Summer is my favorite time of year. But for many women I speak to, the thought of summer vacation brings them anxiety and stress about how family trips, outings and days at the beach will affect their intuitive eating journey.

Do you feel the same?

These feelings creep up because of your past (or lingering) diet mentality. You’ve always dieted before vacation so that you can “splurge” while on vacation. Then you come home only to feel guilty about “blowing it again”.

This behavior starts the diet rollercoaster all over again.

Let’s make sure the diet mentality stays quiet as you plan ahead for the most rewarding intuitive summer yet.

Here are 4 strategies to help you navigate your intuitive eating journey during your summer get-away. 

1. Shut down your inner critic: You know that voice that I’m talking about. The one that is telling you that you have to lose 10 pounds before you put on a swimsuit. If you listen to this voice, she will push you back into diet mentality and onto the latest quick fix, which will keep you riding the dieting roller coaster.

What to do: when your inner critic starts speaking, pause, acknowledge her presence, thank her for trying to protect you but let her know that you no longer need protection. You are doing just fine and shoo her away….

….and then go shopping for new bathing suits that make you feel like a million bucks!

2. Stay tuned in and aware: Mindless snacking is easy to do while vacationing if you are not staying present. There is often less structure to the day, no routine and you may find yourself grazing instead of eating a meal. This is easy to do if you are lying on the beach with friends passing around snacks or walking the streets and trying the local fare.

What to do: Make a commitment to yourself to stay fully present, pay attention and have an awareness of whether you’re hungry or not before you dig into the snacks.

3. Be prepared to honor your hunger. Whether you are sitting at the pool, lying on the beach, in an amusement park or on a full day tour, you are going to get hungry at some point. If you aren’t prepared and you get over hungry, then it’ll be more difficult to make choices that honor your health when you finally get to your next meal.

What to do: Be prepared and have snacks with you so you don’t have to wing it. Remember, one of the principles of intuitive eating is to honor your hunger. If you wait too long, you tend to not choose the most healthful choices and you will likely eat beyond comfortable fullness, which never feels good!

4. Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. It’s very common for a recovering dieter to fall back into the mindset of “it’s vacation, I’ll get back on my plan when I get home.” This is very damaging and can undo many months of hard work on your intuitive eating journey. I recognize that some vacation resorts are all-inclusive which means that all the food and beverages (including alcohol) is included in what you’re paying for the hotel. It’s very tempting to just eat and eat and eat to “get your money’s worth”.

What to do: By giving yourself unconditional permission to eat when you’re hungry, you will be less tempted to eat beyond comfortable fullness because you know you can eat this food again, whether it’s later that day, the next day or next week. It’s when you think this is your last opportunity to eat this food that not respecting your fullness is more challenging.

We all need a vacation and time away from our everyday work and chores. This is a time to strengthen your intuitive eating journey. You can do it!

If you’re ready to get individualized help on your intuitive eating journey, just go to www.TalkWithBonnie.com and schedule a complementary call with me.