Can you do keto on vacation? Absolutely! Do you want to do it? Not necessarily. Here’s my take on staying keto on vacation and how it all turned out on my recent trip to Seychelles. 

I’ve been doing a keto diet and intermittent fasting for almost a year. I’m deeply in love with both of them and that’s without doubt. I’m not planning on giving up any of the two. Ever.

However, I also happen to be an athlete and about a month ago I reached the point where I had almost no power, no energy, constant hunger (and “hanger”) and cravings for practically anything bad like alcohol, sweets, carbs, artificial sweeteners or energy drinks. I tried to fight it. I started over multiple times. At one point I just couldn’t stick to any sensible dietary routine for longer than a day or two. Intermittent fasting, OMAD (one meal a day), TMAD (two meals a day) and keto all seemed to stop working.

Constant headaches, lack of energy, mood swings and insomnia made things even worse. Ever heard about the keto crash? That’s probably what I’ve gone through. That was the result of over-training, poor sleep, caloric restriction and a total lack of carbohydrates for a long time.

The good news is that I got through this and I’m stronger and more motivated than ever. What did I do? I spent two weeks on Seychelles and listened to each signal my overly-stressed body sent me. I managed to reset myself, my system, my mind and refill my depleted motivation. Below are a few more details from my not-keto trip.

Keto On Vacation Can Be Easy But Is It Necessary?

Whenever in the world you go, the chances are you will find at least several types of keto friendly foods there (click to view the whole list of keto foods) and be able to stick to a keto diet. I took a lot of canned fish, dried meat, dried vegetables, nuts and Quest bars with me, so I was all set up. This is what the content ofmy baggage looked like:

However, the moment I landed on Seychelles I realized that I don’t want any restrictions or rules. I had been living by them by the past 6 months almost non stop. This is one of the views that convinced me to totally chill out and relax:

It’s completely true that a keto diet is probably the easiest plan to stick to because it reduces your appetite and cravings. However, it still needs a bit of your motivation, persistence, patience and determination. This is what I was temporarily out of.

I decided to go with the flow and eat anything I feel like eating. Surprisingly, I didn’t end up binging on processed carbs and junk food but trying out a lot of local meals and fruits. I stopped doing intermittent fasting for these two weeks and ate delicious breakfasts every day. And that felt awesome!

I’m not saying you cannot do keto on vacation. You absolutely can and it doesn’t seem very difficult. It’s also very budget-friendly compared to eating at restaurants while on vacation. However, I wanted my vacation to also be my dietary reset and carb refill.

Not Staying Keto On Vacation Turned Out To Be A Brilliant Idea

At first, of course, I was a bit afraid that I would gain tons of weight after finally eating breakfast, fruits and other carbs. I gained little even though I didn’t work out as much as I usually do. I only ran 4 times during these two weeks so it’s a huge reduction.

So what did I do that helped me chill out and restart? I ate everything I felt like eating, I drank some local alcohols and I slept more than 8 hours every night.

What I Was Eating

I ate some of the food I brought with myself but I rather treated it as snacks. I mainly ate:

• lots of local fruits like bananas, papaya, coconut, watermelon, apples or pears

• lots of local fish (including sharks)

• local omelets with a plate of fresh fruit

• similar omelets which I started to prepare myself at the end of the trip

• different salads including octopus salad which I didn’t really like
• locally-produced ice-cream which I absolutely fell in love with (and ate about 500 ml almost every day)

• a portion of chips (about two times)

And that’s all. I didn’t really need to eat total junk food and processed carbs.

What I Was Drinking

Of course, I drank a lot of water but there was also a lot of not-keto-friendly stuff like:

• Coconut water

• Coconut milk
• Milk (I craved milk so much that I drank almost one liter a day)
• Savanna Premium Cider which was ideal for cooling you down and quenching your thirst)

• Takamaka Rum of the pineapple and coconut flavor (I made delicious drinks with milk)

Sweet and sugary drinks tasted good on the trip but I’m happy to be done with them finally (including alcohol).

What I Was Doing

I was mostly waking and swimming a bit. I managed to ran four times and I also took part in a 10K race (which I won by the way). This is the photo from the race I won.

That was all of my physical activity during my vacation. Besides that I slept at least 8 hours every night. I never used an alarm clock. Only after a week did I start to finally feel rested and relaxed.

My (Dietary) Takeaway From Seychelles Is…

I’m back doing keto and intermittent fasting but there will be some changes to my diet after this massive carb refill. Here are the things I’m planning to change:

• Adding coconuts and eating at least one every two days. Coconuts are now my alternative to avocados. They are keto-friendly!

• Doing carb refills more often and adding some good fruits after intensive workouts or before race days. I think that as long as this fruit is a real food I don’t have to worry about its carb content too much (if I don’t eat tons of it every day or eat it around workouts).
• Making sure I sleep 7-8 hours every night
• Listening to the signals my body sends me and not pushing through a fast at all cost
• Eating breakfast from time to time (once or twice a week)

Even though I ate lots of carbs (mostly from fruits) and didn’t really count calories, I didn’t gain much weight. I gained 2-3 pounds at the most. However, it’s possible that some of it is still water weight. The bottom line is that it was worth doing such a reset and chilling out completely.

I feel awesome now.

Looking Forward & Plans For The Future

I managed to get back to reality and get back on track. At the end of the trip I even started to miss my daily routines, duties and plans. I’m happy to be back and able to continue my keto journey.

My next milestone is the 30th of September which is the date of my second marathon this year. This is an extremely important race for me. Until that time I’ll be doing a strict keto diet with occasional carb refills (around intensive workouts and races) and, of course, working out together with my running coach.

I’m also totally giving up alcohol for these four months. And the most important part is I will keep growing ABC Keto. Lots of new recipes, articles and tutorials are coming! Back to work!

P.S. I recommend doing such a keto “reset” mostly for those who have been on keto for many months in a row and feel really exhausted, low in energy or stalled.