Holiday season - tips for keeping the weight off!

A few of my one to one personal training clients and boot camp members who have been on holiday lately and have come back saying they've put on 3-7lbs. Here's are a few tips on how to keep the weight off when you go on holiday and how to get rid of it as soon as you come back:

• Try to do at least 20 minutes of exercise a day. Some people go to all inclusive resorts and eat lot more food than they normally do and consume more alcohol than normal and spend all the time by the pool or on the beach laying down sunbathing so all those extra calories are just going to be stored as fat and extra weight :(

• Cycle, brisk walk, hill walk to a view point, rock climb, jog, snorkel, swim, golf, tennis, squash, badminton, use the hotel gym, attend some exercise classes etc to keep your metabolism up and burning calories rather than storing calories. If you're on holiday with your children it's a good example for them too. If your baby is in a pram go out for a brisk walk before it gets too hot and try a few hundred metres of jogging every now again whilst pushing the pram etc.

• Try to eat sensible size portions! For some reason when it's a buffet peoples eyes become larger than their stomachs and people can easily over eat. Try to eat fresh healthy options and not to the point where you have to lay down afterwards. Try a 5-10 minute walk after a main meal.

• Drink lots of water which is important for hydration and helping clean your body out of toxins. When you become dehydrated your body finds it harder to function and your metabolism slows down which increases fat storage. It's also important if it's hot or your drinking more alcohol than normal.

• When you return from holiday get straight back into your regular exercise routine or if anything increase it! Some. people get into a bit of a lazy routine when they're on holiday and put off getting back into the training. The longer you leave it the harder it will be to shift the extra few pounds you have put on. The longer your body is carrying the extra weight it will get more used to it, you need to get right back into it and work hard for a couple of weeks to burn lots of calories and increase your metabolism and your body weight will go back to normal, try a longer half day or 1.5 hour boot camp which will help.