I got back from vacation late Friday night, and finally got back into the gym today. Me and the girlfriend went to a very nice resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. If you’ve been following the blog you know that I had a 30 day plan to lose my fat before I was on the beach for a week. In this post I will talk about that, and then talk about finding motivation to get back into the gym after a workout (something I struggle with).
Before I left for vacation I was sitting around 198 on average. My goal was to lose about 9 pounds of fat, and get down to 189. I didn’t quite get down to 189, but I did lose about as much fat as I could within the 30 days (getting down to 194). The reason I didn’t get all the way down to 189 is because this year I wanted to keep more of the muscle mass I had put on, so my workouts were planned to help burn calories but still maintain or even build muscle. Overall I would have liked to have another week or two to cut down further, but I was happy with my results.
Like I mentioned before I just got back into the gym today (Tuesday) for the first time since getting home late Friday. My original plan was to go for my first workout Saturday to get back into the routine, but I was just too beat from the travels to go. Realistically I could have gone for a 30-40 minute workout, but decided to just relax.
So I had about 3 days off after my vacation before getting back into the gym for a short and not too intense workout. Not too bad, but leaving it any longer would have probably started to really cut into my gains from before leaving.
Because I live in Canada and won’t be on a beach anytime soon it is tough to find the motivation to get right back into working hard at the gym. I know a lot of people are the same way – they will bust their assess off to look good on a vacation and then come home and take a long time off working out (losing all their gains and find themselves in the same situation when summer rolls around).
My best tips for finding the motivation to get into the gym after a vacation is just do it. Seriously don’t question yourself at all – pick a date when you are home that you are going to get back to the gym for your first workout and just go. Even if you go to the gym for 20 minutes, just do it. Once you are there you will be glad you are, and you’re going to probably want to continue on just like you had before you left for vacation.
Schedule a workout date with a friend. If you have someone who you can workout with plan a workout with them before you leave. Make sure they hold you to it. You will feel a lot more guilty if you have someone counting on working out with you.
Another tip would be to eat healthy at least on your last day of the trip, as much as you can while you’re travelling, and when you get home. Eating junk will make you not want to go the gym – I know this from experience 😉
Test out a new supplement. I always get excited for working out when I have a new supplement to try out. Whether it be a new pre workout or a new fat burner, treat yourself to a new product and hopefully that gives you the boost to get into the gym and see what results it will give you.
Lastly think about your long term goals, and think back to before you worked hard pre-vacation. Do you want to return to that state? Do you want to lose all your hard earned gains? Not only can you keep up with your current physique you can now improve it even further if you get back right away.
The longer you put it off after a vacation the more your motivation will disappear. Get back into the gym ASAP!
Add Comment