I believe it is.

You may be thinking, “With the way I vacation, that is not possible. How could I possibly diet the one time of the year where I am supposed to relax and have fun?”

Though I fully admit that nutrition and diet are what matters most when it comes to maintaining healthy weight, I do believe there is one other simple act that could easily help when it comes to watching your figure while on vacation.

vacation

Have you guessed it yet?

I’m referring to walking.
Yep, that’s right — none other than that daily habit that we we may take for granted.

Of course, other more labor-intensive exercises such as high intensity interval training, weight lifting or running may help you get closer to your weight loss goals as well, however while on vacation many are not going to prioritize a workout such as these. Let’s be realistic here…it is vacation after all.

Walking, however can be done almost anywhere and can be incorporated throughout the day much easier while on vacation.


Let me share a story — a personal one.

I’ve been on an extended travel experience for almost 9 weeks now. Let’s call it a mix of vacation and work, and just “living my life” (except not in my own home). I do have a place to call home (a tiny apartment) complete with a tiny kitchen so am able to cook some meals. But, I’ve only been settled into this particular place for about 3 weeks and the 6 weeks prior were spent bouncing between 5 different countries.

What I don’t have access to (or shall I say, have not chosen to pay for) is a gym membership. Usually at home I frequent the gym 3-4 times a week and mostly focus on weight training.

Let me cut to the chase.

In 9 weeks I have dropped about 13 pounds, and I attribute it mostly to walking.

Let me make one thing clear — I was not trying to lose weight; that is not a goal of mine.
What I was trying to do however was take in as much as I could and explore these new cities that I was visiting in Europe. I’m going to have to work hard when I return back home to pack back on the lost pounds, but we’ll have to blog about that in a future post. Let me stay on the topic at hand.

When I travel I prefer to walk. I could walk for hours. If a bus ride is 30 mins, why not walk? I get it — walking may not be for everyone. But for me, I find pleasure in the monotony of it.

Here are some actual data points (taken from my iPhone Health app) which tracks your daily steps:

September 2: 21,725 Steps or 9 miles
September 3: 22,106 Steps or 9.1 miles
September 4: 31,575 Steps or 13.3 miles
September 5: 7,209 Steps or 3 miles
September 6: 23,893 Steps or 9 miles
September 7: 27,168 Steps or 11.4 miles
September 8: 26,484 Steps or 10 miles

Ok, I’ll be honest with you…not every week of my extended travel looks this impressive. This right here is A LOT of walking. I told you I love to walk. I was very impressed with how many steps I’ve been taking when I started actually paying attention to this app. I never knew about it actually until recently, and I’m sure many others don’t. If you own a recent iPhone, it automatically comes with it — no need to download or purchase.

I encourage you to start carrying your iPhone around with you (or Fitbit) to allow it to count your steps. It really is eye opening when you see how many miles these steps amount to each day.

And don’t worry, I had many other weeks that were averaging about 5,000-7,000 steps a day, so this week above is not the norm for me. This was a week however that I was actually on “vacation”. Though I’ve been away from home for 9 weeks, some weeks have been spent doing work from home most days. The week on vacation I was out and about exploring Norway, Czech Republic, and Spain — lots to be seen which gave me the opportunity to use my feet more often.

And for this reason, I believe walking has accounted for my recent drop in weight.

Also, I’ve been lax with my usual way of eating while in Europe, and have partaken in dairy and gluten (it’s hard to pass up fresh baked bread here with high-quality cheeses). Eaten in excess, I believe that these foods can contribute to weight gain. The fact that I haven’t packed on some pounds despite eating these regularly leads me to believe that it’s the copious amount of trekking around I’ve done.


But isn’t walking not enough to make an impact?

No.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published an article summarizing a study looking at 4,995 participants (both men and women) over the course of 15 years with regards to walking and weight loss. The article concludes that “to our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate that walking has an independent protective effect on weight gain. It has a number of strengths, including its length and size (≈5000 young adults).”

And the abstract from the actual study concludes that “walking throughout adulthood may attenuate the long-term weight gain that occurs in most adults.”

Attenuate = lessen
FYI…that’s a good thing!


Other Thoughts

I realize that my personal story is anecdotal and we can’t draw any conclusions from it. We haven’t tracked what I’ve been eating this entire time. Who knows — maybe I was actually consuming fewer calories than I would while at home? Unfortunately I have not kept track of these markers. What I can tell you is that I do not starve myself. I have enjoyed my time while exploring many new countries and cities, and as I’ve mentioned above have definitely allowed myself to experience certain foods that I otherwise would not eat while back at home.

I’ve also heard somewhere (still researching this for concrete evidence and will share/update if I come across it) that walking does not increase the appetite the way other types of more intense exercises do. I know in my experience, I don’t crave food after a walk the way I would after an hour-long workout at the gym.


Pack comfy shoes for your next vacation

Walking is practical (gets you from point A to B).

It is inexpensive.

It can be a perfect way to take in the many sights and sounds of a new place while on vacation. Sometimes when you’re in a taxi or on the train, you miss out on seeing many awesome things that walking enables you to experience.

Walking may not be seen as mundane or boring when you’re doing it on vacation. A change of scenery can make a world of difference.

It can be meditative. Especially if done alone. We all know the benefits of meditation by now.

And lastly, if you’re looking to watch your weight don’t write this excellent form of exercise off because you think it’s too easy.


I hope you enjoyed reading this post. What are your thoughts on walking as a form of weight loss or weight maintenance? I’d love to hear them — comment below.

If you found this useful, please share with a friend. And, if you’d like to stay in touch and not miss out on other types of nutrition tips and news, be sure to join my email newsletter here — and for signing up, you’ll receive my e-Guide, “21 FAQs: What I Get Asked the Most When I Tell Others I’m a Nutritionist” — for FREE.

Thanks!


Please note:

I am a nutrition educator/consultant and not a physician.  As such, I do not diagnose or treat disease, rather I support lifestyle balance and health with my work. Please understand that any information provided on the relationship between nutrition and health is not meant to replace competent medical treatment for any health problem or condition.


References

  1. Am J Clin Nutr January 2009 
    vol. 89 no. 1 15-16; first published December 3, 2008, doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.27118
  2. Gordon-Larsen PHou NSidney Set al. Fifteen-year longitudinal trends in walking patterns and their impact on weight change. Am J Clin Nutr 2009; 89: 19-26.

 

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