Written by Doris Romano, RN & Nutritionist
As summer winds down, many people find themselves returning from vacations, long weekends, cottage trips, and time away from their usual routines.
And almost immediately, a familiar thought appears:
"Okay. Time to get back on track."
The intention is understandable.
After time away, many people want to resume meal planning, prepare more meals at home, eat more vegetables, exercise regularly, and return to the habits that help them feel their best.
What often creates frustration, however, is the expectation that this transition should happen immediately.
One day you're navigating airports, eating restaurant meals, sleeping in a different bed, and operating on a completely different schedule.
The next day, you expect yourself to meal prep, unpack, buy groceries, answer emails, return to work, exercise, and resume every healthy habit at once.
From a behaviour change perspective, that's a significant ask.
The Problem Isn't Motivation
When clients tell me they struggle to get back into their healthy routines after vacation, I rarely view it as a motivation problem.
More often, it's an expectations problem.
We tend to assume that because we're home, we should immediately be operating at our normal capacity.
But returning home and returning to routine are not the same thing.
There is often laundry to do.
Groceries to buy.
Meals to plan.
A backlog of work waiting to be addressed.
Sleep schedules to re-establish.
The challenge isn't that people don't know what to do.
It's that they're expecting themselves to do everything at once.
Enter the "On-Ramp"
One of my favourite behaviour change concepts is something called an on-ramp.
Think about merging onto a highway.
You aren't expected to go from zero to highway speed the moment you enter the road.
You accelerate gradually.
You build momentum.
You give yourself space to merge.
Behaviour change often works the same way.
Rather than expecting yourself to return immediately to your usual habits, consider creating a short transition period back into routine.
Not because you're lowering your standards.
Because you're matching your plan to your current reality.
What a Nutrition On-Ramp Might Look Like
An on-ramp doesn't need to be complicated.
In fact, the simpler it is, the more likely it is to work.
Before Returning Home
Rather than thinking about everything you'll need to do, identify one or two actions that will make the week ahead easier.
You might:
Place an online grocery order
Plan three simple dinners
Make a shopping list while travelling
Identify a few easy meals for the first couple of days
Day One Home
Focus on reducing friction.
This is often not the time for ambitious meal prep sessions or complex recipes.
Instead:
Pick up groceries
Stock quick protein options
Prepare a simple dinner
Have convenient fruits and vegetables available
Rotisserie chicken, pre-cut vegetables, frozen vegetables, yogurt, eggs, and bagged salads can all be excellent "on-ramp foods."
Day Two
Begin re-establishing a few familiar routines.
Perhaps that means:
Packing lunch for work
Planning tomorrow's dinner
Logging meals in the RxFood app
Returning to a regular breakfast pattern
Day Three
By this point, many people are ready to resume their usual habits and routines with far less effort than if they had attempted to do everything at once.
Why This Works
One of the most important lessons in behaviour change is that consistency is easier when expectations match capacity.
When people try to jump immediately from vacation mode to their ideal routine, they often experience what feels like failure.
In reality, the transition simply wasn't realistic.
An on-ramp acts as a form of scaffolding.
It provides structure during the period between intention and action.
Instead of asking, "How do I get back on track as quickly as possible?"
A more useful question might be:
"What would make it easier to gradually return to the habits that support my health?"
Because sustainable behaviour change isn't usually about doing everything perfectly.
More often, it's about creating the conditions that make the next healthy choice easier.