How to Vacation Like a Kozak – Five Healthy Vacation Tips

May 20, 2014

Normally I update you guys with my weekly training routine and last week Coach Kozak and I were on a little vacation for my wonderful cousin’s 30th birthday. Houston is so close to Galveston, TX that my cousin chose to go on a 5 day (Sat – Thurs) cruise for her birthday and the Kozak’s joined in on the festivities. This is our party face. 🙂

Of course with health and fitness being our livelihood, we have to lead by example and at this point I actually crave my workouts; vacations are no exception. Vacay workouts are actually my favorite because there’s no hurry and you can actually take the time to enjoy a workout without feeling rushed. I view my workouts as doing my body and mind a favor as opposed to viewing it as a laborious chore.

So with that being said, healthy vacation tip #1, change your mindset about your workout routine. Just because you’re on vacation, doesn’t mean you’re on a vacation from your daily health regimen. There is nothing harder than getting back into the swing of working out when you’ve been eating rich foods, binge drinking, and not working out. Set yourself up for success and make a promise to workout at least 2-3 times while you’re vacationing depending on how long you’re away.

Tip #2, plan ahead! Luckily the ship had a gym with free weights, cardio machines, medicine balls, and weight training machines. I was able to look at pictures of the gym on line beforehand allowing me to know what we’d be working with. By doing research on the facilities you’ll have access to allows you to plan your workouts ahead of time if need be. Don’t be the girl I shared the sauna with who stated she does CrossFit and didn’t know what to do in “this type of gym.” Plan Ahead!

Before we left on Saturday, I worked in a 20 Minute workout and two ab routines. For Coach Kozak, he took it as a rest day. We worked out twice in the gym which happened to be the two days we were at sea. We performed the following routine the first day:
Cable squat + shoulder press
reverse lunge + row
leg press
bosu ball push ups
reverse fly + good morning
decline sit up + curl combo
We performed three sets of each exercise and called it a day. Use a weight that is challenging but allows you to perform all sets with good form.

We performed the following two circuits on Wednesday, the other sea day:
Circuit 1
20 second treadmill sprint @ 15% max incline
ab machine x 15
shoulder press machine x 12
lat pull down machine x 15
Repeat 4x (no breaks)

Circuit 2
single arm dumbbell row x 15
leg raise + crunch using medicine ball x 12
ballistic push up x 8
scissor jumps x 12
dumbbell posterior swing x 12
Repeat 3x (no breaks)
Again, use a weight that is challenging but allows you to perform all sets with good form.

Tip #3, make good food decisions while still allowing yourself to have fun and enjoy the “all you can eat” perks. We’d wake up and have a protein filled breakfast (usually an omelette with turkey bacon) and hydrating fruit on the side such as melon or grapefruit. This was great because if I enjoyed one too many glasses of wine the night before, this really helped out!

Post gym sessions we’d have a lunch with protein and a great side of greens. I’d also do my best to seek out the healthiest form of carbs but if I really wanted those french fries, I’d get them. Coach’s post workout lunch!

At lunch I usually had a dessert. I’d get a small serving of anything I wanted, take a few bites of each, drink a little coffee with it and stop. Best thing to do when a plate of desserts is still staring you in the face, COVER IT with your napkin. OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND. In the afternoon I’d snack again, usually a burrito or taco from their Chipotle style bar but I’d only eat the inside and leave the tortilla.

If you’ve ever been on a cruise, the sit down dinners are FABULOUS. Five star dining options that allow you to get multiples of any dish you want.

Sometimes I’d have two appetizers, or two entrees, or two desserts but the same rules applied; take bites and sample all of them but never gorge myself. BEET SALAD, one of my faves!

I always passed up the bread basket and had greens of some sort with my meal of which I totally finished. Best part of all, after dinner only meant you get to hit the clubs and dance it off, with a couple of adult beverages in hand if you want. 🙂

Tip #4, pick active excursions! We had two stops in Mexico, Progreso and Cozumel. Again, I peeped out the excursions available at these places because they’re all made available on-line. In Progreso we did the Bike and Cenote Swim. We were taken to a Mayan village and were able to choose bicycles upon arrival.

They ran out of bikes at one location and instead of waiting, Coach Kozak decided to run the bike trail instead which cumulatively was about the distance of a 5K.

We mountain biked/ran to two cenotes and where able to get in a swim in the beautiful natural wells.

We even stopped for a few poses.

My husband makes me laugh…

The cenotes were absolutely beautiful! For more information on the Yucatan cenotes, click here.

I’m not much of a biker and I’ll admit, the trails burned out my quads and I got in a good workout. We stopped for lunch in the little restaurant on the grounds and were fed a traditional Mayan lunch to which I consumed immediately and I even enjoyed an ice cold beer.

Cozumel was a 45 minute snorkel and beach stop with an all you can drink option. I swam a lot but also took part in the bar option.

They also had the fun inflatable water slides, trampolines and “rock climbing” walls out in the water which made for even more active fun in the sun. Here are the Kozaks once again posing and goofing off.

Tip #5, booze smart! I love nothing more than a fruity frozen drink but to sit by the pool and down 3, 4, or 5 of them in one sitting is a calorie bomb waiting to go off. Normally, I drink a glass or two of wine once every 2 weeks, if that. On vacation, I did have at least one to two alcoholic beverages a day and chose one day out of my vacation to have a little more fun than normal. My drink choices were either red wine or a vodka and club soda with a lime. My “fun” day if you will was the open bar option with all you can drink margaritas on our Cozumel excursion. I had an amazing time with my cousins that day and don’t regret one sip! On the last day, Coach Kozak and I enjoyed one Piña Colada (per person) because we really really like them and we deserve one every once in awhile.

On vacation the most important thing to remember is have fun. Don’t count calories, definitely don’t starve yourself but also don’t go crazy out of control every single day you’re gone. It’s all about balance and making smart decisions along the way. Will your clothes fit a little more snug when you come back, probably, but you’ll be back to normal within a week of your regular eating and exercise routine. Enjoy your family…