The dreaded vacation bloat…it happens to the best of us. I recently went away and came home feeling rather miserable about myself. Now don't get me wrong, that vacation was great and it wasn't the fact that my belly was bloated that made me miserable…I don't usually focus on the scales or weight as they have been the devil in my life.

I put on my clothes that morning and they just felt wrong…but the more I thought about it the more I realized…this isn’t my problem! I don't really worry about how I look, my problem was how I felt! It is soooooo easy to get fixated on image, weight, measurements or even a flat belly but what really matters is how you feel. 

OK, so yes my clothes were tight and that made me feel uncomfortable but the real problem was that I felt sluggish, slow, drained, de-motivated and just generally low. I knew I needed to make some changes to get back to how I wanted to feel. 

If you start with wanting to change how you feel IN your body…only positive changes can happen. Energy, motivation and confidence are what I strive for, the rest just happens naturally.

Here are the four steps I used to help get myself on track

STEP 1. Tell yourself ‘you are beautiful’ starting from a place of love will always render better results….however you like to define results. For me the result I want is to feel motivated and confident instead of sluggish and subdued.

STEP 2. Drink more water. I usually carry a water bottle around with me, however I didn’t take it away with me. I left it at home and therefore forgot to drink throughout the day. This left me feeling bloated and seriously dehydrated. I thought I was hungry but really I was just craving water.

STEP 3. Drink less coffee. I usually drink decaf coffee with a little caffeine added in, but because I was a single parent for 10 days I opted for strong back coffee to keep me going through the day. The personal trainer/nutritionist in me was screaming NOOOOOOO don't do it…but I did. It was like a teeter totter effect, the more coffeeDehydrating me further.

STEP 4. Eat more. Thats right….eat more!! I found when I was away I would skip lunch or just have a small lunch. This left me craving sweet treats later on in the afternoon. When I say eat more I am referring to nutritionally packed meals with vegetables, protein and good quality carbohydrates.

STEP 5. Have healthy snacks available for when you are hungry. I struggle with snacking as I never know what I want. Making sure I have the variety in the fridge/cupboard is the best way for me to get something I enjoy/want at that time. Healthy trail mix, greek yogurt (2%), fresh berries, fresh peas, rice cakes with almond butter etc. Pick things that are nutritionally dense, the less empty calories the better.

One step at a time and keep building off the strong foundation to finally get you to where you wanna be!