Archive for March 2011
Avoid Weight Gain While Cruising
March 15, 2011 | 
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Weight gain during vacations is something most of us have experienced. However, luxury cruises, with their four course meals and buffet lines, can prove challenging to even the most dedicated traveler. There are, however, steps you can take to reduce your risk of weight gain, and even lose weight, while cruising.
Before the Cruise
Plan on fitness. Pack shoes and clothing appropriate for working out. Look at the brochure or at the cruise ship’s website to learn about the activities that are available to you and select ones that will enjoy.
Do the math. Determine the number of calories you need to consume each day to maintain your weight.
Nutritional needs. Establish your daily nutritional needs, such as your daily fruits and vegetables, grains, meats, etc.
Plan. Determine what kind of foods you will be eating each day. Keep portion control is mind. The main downfall of so many while cruising is the buffet lines and large plates that lend to overeating. Also establish ahead of time what foods you will be avoiding, such as fried or sugary foods, and resolve to stick to that plan.
On the Cruise
Don’t. Skip. Breakfast. You may be someone who wants to get up early and spend as much time as possible at each port, or you may be inclined to want to sleep late each day. However, it is important to make sure you get a healthy breakfast each morning, as it will give you the fuel you need to power through the day and reduce the likelihood of overeating at lunch.
Eat small meals, often. Try to eat small meals and snack frequently throughout the day. Grab bananas or other fruit off the buffet line and take with you in your travel backpack when you are touring. Don’t wait until you get hungry to eat, as it will increase the likelihood of overeating.
Plan meal times. Plan to eat between activities in order to ensure you don’t linger overly long by the buffet line. Knowing you have an activity approaching will also reduce the chances you will overeat during the time you spend in the dining room.
Drink with caution or not at all. Don’t forget to include any alcohol consumption in your daily caloric intake, as a single shot of liquor can potentially contain up to 200 calories and cock wisely and try to balance your meals the rest of the day, and even the next, accordingly.
Rest. You want to avoid getting too little or too much rest. Oversleep can result in you feeling just as lethargic as not enough rest. Know how much sleep you generally need to feel rested and aim for that number. Between seven and eight hours is generally a good rule of thumb for adults.
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How To Find A Hotel With The Best Location
Have you ever booked a room in a town or city that you’re not familiar with, only to arrive at your lodging and find out that you are miles from the center of town? The hotel’s website promised only a ‘short’ walk to all the fine dining, shops and entertainment, but upon arrival, you find you are forced to drag your tired family on a twenty-minute trek back and forth between your hotel and all the places of interest. This happened to me once, on a family vacation, and my family won’t ever let me forget it! Since then, I’ve learned a few things to look out for when choosing a hotel or inn to make sure that my family never accuses me again of choosing the wrong hotel on the wrong side of town. Here are a few of my most recent discoveries that will ensure you find just the right place to stay when you plan your next family vacation:
First, when searching the internet for a place to stay in your destination city, make sure you find your hotel listed in your search results on Google Places. This will give you an exact pin-pointed location of your accommodations, and there will be no guessing whether or not the lodging is on the downtown end of Main Street, or if it’s on the end that happens to have the waste-water treatment plant and industrial park. Google Places can be found when you search on Google and locations listed have a red pin marker when a Google Places result is found. Knowing exactly where the property is in relation to the rest of the town is very important in determining how close your hotel will be to all that is important to you.
When you locate the website of the hotel you are considering, look for verbiage that says “in the heart of downtown” and “minutes walk from the center of town”. Now, even though a website may claim these things, sometimes these statements are subjective. Yes, a twenty-minute walk to the nearest restaurant could still be considered “minutes walk from downtown”, but it’s not necessarily what you and your family are looking for. I have found that it’s best to contact the hotel directly by telephone and find out exactly how close they are to everything. You should consider asking questions like these:
.How close to your property is the best restaurant in town?
.How long does it take to get there on foot?
.How close is the nearest grocery store?
.If we are planning on walking everywhere, how long will it take us to get to the best stores in town?
These are just a few questions to ask to be sure that the location you are choosing is in the heart of the downtown area. If you are still skeptical about the location, you could consider doing some research on your own. Call the hotel and ask them if they can recommend any local restaurants that you should visit during your stay. When they give you the names of these places, search the internet for the addresses of these restaurants, then do a Google Maps search of these restaurants and find out the distance in relation to the address of the inn you are considering. If the distance is very short, then you can be sure your choice of lodging is really in the heart of it all.