REJUVENATE: 100% Free - Made for Teachers and Moms

JOIN HERE: Summer 2026 Registration- Organic Educate & Rejuvenate 

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💌 Connect With Laura:

1. Website: Health Coach for Teachers & Busy, Working Women
2. Instagram: LAURA B. | Teacher turned Health Coach | Podcaster🎙️ (@laura.b.healthy) • Instagram photos and videos
3. TikTok: Laura B. | Health Coach (@laura.b.healthy) | TikTok

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Topics Covered in This Episode: Vacation mindset, All-or-nothing thinking, Bare minimum goals, Healthy habits while traveling, Food guilt and vacation eating, Sustainable weight loss, Consistency over perfection, Returning from vacation without starting over, Building a healthy lifestyle that fits real life, Habit maintenance during busy seasons

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Isn't She Powerful Podcast. I am Laura B Healthy and I am the host of this show and so excited to have you here with me today because we are going to be talking about vacations. It is June. We are in the season of going on vacations, going and doing things, whether that just be a random weekend trip somewhere, or whether that be a week long or 10-day or two-week vacation out of the country or to uh your favorite destination with your family, the lake house or the beach or whatever that may be. There's all these situations that pop up during the summer where we're out of our normal routine. We're not doing the day-to-day that we typically are doing, and that can feel really good, but it can also feel pretty stressful, especially for somebody who is on a health journey, has an unhealthy relationship with food, has a mindset like the all or nothing mindset where we feel like we have to be perfect on this health journey, or we may as well not be doing anything at all. If you have that mindset, then going on vacations can feel really stressful because it can feel like an uh one of those situations where I'm I'm ruining everything. I have been doing so good and now I'm going on vacation and I'm gonna ruin it all. So, what was the point in doing any of it in the first place? So if you have a mindset such as that, vacations can feel really stressful, but at the end of the day, vacations are meant to be a time that are completely stress-free. It's meant to be a time where you sit back and relax and decompress. There was actually a study that came out recently from I think a ton of therapists had been questioned on why vacations and going on trips elicits like these feelings of understanding oneself at a deeper level. Like, you know, when you're on vacation and the ideas they just hit you and you feel really motivated and really excited to do things or become this person, get a new style, start losing weight and whatever that may be for you. You feel really excited and like you just have ideas and you understand yourself at a different level when you're on vacation. And the reason for that is because you're able to step out of your regular day-to-day life. You're able to say, I'm not a uh I don't work for somebody right now, I'm completely off the clock, I'm not having to take care of the house and do all of my normal mom and wife duties. I'm just me, I'm just here, I'm just enjoying this trip in a new place, in a different city than I'm used to being in. And it just feels good to take that break. But if you struggle with your health and wellness, if you struggle with having this mindset that doesn't support that lifestyle, then it can feel really stressful to go on vacation because it can feel like an opportunity for you to mess up, is what it essentially comes down to. So, with that being said, in this episode, I'm gonna talk with you about vacations. We're gonna talk about one tactical thing that I want you to do before going on your next vacation, whether again that's a weekend trip or a longer trip, whatever it may be. Something that I want you to do before you go. And then we're also gonna talk about a couple of mindset type of things that are gonna help you feel good while on the vacation as well. So let's go on and let's dig into this episode. Welcome to the Isn't You Powerful Podcast. I'm your host, Laura V, health coach, educator, and founder of the Be Healthy Lifestyle. I'm here to bring you all of the health education and motivation so that you can sign off each week feeling equipped and empowered to tackle all of your health goals. Come along with me as I teach you the basics of healthy living so that you can have everyone in your life say, Isn't she powerful? Growing up, whenever I would go on vacation, it kind of always felt like the excuses were endless. I could eat whatever I wanted and do whatever I wanted, and I could do I could literally just eat candy all day long and that be fine because I'm on vacation and that's okay. Or I could skip a meal at breakfast and have this huge heavy lunch and go out and play and everything would be okay, right? And the thing about those type of habits is they really don't make us feel very good, right? Like they don't really actually make us feel like we're enjoying the vacation. We think that going on vacation and enjoying it means going completely strained so far away from our health and wellness goals that we can't there, there we're not doing anything. We're not drinking any water, we're only drinking soda and only drinking tea and only drinking sugary things and alcohol, whatever, and never touching water because I drink water when I'm at home. I don't drink water on vacation. Same thing with vegetables and protein. I'm not eating those things whenever I'm on vacation. I'm only going to eat things like sugar and carbohydrates because I'm on vacation. Like there's always that built-in excuse of it's a vacation. Eat whatever you want, do whatever you want. And I think that there needs to be a balance because if there's not a balance between those two things, you think you're feeling your best, but really your energy is really low, you're lethargic, you just don't feel good. You know, that feeling of like you kind of feel icky. And that's what happens whenever you stray so far away from those goals, you just don't even feel good. You're not actually enjoying the vacation. So there has to be a balance between those things. There has to be a world that gets to exist where you get to have the wine and the alcohol and you get to have the sugar and the desserts and whatever else. And you also get to have protein and vegetables and water because when those things can coexist, then you are truly enjoying life. You are truly able to say, yeah, I'm having the things that I want and giving my body the things that it needs so that I can enjoy this mentally and feel really good, and also physically enjoy the trip too. So, with that being said, the main thing that I want you to focus on before going on the trip, this needs to be done before you leave. Set some bare minimum goals for yourself. What are those things that you're gonna there, you're not sticking to the same things that you're you're doing every single day while you're at home? Like you're not making yourself get up and go to the gym every single day on vacation and never have dessert and never drink anything but water. Like, first of all, you shouldn't be that concrete with your goals even at home, but you're not being that restrictive with yourself while on vacation. There can be some leeway with your goals. So, some good examples of some bare minimum goals would be things like I'm going to fill my water bottle in the mornings and keep it with me all day. You're more likely to drink something while you're on this vacation if the water bottle is with you, and then you might have a glass of soda or a glass of wine at lunch or dinner, and that'd be okay, but you have your water with you as well, so you're able to still get in some water while also enjoying these other things. So the bare minimum goal there was to bring that water with you everywhere you go. Same thing can be done with, let's say, vegetables. I'm gonna make sure that I have one vegetable a day. That could be something that you have that you brought with you. Maybe you bring some carrot sticks with you or something like that. You have something that you bring with you and you snack on throughout the day, or maybe it's something that you order at a restaurant. You're gonna make sure that one of the sides at one of the meals that you eat has some vegetables to it. It could be done with protein as well. You're gonna make sure that you're reaching some sort of protein goal. Maybe it's not your top protein goal that you're reaching while you're at home, but maybe your goal is I'm just gonna have protein at most of my meals. So there's a little leeway and a little flexibility within your typical goals, but they're still there. This benefits us in the ways that I was just mentioning. You don't get so far off track that you start to feel icky on the inside and your body doesn't feel very good, but also it helps keep the momentum going in your health and wellness journey. Like the goals are still there. You didn't like put them so far in the back of your mind that you forgot that they existed, so that when you get back, you're confused and you're like, what do I even do to be healthy? I don't even remember what I was working on before I left. And it feels like a like a huge battle to get you back to where you were. But these goals, they're still there, they're just running on a lower speed, okay? So I want you to before you leave, determine what your bare minimum goals are gonna be. What are gonna be the one to three things that you focus on? Maybe it's a step goal. I'm gonna try to get in a certain amount of steps, especially if you're going like on a Europe vacation or something like that where it's super active. A step goal might be a good idea for you as a bare minimum goal. Or again, maybe it's vegetables or protein or fiber, or maybe it's that you actually eat breakfast. Maybe it's that your breakfast is something that has protein and fiber to it rather than just being a sugary donut. Maybe it's that you're gonna be intentional about your portion sizes. Stop eating when you feel full. There's so many things that these bare minimum goals can be. Determine what would feel good for you. What's gonna allow you to enjoy the trip and not feel restricted, but still allow you to feel good about the choices that you're making. Ultimately, what you want to feel on a vacation is good. And having some semblance of healthy habits while on the vacation allows you to feel good. It is not restrictive, it allows you to feel your best. I need to pause and interrupt this episode for just a second to talk directly to the teachers and homeschool moms who are in this audience. If you are a pre-K through 12th grade teacher, educator in any way, it can go beyond that if you educate your own students at your own home, then this event is for you. It is a completely free event that I am speaking at June 30th and July 1st called Educate and Rejuvenate. I've been a part of this event for three years, and I'm telling you, it is so good. The first day of this event this year is called Educate. You are going to be learning about classroom strategies, math strategies, English strategies, things that you can do to get your students motivated, things that you can do to get them to pay attention to you. You're going to be learning about classroom things during the first day of this event. The second day of the event is called Rejuvenate, and this is when we focus on you as a human. We'll be talking about rest and relaxation. You'll be talking about health and wellness. That's where I come in. We're going to be talking about taking care of you so that you can show up more fully, not only for your job, but for your family and your life outside of your job as well. There is so much that you get out of this event. And again, it's all completely free. If you are a teacher or an educator in any way, head on down to the link in the show notes of this episode. Check out the link for educate and rejuvenate. Get registered to come to the event on June 30th and July 1st. I look forward to seeing you there. The second thing that you are going to do is more of a mindset thing, and it's literally get your mindset in check. At the end of the day, going on vacation is not going to be a weight loss time. Sure, you could go on vacation and lose weight. Maybe if you go on a vacation and you're super active, especially comparative to what you might be at home, maybe you do come back and the scale is down, and that would be amazing. But accept before you go that this is likely not going to be a week of weight loss. And that's okay. It doesn't need to be. The point of a vacation is not to lose weight. The point of a vacation is to connect with the people that you love and spend some time doing something that you love in a new place. Like that's the point of the vacation, not to lose weight. So accept before you go that this isn't gonna be a weight loss week. Also, accept before you go that there's going to be some non-perfect times. It doesn't need to be perfect in order for you to enjoy it, and you're going to enjoy the vacation more if it's not perfect. So release the perfection before you even walk out of your house to go on that vacation. Sometimes that comes with conversations with ourselves. You might go on this vacation and you have decided before you go. I'm not worried about being perfect. It's okay if I don't reach the certain numbers on my protein. It's okay if I don't get a certain number of steps. It's okay if I don't finish my water bottle. Like you're coaching yourself through those internal conversations before you leave. And then you get on the trip and you start to feel triggered a little bit. That's normal. And it's okay if you feel a little bit triggered while you're on the trip because of those things. That's whenever you just take a second and you pause and you say, okay, I'm gonna back it up and I'm gonna remind myself it's okay if I don't reach this certain goal. I don't need to be perfect. I'm here to spend time with the people I love, and my health and wellness just gets to be a part of it, not the central focus. And it's okay if I don't reach these goals. Coach yourself through those conversations. And this is why I exist. This is why people like me, help coaches, exist, so that when those things start to come up, when those triggers start going in your mind and those alarm bells are firing, like you're doing something wrong. You're supposed to be getting XYZ goal. That's whenever you come into the chat and you say, Laura, I'm kind of struggling right now and I can coach you through it in the moment. And that's the beauty of it. But you can do that for yourself too if you don't have access to a health coach. That's not something that you're into right now. You can do this for yourself. Coach yourself through it. Take a pause, take a second, reevaluate what did I say I was gonna do well on this trip? As long as I'm reaching that bare minimum goal, I'm doing everything that I need to do. And now the last thing that I want to mention is kind of random in terms of this, but it's to pack clothes that actually make you feel really fabulous. Like you feel really good in these clothes. Pack those clothes. Don't pack clothes that are super skimpy if you don't like being super skimpy, or don't pack clothes that are super baggy if you don't like feeling super baggy. Pack clothes that you feel really good in because that's just going to help with the motivation on the trip. It's just gonna help make sure that you are doing those bare minimum goals that you had set up. Because if you get on the trip and then you start to feel like the bathing suits, they just they show a little too much and you just don't feel comfortable in your body, then you're just gonna feel bad. And then you're gonna end up binge eating, you're gonna end up emotionally eating, you're gonna end up going off rails and just not feeling good in a lot of ways, mentally, emotionally, and physically. And that is not what we want. So pack clothes that make you feel really fabulous. They fit you in all the right ways. You feel strong, you feel beautiful, you feel curvy, you feel everything that you want to feel. Pack those clothes because it's going to pay off big time whenever it comes to getting dressed and your mental and emotional health while you're on that vacation. Now, with this being said, I hope that every single one of you enjoys whatever vacations you end up going on this summer. I personally am on a cruise. I believe that I will be already back from the cruise by the time this episode comes out to you guys. So you've probably been seeing pictures of that over on Instagram. I will have posted by the time this comes out, or at least around the time this is coming out, I will be posting things that I've eaten while I was on my cruise. I'll be posting some of the things that I did, the healthy and unhealthy habits that I had while on the cruise, because trust me, there are going to be some unhealthy habits that are partaking in while I'm on this vacation. So if you are interested in that type of content, make sure that you follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Laura B Healthy. I look forward to seeing you there. I look forward to seeing you in next week's episode. And until then, please never forget how powerful you are. Thank you so much. I can't wait to see you again next week. And always remember the more you know, the more you grow.