One of the biggest concerns people have about staying on track for vacations is wanting to “enjoy themselves.”

By “enjoy themselves,” they mean cut loose with their food choices and eat what they feel like (even if it means gaining ten pounds, feeling bloated and gross, and worst of all, hating themselves for it).

If you’re reading this, odds are you’ve done that a zillion times in your life, am I right?

Most of us have. It’s supposedly “what you do” on trips.

If that’s what you’re thinking about doing again, let me tell you about a Rebel I’ll call Delilah. 

Pre-Code Red, Delilah and her husband visited a theme park for their anniversary.

Because Delilah was so heavy and sick, she didn’t have the energy, desire, or physical ability to do anything except eat.

She and her husband weren’t intimate (even though it was their anniversary trip, and they were a younger couple), she didn’t go on any rides, they didn’t go see the sights – nothing. All they did was eat, eat, and eat some more.

A lot of people tout eating “what you want, when you want” as the ultimate freedom, but I couldn’t disagree more.

If the only thing you have the energy, desire, or physical capability FOR is eating, how is that freedom?

To me that sounds like prison.

And is it really what you want for yourself?

Or maybe, just maybe, are YOU worth a little extra planning and effort to find ways to enjoy yourself that don’t involve inhaling enough food to feed six people for a week?

It’s long past time to redefine what it means to “enjoy yourself” on vacation. There are SO many more ways to “enjoy yourself” than eating everything in sight.

And seriously, are you really enjoying yourself if you have to lie down for a nap on a public bench at Disneyland because your energy is SO freaking low?

Are you really enjoying yourself while sitting in a mumu at the edge of the pool, feeling like a beached whale, watching everyone else strip down to their swimsuit, jump in, and have a great time?

And are you really enjoying yourself when you’re told you’re too heavy to get on that amusement park ride, and you have to struggle out of the seat in front of everyone and drag your disappointed kids with you?

These are ALL real experiences from Code Red Rebels before they got serious about the lifestyle.

Eating and drinking everything you can is FAR from the only way to cut loose and enjoy yourself.

So I challenge you to look at ways you can do that without ruining your progress and spiraling into self-sabotage.

It’ll take a little pre-planning, but like I said…YOU are worth it!