Ep #158: How to Return From Vacation Without Starting Over

This is the Strong Is a Mindset podcast, Episode #158. If you just returned from vacation and feel off your routine, let me help you get back on track without punishment, panic, or a juice cleanse.

This is the Strong Is a Mindset podcast, where you’ll learn how to build both a strong body and a strong mind by eating, moving, and thinking. I’m your host Physician, Personal Trainer, Certified Health Coach and Certified Life Coach, Carrie Holland. 

Hey, how are you? What’s new? What’s good? So, what’s good here? We are talking about the aftermath of vacation. We’re talking about what to do when you come home from your summer getaway. That is the part of vacation that doesn’t really get enough attention, in my opinion, the re-entry.

Because, I don’t know about you, but it’s often not the vacation itself that throws me off, it’s the coming back part. It’s the shift back into a tight schedule, work, responsibilities, and reality. And sometimes, that transition back to real life is harder than managing the vacation itself.

And as a side note, if you need ideas for how to maintain your habits and stay on track while you are on vacation, I’ve got you covered. You can go back to episode number 54. It was released almost exactly two years ago, and it’s all about how to keep up your fitness and nutrition while you’re on vacation. I just relistened to that one, and once I finished, I decided to address the other part of vacation that we often don’t think about, and that’s getting back to your habits and your routine once you’re home. So, here we are.

If you’ve ever returned home feeling bloated, behind, tired, or convinced that you need to start over, I hope that this episode will help you. All right? So, let’s go.

So first, let’s start with the biggest mindset trap that I encounter after vacation, and that’s the idea that you have to start over, or that all of your progress vanished while you were away, and that your week off means you’re back at square one. So, in a word, no. That is very much all-or-nothing thinking, talking, and it is a trap. So let me remind you that you do not need to start over. You do not need to punish yourself. You do not need to overcorrect either, and you certainly do not need a detox, okay? No detoxes, please.

Instead, what I want to offer is that instead of thinking that you’re starting over on your routine, you’re just re-entering it, okay? You’re-entering your routine calmly, thoughtfully, and with intention. So remember that whatever happened on vacation, you did not fail, okay? You took a break. You lived your life. And that does not undo all the work you did before you went on vacation.

One week of vacation does not cancel out months of consistency. And you do not lose all of your progress in seven days. You lose it when you use those seven days as an excuse to throw in the towel all together when you come home. So, instead of spiraling into guilt or shame, I want you to see coming back from vacation as an opportunity. Re-entry is your chance to prove to yourself that you can get back into your rhythm, that you can enjoy time away and come back strong, and that it’s not one or the other. Because again, you are not back at square one, you’re continuing forward. And that shift in thinking matters way more than any green juice or extra workout ever could.

So, so many of you tell me, I blew it. I went off the chain. I need to detox. I need to cut out carbs. I need to work out twice a day. No, please don’t. That is extreme, that’s all-or-nothing thinking, and that’s the exact opposite of what your brain and your body need. So, what your brain and body do need is stability. They need consistency. They need you to come back to the basics and back to your habits that were in place before you left without swinging the pendulum in the other direction and going super extreme.

After your time away, your gut doesn’t need extreme restriction. It needs fiber and water and balance. Your brain doesn’t need shame, it needs clarity and structure and a sense of normalcy. And you can provide all of that for yourself.

So instead of thinking you’ve lost everything and have to start all over, I want you to think instead, I took a pause and now I’m picking up where I left off, okay? That’s it. No drama, no punishment, just return.

And here’s something else I want you to consider. This is a tool to help you make re-entry after vacation that much easier. One of the best ways to make your return from vacation easier is to plan for it before you even leave. So, what exactly could that look like?

Well, you can order groceries to arrive on the day you return. Or you can schedule a grocery pickup for the next morning. Think about when you’ll exercise or get a workout in when you get back and block it in your calendar. You can also block time on your calendar the day after you get back to unpack and get yourself together. Honestly, of all the things I do, blocking some amount of time after I get back to get my head on straight has made an enormous difference. And if at all possible, I will try to give myself at least one full day to get myself together for stuff like laundry, cleaning up, restocking food, meal prep, all the things.

I cannot come home on Sunday at midnight and jump straight into a 5 a.m. workout on Monday morning. That just does not work for me. So even from a vacation planning perspective, we will do everything we can to give ourselves at least one day to reorganize, prep, plan, and be ready to hit the ground running when we get back to work and schedules and racing through the work week.

And I will help my clients do this too. So at this time of year, I’m coaching a lot of my clients around vacation, and one of the things I try to hit on is not just what she’ll do when she’s away and faced with an ice cream sundae as big as her head, but also what she’ll do when she gets back. Whether that means taking time for a short run or finding a few easy proteins to batch cook before heading into the work week, whatever it is, I want her to feel prepared to get back into a groove as seamlessly as possible when she gets home.

So, I had one client, she took a notebook with her and wrote out her re-entry plan while she was on the plane home. She wrote out her family’s meal plan for the week, made a grocery list, and planned out her week of workouts, all while she was on the plane. And I love that because that’s the work that your future self will thank you for.

And her process, to be clear, it was not wild or flashy or big. She just pulled out a notebook and wrote out a few lists and looked at her work calendar to make a plan for her week after vacation. That’s it. It was simple and it was accessible. And it’s accessible to you too. You can plan ahead even when you’re coming back from vacation and it does not have to be a big deal.

And if you’re already back and you didn’t plan ahead, that is also okay. So let’s talk about what to do once you get home. So your first 48 or so hours back from your vacation, they’re important. Those 48 hours set you up for how easily you transition from vacation mode back into your regular life. And in this time frame, in this 48 hours, this is where many people go off the rails. And I see it play out in two different ways.

Either you come back from vacation feeling like you totally blew it, so you continue to blow it and let the decisions you made on vacation spill into the decisions that you make now that you’re home, or you come back thinking that you need to go full steam ahead, undo everything, and make up for whatever you did on your trip, and you have to do it immediately. And often, both of those approaches are driven by guilt. Guilt that you weren’t perfect on vacation. Guilt that you ate more than you planned, that you skipped workouts, or had dessert every night.

So, either you spiral and throw your hands up, using guilt as permission or even a reason to stay off track and keep indulging, or you overtighten the reins and go all in on restriction, thinking that guilt is what will bring you back in control. But neither of those options actually serve you. Both approaches come from a place of judgment and extremism, and that is not going to work.

And so, what if you didn’t go either route? What if you decided that you’re done indulging, but you’re also not going to restrict yourself all to heck either? And what if you decided to skip the guilt all together? What if you just decided that vacation is allowed, rest is allowed, and now all you’re doing is moving forward now that it’s over?

Can you imagine what it would feel like to return from vacation without the heavy weight of feeling like you blew it and without letting that weight sit on you as you transition back to your regular life? Imagine not feeling that pit in your stomach. Imagine not feeling disappointment, and instead, feeling calm, empowered, and focused.

So, I don’t know about you, but for me, that makes transitioning back to reality so much easier. It feels lighter, it feels kinder, it feels more peaceful. And it also helps to keep the zen vibe of vacation around just a little longer too.

So, let me make it clear. Your first 48 hours back from vacation are not the time for extremes. This is not the time to overhaul your entire routine, cut calories dramatically, cut out entire food groups, start a juice cleanse, or start a boot camp after five days of lounging at the pool. That kind of knee-jerk reaction only reinforces the idea that vacation is a failure to be corrected.

And this is also not the time to keep operating like you’re still on vacation. If you skipped your workouts, ate more indulgent food than you’re used to, or stayed up late every night while you were on vacation, those habits don’t have to come home with you. There is a difference between easing back into your routine and dragging out the looseness of vacation because it feels easier in the short term. That short-term comfort can turn into long-term frustration if you’re not intentional.

So the goal is to find a middle ground where it’s not restriction, but it’s also not continued indulgence. Instead, it’s more like a focused realignment with your routine and with your rhythm. It’s a way to get back to yourself without swinging to either extreme.

So your first 48 hours at home are your opportunity to reestablish your rhythm in a calm, supportive, and intentional way. This is where you gently remind yourself what it feels like to show up for your habits again, not out of punishment, but out of self-respect. This is where you reconnect with the routines that support your energy, your focus, and your overall well-being. So essentially, you’re reminding your body what normal feels like again. You ease out of vacation mode and back into real life, not with a jolt, but with intention.

And that means you set a few key behaviors in motion again. Habits that make you feel strong and grounded. So for me, that will mean eating a salad every night at dinner and getting back to early morning workouts as soon as possible. Those two things for me are my anchors and those are my normal.

And if you need other ideas, here are some anchors to focus on when you come back home. So first, hydration and protein. Don’t worry about tracking macros and nickeling and diming yourself. No. Just focus on drinking water and eating real whole foods with protein and fiber. That’s it.

Next, move your body. And I’m not talking about crushing a 45-minute HIIT workout here. Take a walk, stretch, do 15 minutes of whatever you can handle. Shake the travel off. And then third, get back to your sleep schedule. Go to bed. Unpack and do your laundry, but skip the Netflix marathons and get some sleep. You’re trying to re-regulate your daily rhythm.

So those are just a few ideas of anchors that you can focus on when you’re getting back into a routine. And whatever you decide those anchors are for you, the idea is the same. You’re giving your brain and your body structure to rely on without turning it into a boot camp. You’re giving your body consistency and predictability. Maybe something that was not as present while you were on vacation. And it’s that consistency and predictability that make it easier to keep moving forward.

So, remember, you don’t have to come back hard. You just have to come back with intention. And that means not pushing yourself to extremes, but also not coasting in a post-vacation fog for days or weeks afterward. So being intentional means choosing to step back into your routine, even if it’s one small step at a time. You’re bringing structure back in, even if it’s imperfect. You’re not being rigid and you’re also not being passive. And you’re not trying to erase your trip. Instead, you’re taking ownership and getting back to yourself.

So now, let’s talk about something else that we don’t really talk about enough. And that is the emotional re-entry from your vacation. Because sometimes the hardest part of coming back isn’t the laundry or the unpacking. Sometimes the hardest part is not getting back to your regular meals and getting back to your workout routine. Sometimes the hardest part of coming back from vacation is the emotional weight of returning to your real life.

It’s opening your inbox and seeing 273 or more unread emails. For me, it was coming back to boatloads of patient questions that I knew would take hours to address. Or maybe it’s returning to a schedule that made you and your partner feel like nothing more than cohabitating babysitters that melted away on vacation, but now you can feel it rising again. Maybe it’s having to see and interact with a family member or friend that you needed a break from, but now you’re back.

It’s a shift from freedom to structure. You’re shifting from sun and sand and no responsibilities to meetings and meal prep and real life and people, and that can feel really hard. So maybe vacation you felt relaxed and spontaneous and maybe a little lighter. Maybe you forgot about all of the things that were causing you stress at home, and now it feels like it’s all coming back. Now you’re being hit with obligations, routines, and the sheer volume of everything that piled up while you were gone. It can feel like a very rude awakening.

And with that comes the dread. The kind of dread that makes you want to hit snooze or hide from your to-do list. And sometimes it even makes you question why you took the time off in the first place.

And here is something else that might be happening underneath all of that: space. Or really, lack thereof. Sometimes vacation gives you just enough space and breathing room to exhale, to finally slow down and think. You can zoom out and look at the bigger picture and maybe see parts of your life that you don’t really like, whether that’s related to your career, relationships, your habits, or something else. And when you’re away on vacation, you’ve finally got space to think and imagine something different for yourself. And if you’ve ever found yourself sitting on a beach or hiking a trail, all the while thinking to yourself, what am I doing with my life? You are not alone.

That was me, especially when I was working in family medicine. The second I stepped away from my clinic, I would start to wonder, what if I left? What if I started something new? What if this is not where I’m supposed to be? What if I actually made the change that I keep brainstorming about?

But then, just as quickly as those thoughts came, I’d be back home and back to the grind. And that space that I had while on vacation, that space to really think, that space evaporated. It’s kind of like going to a conference and being super inspired and flying home with a notebook full of ideas that then sits in the swag bag in the back of your closet for years, left unopened and untouched. You come home and get swallowed by your same routine and nothing changes.

So, what do you do with that? Well, first, write it down. Write down your ideas. Seriously, don’t lose the clarity that being away gives you, and capture those thoughts before they disappear. Journal them, voice memo them, email them, write them on the back of your receipt from the fudge shop you visited. I don’t care. Just get it down somewhere. Don’t let that clarity evaporate just because you’re back to your regular life.

And then second, carve out time. Maybe even five to 10 minutes to revisit your ideas. Set a reminder on your phone for next week. You can do that while you’re coming home from your vacation. Block out some time to sit with the question, what do I really want to change and what is one small step I can take to move me in that direction? And I know this sounds obvious and simple and small, but don’t shrug it off.

It’s really easy to dismiss these moments of clarity that you get while you’re on vacation. It’s easy to dismiss these as unrealistic or even indulgent, especially when you’re back in the thick of your real life. But those thoughts that bubbled up while you were resting, they are not random. They surfaced for a reason. Those thoughts may be the beginning of something important and something that deserves your attention.

So don’t let the simplicity of what I’m suggesting fool you here. The act of writing it down, revisiting it, and taking one small step forward, that is how change begins. It is not flashy, it’s not a huge leap, but it is powerful because it’s intentional. And those small steps are what will eventually create a whole new direction.

And most importantly, don’t dismiss what came up for you just because it feels inconvenient. Your vacation realizations, they are data. They’re the kind of thoughts that only surface when you finally have space to breathe. And while it might feel like there’s no time to act on them once you’re back to your normal life, that doesn’t mean those thoughts aren’t worth exploring. In fact, it’s the opposite.

So many of us spend our days on autopilot, moving from one obligation to the next, doing and doing, and very little time to really think. And then vacation gives us just enough stillness, so we take a step back and notice what in our lives is working and what’s not. And those insights that you find, they are a signal. Those insights are pointing you towards something that matters. So please don’t bury them.

Don’t talk yourself out of them because they feel too big or because the timing isn’t perfect. Give your thoughts room. Revisit them, even if you don’t act on it right away, stay connected to what came up for you. That is how you stay tapped into your intuition and that is how you create change, even if it’s slow.

And here’s where it all connects, because some of these realizations that you have on vacation are big picture and existential. Others are much more immediate and practical. You might have had wild, amazing, life-shifting ideas, and you might also just be dreading your inbox. Both are valid and both deserve your attention. So when you return home, you might feel a little sad, a little resentful, or maybe even a little stuck. So, I want to offer you this.

Let all of that be okay. Seriously, the emotional hangover after vacation, it is real. It is normal, and you don’t have to bypass it or rush through it and force yourself to feel grateful or motivated. Instead, acknowledge it. Remember how we talked a few weeks ago about what you can do with negative emotions? AVD. Acknowledge, validate, decide. I feel total dread about getting back to work on Monday after this amazing vacation. And that’s okay and totally normal. And then decide. Decide what you want to do with it.

You may decide to sit with that feeling of dread for a little bit. You may let it stay with you as you regroup and get ready to get back to work and real life. Or you may decide something else. You might decide to gently remind yourself the routine you’re stepping back into, it exists for a reason. Yes, it includes your job, your responsibilities, and probably an inbox full of requests. But it also includes your habits. Your walk, your water, your veggies, your strength training, your sleep, all of it.

And remember, these aren’t things you do because you have to. They’re things you’ve chosen to do because they help you feel good. They support your energy, your focus, and your long-term goals. The structure of your routine, in your habits, it’s not there to box you in. It’s there to bring you back and give you freedom. Those habits give you a foundation after being away.

And honestly, at least for me, the sooner you get back to those habits, the sooner you free up your brain space for more important things, like coming back to those big, potentially life-changing thoughts and ideas that you had while you were away. That’s how habits help. They save precious brain space for more important things in your life.

So, when you are returning from vacation and your inbox feels crushing, your career feels daunting, or your structure feels suffocating, take one thing at a time. Make one decision, take one action. Do not let your realizations that you made while you’re away, don’t let them fade out. Take one step to honor them. One small step, that’s it. That is how you lighten your emotional load. Okay?

So now, let me switch gears and transition into something a little more grounded. Let’s talk about some of the most common traps people fall into after vacation. And I don’t just mean food or exercise habits. I’m talking about the full picture here, the mental habits, the emotional spirals, the unrealistic expectations we set for ourselves, all the sneaky thoughts and behaviors that can quietly derail you before you even realize it. Because after all that deep stuff that we just unpacked, the dread, the insights, the clarity that you might have found on vacation, it’s easy to ignore that and to default to old patterns.

You may try to numb out with food or wine or your phone. You may try to white-knuckle your way back to discipline with unrealistic rules, or you may just let it all slide and pretend you never had those realizations in the first place. So, let’s talk about how to catch those moments before they spiral so you can re-enter and come back from your vacation with more awareness, more self-kindness, and more self-trust.

Okay? So first, some basics here. I would suggest avoiding weighing yourself the first day back. It is not a useful data point and often it’s a recipe for spiraling. Plus, between travel, water intake, jet lag, all the things, that number is likely to be very off.

Next, do not decide you’re going to cut out all carbs, give up sugar forever, or swear off alcohol until Christmas. We know that kind of all-or-nothing thinking does not stick, it doesn’t help, and it sets you up for further failure when you cannot live up to the very unrealistic, very restrictive expectations that you’ve set for yourself.

Please, do not try to erase your vacation with punishment or overcorrection. Remember, it’s done, it’s over, and you’re getting back to it. Nothing more, nothing less.

And now, at the same time, don’t dismiss the thoughts that came up while you’re away, just because real life feels too full to do anything about them. Remember that those insights matter.

Do not assume that you have to go from 0 to 100 in 24 hours. Remember, you’re easing back into your routine and your habits. Find your anchors and do the smallest things that will get you back to those. A salad at dinner, a 10-minute walk, a five-minute brainstorm session to explore an idea that came up for you while you were on the beach. That’s it. Start back small and let small be enough.

And remember, you do not have to let dread run the show. It is okay to acknowledge and feel it and validate it because feeling that dread after vacation is totally normal. But remember the last part of this, you are in charge and you get to decide what you want to do with that dread. You can choose to let it stay with you, or you can choose to practice thinking differently and empower yourself to move forward and come back to yourself after being away. You always have that choice.

You can remind yourself that rest is progress. You can remind yourself that the dreams you came up with on vacation are telling you something and you don’t have to uproot your life this very second to follow them. You can remind yourself that you’re not starting over.

And here are just a few other reminders as you return from your time away. Drink some water. Eat a vegetable. Move your body, even if it’s just a little. Write down the clarity you had on vacation, big or small. Take one step. One habit. One action that helps you feel like you again, find it and do it.

You do not need to make up for anything. You don’t need to swing to either extreme. You just need to return with intention and with some trust in yourself.

So, to bring this all home, your vacation does not make or break your progress. But how you come back does. Re-entry from your vacation, it’s important, but it’s often overlooked from both a habit and mindset perspective. And I hope I’ve given you some thoughts to consider the next time you come back from vacation or time away.

And if you’re feeling off after a vacation, I get it. I’ve been there. And I promise you are not starting over. You are returning. And that return doesn’t have to be dramatic. It doesn’t have to involve a sweeping overhaul or a grand declaration about how you’re finally going to get your life together. Instead, think of your return as a gentle pivot where you’re realigning with who you already are and what you already value. You’re reconnecting with your habits, not because you messed up or because you need to punish yourself, but because those habits support the version of you that you actually want to be.

So, give yourself 48 hours or more if you need it, to recalibrate, anchor in your basics, rebuild your structure and your routine, piece by piece. You don’t need to prove anything or hustle your way back to worthiness. Let what you do be small, but significant, and let it be enough.

And if you want help with this, let’s go. This is exactly the kind of work we do in coaching. Whether you’re getting back from a trip or trying to build habits in the chaos and busy of your everyday life, I’ll help you follow through on what matters to you. Check out my website, head to www.CarrieHollandMD.com/contact, and let’s talk about how coaching can help you get back to your habits and to yourself, without the drama, guilt, or all-or-nothing thinking.

All right? Thank you again for hanging out with me and I’ll catch you again next week.

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Thank you for listening to the Strong Is a Mindset podcast. If you want to learn more about how to build both a strong mind and a strong body by eating, moving, and most importantly, thinking, check out CarrieHollandMD.com.