A Day in the Life on Vacay

Hi, if you’re new here, I’m Shannon. I’m a foodie. I’m also the uptime of a creature of habit and love my routines and rituals more than the average person. However, I’ve taken the Christmas-to-New Years break to practice what I preach — to allow myself to be selfish. To relax, and to spend quality time with my family before reverting back to my extremely self-disciplined self.

So, I’m saying “Hola!” while oceanside in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, and I’m going to share with you what a typical — or should I say untypical — day looks like here. Keeping it authentic here on day three!

Read on as I highlight my meals, workouts, and attempts to maintain many of my ‘home habits’ while traveling. In the process, hopefully you’ll pick up some ways to both indulge and continue to inspire yourself to stay healthy and motivated while traveling.

7:30 am:

…alarm goes off, yelling at me to get up and outside, because on a tropical island where the weather is beautiful and the sun always shines, the great outdoors is my gym. Alas, as much as I am a morning person, my body remains reluctant to be a morning workout person. However, I aided the AM process by laying out my clothes last night, and I think about the uninterrupted hours I plan to spend laying out under the sun and I’m up and in my sports bra and leggings!

And yes, #vacaymode still includes a good workout sesh, because it keeps my head and GI tract sane, makes me feel great, and promotes healthier choices throughout the day! 

This morning I went for a run on one of the hotel’s paved trails, ending it on a patch of grass, where I laid down a towel and did this quick circuit:

*I did this with a 3lb ankle weight*

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 donkey kicks — knee to chest, then kick up & out 

 

15 straight leg pulses — put opposite elbow down, use obliques to face your hips to the side & balance on one elbow

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 90-degree pulses — both elbows down, flex foot & pulse up

 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25 ‘rainbows’ — elbow plank, twist each hip to the floor

 

Repeat this 2-3 times per side!

The workout that I didn’t even want to do ended up being super simple, incorporated my full-body, and totaled about 45 minutes and a whole lotta sweat!

10:00 am:

Fast forward through the shower, the bikini-choosing, and the getting an angsty teenage brother out of bed and here we are at breakfast!

When faced with the resort’s massive buffet — everything from a waffle bar to an entire cereal and pastry aisle — I aim to make up a plate that resembles the one I would be sitting down to at my apartment’s little kitchen table.1

 

Here’s what I ended up with: 

(& check out the deets in my Insta post!)

…and if you’re a loyal Cutie follower, you’d immediately know that this plate resembles my normal brekkie pretty darn closely. Creature of habit, what can I say?!

 

3:00 pm:

After working up an appetite laying in beach chairs under a blazing sun (it’s a real thing), the fam and I headed to the resort’s beach bar for lunch with a view. I shared this turkey club sandwich with my mama and upgraded to sweet fries because…well because why not?!

While away, I’m big on modifying menu items because, let’s be real, no one wants to have a huge meal and then swim around in an itty bitty bikini, whether it’s yellow or polka-dotted or not. So, yes, I’m that diner who has the waiter writing novels on their little notepad because of my additions, subtractions, and substitutions. However, I’ve learned that no matter how bothersome I feel asking for the Turkey Club without bacon and with mustard instead of mayo, it’s always a better kind of guilt than eating a meal that I didn’t really want or that I feel hinders my personal goals. And even after feeding the camera first, I made further modifications: I removed one of the three slices of bread on each half to make for a single-decker sammie, and smothered on some hot sauce.2 

After all that, I tucked into a sandwich that may not exactly have been on the menu, but that tasted great, worked for me, and gave my body just what it needed to run back onto the beach and coconut hunt…definitely worth it!

 

7:00 pm:

 

La cena. Garlic shrimp with rice and beans — pretty straightforward and also pretty yum! For dessert, while the fam picked on a platter of sweets, I was content with tea with a lemon because ~ digestive health ~ (and also because I was quite satisfied from dinner)!!

 

So there’s my day breaking habits and enjoying vacation with my family! I hope you enjoyed this peek into today!

Goodnight,

the Cutie Foodie

 

 

1. Contrary to what you may think, this is actually SO simple, and I credit that to my AM workout., (**pats self on back**) because, upon arriving to breakfast, my body feels great, yet my stomach is growling for food. Thus, I’m on a mission to fuel my body in order to maintain this energized feeling rather than to restrict and to harp on what I can’t have. 

2. Hot sauce has been my new favorite condiment lately; (1) because it’s DELISH and (2) because it eliminates the need to add salt.