Mar. 15. 2019
Lifestyle
Written By:
McKel (Hill) Kooienga
McKel Hill Kooienga, MS, RDN, LDN

McKel Hill Kooienga, MS, RDN, LDN

Founder of Nutrition Stripped® and the Mindful Nutrition Method™

Wondering if you can have a healthy honeymoon?

Honeymoons are a time to soak up quality time with your partner, relax from the common busyness that’s prior to a wedding, have fun, explore, sleep in, eat really delicious food, drink to celebrate if that’s your choice, and spend as much time in real life and offline as you can to really soak it all up.

One of the most frequent questions I get from brides to be is “how do I make my honeymoon healthy?”, “what foods should I eat while I’m on my honeymoon?”, and more along the lines of fitness, food, and feeling great.

The definition of “health” for the purpose of this article is defined by engaging in activities and behaviors that are contributing to your definition of health. Health can be mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health — so it’ll look different for all of us and that’s the beauty!

Tips For A Healthy Honeymoon

1. Hydrate

Making sure that you’re properly hydrated every day is one of the easiest ways to feel your best. As soon as we start the travel process or even get out of our normal routines, it’s really easy to forget to drink enough water which can make us feel tired, cause digestion issues, or give us headaches. Remember, water is responsible for every process in the human body which is pretty amazing for something that many of us take for granted.

Staying hydrated not only keeps your hunger cues more accurate, but you’re also more likely to not mistake thirst for hunger. Water also has been shown to increase thermogenesis, which may aid in weight loss. As a baseline to start from, aim for at least 10 cups/day and adjust based on your needs. You’ll need to increase that amount if you exercise and sweat, if you’re active throughout the day, if you’re not eating enough water containing foods, or if you eat a high fiber diet.

If you’re not drinking enough water you may not be giving your body enough fuel to combat everyday stresses, fight fatigue, keep your digestion moving, your metabolism efficient, supple skin, along with many others. Whether it’s experiencing sweating in the summer heat or dry skin in the winter chill, water is key to keeping our bodies healthy on a cellular level. Read more in the Spotlight on Water.

2. Sleep in

I know you’re excited and I know you’re busy, but sleep is absolutely key to taking care of yourself during this time so that you can look and feel your best. Sleeping in on your honeymoon is the perfect time to catch up on those zzz’s! How often are most of us able to take off work and from our general daily responsibilities to soak in and be indulgent with our sleeping patterns? Most likely not that often so catch up on sleep during your honeymoon — it’ll do your health good.

Studies have shown that quality sleep is vital to our well-being, making it an important time to address nutrition and lifestyle choices that surround it. Lack of sleep has been associated with fat gain, weight gain, and general obesity. It can also affect cognition, insulin sensitivity, androgens, thyroid hormones, and growth hormone. Poor sleep can also make us less likely to experience positive emotions and may increase the likelihood of depression. Read more about how to get the best beauty sleep every night.

3. Enjoy

Ah, this is the most important point to drive home here when it comes to your health, enjoy. Enjoy, be present, practice gratitude, and soak up the pleasures of the honeymoon from the food, drinks, fun, nature, exploration of a new city, or just quality time together no matter where you are.

One of the most common conversations I have with my clients who are either going on vacation or on a honeymoon is about their relationship with food. If you catch yourself saying to yourself “I can’t eat that because XYZ” and the XYZ is defined as looking good in a bathing suit, pictures, etc., then you might want to reframe and remember what’s really the most important part of this magical time between you and your partner.

Forming and cultivating a healthy relationship with food takes a lot of time, patience, self-love, and more importantly daily practice. The next time you start to hear that monkey on your shoulder give you worry about your food choices, just check in with yourself and ask if it’s a valid point. For example, if eating outside of your “normal” foods or diet (i.e. more indulgent food), causes you terrible digestion issues, then that would be something to be mindful of.

But if it’s just causing you mental worry, feelings of lack of control, or a heavy preoccupation (i.e. consumed with thoughts about food) to where it’s pulling you out of the present moment, then I highly recommend working with a licensed dietitian prior to your honeymoon to support you with the tools you need to work through that. Otherwise, express those thoughts with your partner to find support, take a deep breath, and ask yourself what’s the most important thing to gather from this moment — the endless thoughts around your food choice or enjoying a meal with your partner on your honeymoon?

4. Explore

Explore the surroundings of the location of your honeymoon, from the beaches to the mountains there’s so much to experience. One of the things we did for our honeymoon was intentionally picked a place where we were surrounded by nature, at Blackberry Farm a 4,200-acre estate in the Great Smoky Mountains, and activities we could do at any time like biking, hiking, paddleboard yoga, yoga in the mountains, etc.

If you’re in Tennesse or you want a taste of the mountain and nature life here, check out the new Blackberry Mountain (a sister resort to Blackberry Farm) which has all of these activities we loved having the option to pick during our honeymoon. Try to find a place where you and your partner will naturally feel more active in and will have the urge to go explore! When you embrace movement as a form of play, rather than something you’re putting our body through, it can be an empowering and enjoyable part of your daily routine.

5. Digital Detox

This tip to make your honeymoon healthy is all about disconnecting with everything else around you to deepen the connection within and with your partner. Again, just like sleeping in, how often in your daily life are you able to put everything away from work to social media, to just be.

When’s the last time you and your partner took a break from social media, websites, the internet, emails, etc. to just turn off and be with each other in real life, at the moment? For most of us, since being so connected digitally with others is part of our life, we don’t get that time unless we’re really intentional about it and set boundaries.

If this seems really abstract to do and put action behind it, sit down with yourself or with your partner and come up with some rules to using your phones, computers, and TV’s while away celebrating. It can help to gameplan what this looks like or can be as simple as not bringing phones at during meal times, taking pictures on a traditional camera so you’re not tempted to open up social apps, etc.

Use your honeymoon as a time to reset and completely take a digital detox — except pictures, totally take pictures and videos of your memories for each other! Once you get back to your daily life and the swing of your normal schedule, re-enter the digital world with more intentionality and a greater sense of connection with yourself and your partner. If you’re curious, I wrote an article about my digital detox time and it was incredible.

6. Plan

This may sound obvious, but planning ahead to stay in a resort, hotel, or honeymoon location that’s conducive to your definitions of health, is key! That might look like staying at a place that has access to water to swim, a gym, a fridge in the room, nutrient-dense food choices, yoga classes, meditation classes, a spa, etc.

If you’re an adventurous pair, then look into honeymoons that involve skiing, hiking, water sports, yoga in the mountains or on a beach, learning other cultures, cooking classes, the list goes on.

If you’re looking for total relaxation then look into honeymoons that involve a spa, nature, fresh air, quiet or low tourism season, etc. Also, think about where you both feel drawn to — is it the mountains or the beach? The sun or the snow? This can help you start to plan where to go in the first place.

As I mentioned, we chose to go full on relaxation with being surrounded by fresh air, nature, trees, and the options available to be really active if we wanted. Blackberry Farm is one of my favorite places I’ve ever been too — I’ve had about 3 solo trips there to relax and work on projects or to just take a reflective solo trip and it’s been amazing. Since Jesse had an injury before our wedding, we took this time really easy and just soaked up quality time in the fresh air. It was everything we needed during this chapter!

I can’t wait to share more pictures and videos from our wedding experience with you, in case you’re on this journey right now. If you are or someone you know is in this chapter of their life, whether planning a wedding or it’s the week of, then check out these articles. Many of these are my personal thoughts, advice, and tips so I hope it helps support you during this exciting time!

The Best Wedding Diet

How To Have A Healthy Bachelorette Party 

Wedding Week Self-care Checklist 

x McKel

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wedding