Late this morning I was hit with a surge of energy. I’m not sure where it came from, but I decided to roll with it and laced up my gym shoes for a quick workout.
I am seeing a ton of neon workout apparel and sneakers at the gym lately and I love it. Neon orange shoe laces = Best part of my Reeboks!
Today’s workout was a total body circuit workout from the Best Body Boot Camp plan I’m following. This is officially the last week of the boot camp and I’m sad knowing it will be over soon.
It felt good to be back in the gym today. I managed to make it to the gym at our hotel twice while we were on vacation and ran outside with Ryan a couple of times, but I missed strength training. It felt great to work up a sweat and I left the gym ready to put more energy into my workday.
Lunch
When I arrived back home, I worked through my normal lunchtime. I figured I should try to get back on Ocala time as much as possible today, so even though I wasn’t super hungry by 1 p.m., I made myself a random lunch that included a bowl of Honey Nut Chex topped with a sliced banana, almond milk and a sprinkling of raw cashews.
I also ate a few slices of deli ham on the side for some protein.
Quite the random meal, but it worked. Adjusting to the six-hour time difference took me about three days when we flew to Hawaii, but I’m hoping I adjust to the time difference a little faster this time around! My appetite is all out of whack and confused.
Questions of the Afternoon
- What is the biggest time difference you’ve had to adjust to after traveling? How long did it take you to adjust?
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Time changes always mess with my sleep & appetite too! Good job hitting up a workout & trying your best to eat at the ‘right’ time. I am sure that’ll help ya recover from the travels 🙂
Apparently for every hour of time difference, it takes that many days to get over jet lag. Hate the jet lag when in flying east!
When I studied abroad in London, it took me four or five days to really get used to the five-hour time difference. It was much easier to adjust when I came home, though!
you know, I think the sudden surge of energy might have been from your body recovering full blast while you were on vacation! Like, you gave your muscles a break? Lately I’ve been hearing about that kind of stuff and how sooommetimes prolonged breaks are good for our muscles, but not 100% sure yet 🙂 And the longest recovery from traveling for me was Myanmar (about 16 hours), and Korea and India, which were about 15-17 hours as well. Such a trip! No pun intended, muhahahaah
16 hours. I lived in Australia for a while and I am on the East Coast of the U.S. I agree with Khushboo — it takes about a day for every hour. I’ll adjust meal times within a couple of days, but the fatigue takes a little longer. Exercise and following the sun cues (get up when it’s light, sleep when it is dark) are a big help.
i’ve always wanted to visit australia!
I highly recommend it. There are lots of outdoorsy things to do that I think you’d really love. Hit me up for recommendations if you ever go! 🙂
Give yourself a break, because jet lag from traveling west to east is much harder than east to west. Rule of thumb is 1 day per hour time difference from west to east (6 hours = 6 days) and from east to west it’s half that (6 hours = 3 days). That’s because it’s much easier to sleep later and go to bed later to adjust to the later time difference.
that makes sense to me!
Welcome home!! I’m sure adjusting back to your normal routine will be easier than adjusting from it. Love that random meal! I do that all the time and figure if I’m satisfied and got some nutrition, that’s all that matters! 🙂
Six hours seems like such a hard time difference to overcome. I’ve only ever been two time zones away from home, but it still amazes me how even that little difference will wreak havoc on sleep and eating patterns. My husband traveled to Australia right after high school and he still talks about what an adjustment that was!
I live right smack dab in the middle of the country and have never been out of the country, so even though I have traveled a lot, I haven’t had to deal much with time differences. Just a couple hours at the most. Altitude is another story though! I get sick every time!
Hey, this may be an out-of-the-blue question, but I live in Orlando, and I was wondering if you could recommend a local place to get running shoes fitted?
I am prone to buying “deals” or buying “omg neon pink” and then ending up with shoes that don’t really work and make it even harder for me to learn to love running. 🙁
yes!!! track shack. they’re amazing and fit me for my first pair of running shoes. 🙂 it’s located on mills. here’s their website: http://www.trackshack.com/
I’ve never had to do a huge adjustment, I think the biggest was when I was in school in Charleston and flew to Vegas for my friend’s 21st. That’s only a 3 hour difference… Haha I think?
It took me almost a full week when I got home from Dublin a few days ago. It was 6 hours too, but I think flying west is harder!
6 hours when I went to hawaii too… I think I passed out 4 in the afternoon because me and my sister were awake the whole plain ride lol so for like 2 days straight it seemed lol
I’m loving all the neon as well! Reminds me of the 80’s… i hope those baggy wind breaker pants don’t come back into style… That would be awful! 🙂
12 hours – Tokyo, Japan. I was there with my friend for 8 days and I don’t really remember adjusting at all to it, but I know coming back was hell. Thank goodness the nightlife there was fun because we were wide awake from 10pm-5am every day!
My biggest adjustment was a trip to visit my friend studying abroad in Spain. While visiting her we flew to England as well which was another time change!
Even worse was the fact that I had the flu on the way to Spain and while I was there started to feel better…then on the way home felt awful again and went to the doctors only to find out I had bronchitis!
Being sick definitely makes the time change harder because you want to sleep all the time!
Germany is the same – 6 hrs – just the opposite way. I’ve been there three times & it always takes me 3-4 days to truly feel like normal again! We would always go for about 3 weeks so coming back was just as hard as going because my body had totally gotten used to Germany time. Hopefully with a week vacation it will be a little easier for you!
It took 16 hrs & four planes to get to Egypt … Zombie by landing time!!
I find it easier to fly east than to return westward as can always stay up late but going to bed so early makes me nutty.
24hrs to get to Argentina but basically the same timezone so that was weird getting used to !!
I’ve been to China twice when I was younger..it’s a 12 hour time difference, but I can’t really remember how I adjusted. I’m sure it wasn’t pretty! Besides that, the time difference when I went to Italy and France didn’t affect me that badly..I think it was rough the first day I arrived in France, but I recovered pretty quickly.
I am so glad I am not the only person who works out on vacation. My husband and I are vacationing next week and my coworkers are baffled at the idea of working out during a vacation. I have tried to explain to them that I ENJOY hitting the gym, but they don’t understand.
8 hours with Canada and Ireland….I found it harder when we arrived as opposed to when I came home. Wish we had the range of reeboks you guys have, love those flex’s!
Are you doing book club in September?
I’ve been to Europe a couple times, so there was a significant time difference (8 or 9 hours). I’ve found the best way to adjust is to just power through it and eat and sleep at the new time. The jet lag stinks, but it’s definitely not as bad as trying to prolong the transition. I figured I might as well get it over with as fast a spossible.
Isn’t it funny how the most random food combinations can satisfy your appetite? Sometimes it’s a strange chemistry that just plain doesn’t make sense- but hey, it’s the satisfication that counts!
I just got back from London and surprisingly I adjusted right away! We took a lot of “cat naps” while we were there, which I think really helped. I also drank less beer than usual=no hangovers. I’m sure that helped, too! 😉
Coming home from London after being there for a month this summer was certainly an adjustment. Took me close to a week for sure!! And I’m with you – I missed my strength training when I was on vacation too. Bring on the weights baby!!
I went to India (11.5 hours time difference) for work once for 4 days and never adjusted. Spent most of the time feeling like I’d been hit by a truck!
Otherwise, I can usually adjust to time differences between 6-8 hours ahead (my work has me in Africa quite a bit) within 2 days. Coming back is more difficult!
The most I’ve traveled is 3 hours. I find that adjusting to a sleep schedule is way harder for me than adjusting my appetite!
As many of you said it takes as many days usually to adjust as many hours is the difference.
I usually go to Hungary (8 hours difference) every other year with the kids to visit family and let me tell you … 🙂 it’s much harder when your kids have jet lag too because you might just stay up later and do the whole thing by yourself but you kinda have to adjust “with” them…if that makes any sense 🙂
By the way I’m LOVING your Oahu posts because we’re moving to Hawaii (army) in two months and I’m making a list what are the things I need to go and see while there!!!
When I came back from Europe, my body clock was all thrown off but in a GOOD way. See I was used to going to bed at 3:00 AM Europe time and waking up around 12 PM Europe time which worked GREAT when I was back in the States (and starting my job!). Instead I went to bed at 10PM and woke up at 7AM. Sooo moral of the story: if you’re a late sleeper, go to Europe for a month and come back. Since I’ve been back I haven’t been able to sleep in past 10, and I went a year ago!
The most I’ve travelled was about a 4 hour difference. I was about 12 at the time, so I actually think I adjusted better then than I would if I did the same thing now.
Jet lag is so tough, the farthest I ever had to adjust to was 6 hours, and it wasn’t easy! Your random lunch looks a lot like my random dinners lately, no time to cook means cereal with a banana, easy and delicious!
Living in Australia and really flying any where abroad! But the worst was definitely flying to London to live! 24hrs flying time and stop over in Dubai!
Hey Julie! How fast do you typically go during your elliptical workouts? You normally have some pretty intense resistance levels!
Traveling home from Israel through me for a loop. I was up for 26 hours by the time I made it home, but I refused to go to sleep (it was about 3 in the afternoon)—so, like the psycho I am, I laced up and went to the gym! It took me about a full week and a half to feel like myself again (it had also been a VERY active trip, so that might have had something to do with it!)
8 hours from London to LA!! I’ve had to make that one many times– always messed me up!
I’m all for the quick meals and super random combinations — pretty much the story of my life these days!!
I’ve never traveled to a different time zone (other than a one-hour difference), but I often work overnights which creates a 12-hour time change for your body. It depends on how many I work in a row (the more in a row, the more your body changes to the new time — so because you were away for a longer time, it’s going to take longer to switch back than if it had been just for the weekend) … but after 7 of them in a row, it’s now 5 days later and I’m still readjusting (although I worked another last night and will be working them this weekend again — my body is just so confused!!).
Love the neon! Australia was probably the biggest time difference I’ve ever experienced, although I used to live in the Middle East and when we traveled back and forth to Canada in the summers, that definitely took getting used to. I found I could do it pretty quickly if I had activities to keep me busy when I arrived at either end (school starting, friends/family to visit, etc.)
I feel one way is always worse than the other!
I went from Germany to LA and had to stop in NY, it was a nightmare, bc I had pretty long lay over and it took me nearly 2 weeks to adjust to local time, as I had a super hectic schedule. Coming back, I was fine after I had slept the first night- very weird!
My boyfriend lives 2 time zones over, but whenever I visit, adjusting never phases me. So, even though we’re separated by a few time zones, it’s definitely a plus that I don’t have to adjust to any crazy time differences.
The furthest I’ve ever traveled is CA, but I don’t remember “feeling” the time difference too badly!
Love the neon trend that’s going on right now!
I went to Australia to study abroad for a month one summer during college. When I came home I was so messed up! It took about a week to get my body back on eastern time.
I spent this summer in Africa…that was a huge time adjustment and food adjustment as well!!! I can’t wait to go back. 🙂 God opened up my eyes and showed me so much.
The worst that I ever had to experience was one Christmas where we went to California (I’m from MA) to visit family, and the day after we came back home, I had to hop on a plane to Spain. That was a week being 3 hours behind what I’m normal to, come home to “regular” time, then get on a plane to be 6 hours ahead. That was a fun transition. :-/
Biggest time difference I’ve had to deal with is IL to France. I don’t remember the adjustment being too difficult (it probably was) but I think I’m having a harder time adjusting to the CA to IL time difference. Yes I know it sounds dumb. But I’m staying up later and sleeping in later than I used to. And it corresponds with my usual times in CA…
I have been noticing the neon trend at my gym too. I feel so uncool without neon workout shoes. Getting back into the swing of healthy things after travel is always so refreshing!
I love your shoes!!
When I went to Maui, it only took me about a day to adjust (we stayed up for over 24 hours to get on their time right away), but on the way home, it took at least a week! It was ridiculous — I felt exhausted all the time!
I have the same place mat as you 🙂 Pier 1? I think! PS, I admire your love for strength training… I have always wanted to love it more.. I’m such a cardio girls since that’s what I started doing when I was first introduced to exercise
So far I’ve only had to adjust for a couple of hours…when we go to Europe it’ll be tough to adjust!