How not to return from vacation overweight: top tips for tourists

Vacations and long-distance travel not only bring pleasure and incredible impressions. Traveling often ends with tourists returning home overweight, but there are ways to avoid this.

The process of food consumption begins on board the airplane. However, most airlines offer low-calorie meals that can be pre-booked, or another option is to take healthy food on your own, according to The Telegraph.

The article says that snacks on board are usually high in calories and sugar, so bring fruit, crackers and dips such as hummus, packs of popcorn and some high-quality dark chocolate.

Almost from the first day of your vacation, you're eager to eat all you can eat. But remember that you'll have more energy and better appetite control for the rest of the day if you consume protein and fiber.

Avoid "beige" foods such as fried foods and pastries. Instead, choose yogurt, fruit, cottage cheese, cereal, or muesli. A vegetable omelette with two eggs and a slice of whole wheat toast contains less than 400 calories and will fill you up nicely.

A buffet does give you control over what and how much you eat, but it can also seem like a light to binge eat. Follow the "rule of three"; eat a moderate portion of your three favorite foods, eat them slowly - and don't go back for seconds. Cheese and desserts can easily double your total calorie intake, so if there is a choice of local fruit, go for it.

If you're a fan of intermittent fasting, there's no reason not to continue it on vacation. Unless breakfast is included in your hotel rate (in which case it would be a shame to miss out), why not skip breakfast altogether, beat the crowds with an early lunch at 12:00 and have dinner at 19:00.

By avoiding frothy coffee, juices, and smoothies, you'll be better hydrated - and you'll save a few hundred calories a day. When it comes to booze, alcohol calories add up quickly. Lower-calorie options include soda vodka or gin and tonic, white wines, sparkling wine, and light beer, which contains 100 calories per 330 ml can.

While intense exercise may not be your idea of a vacation, setting yourself a doable daily step goal will help you burn off some of those extra calories. Recent studies have shown that 6000 is the optimal number of steps in terms of health benefits. This is equal to an hour of walking at a normal pace, which will burn about 200 calories.