How to NOT gain weight on vacation

fineandhealty

Hello everyone!
I'm going on vacation for a full week tomorrow and even though I couldn't have been more excited I'm still dreading it a little bit. I tend to say "f**k it" when I'm away and I give in to the delicious food and unhealthy treats. My friends are not trying to lose weight either.

How do you usually manage this? I really need tips. I will be eating out a lot and also I can't work out when on vacation though I plan on walking everywhere.

My vacation is in Kreuzberg, Berlin so if any Berliner's have tips about healthy eating places or good food in German supermarket, that'd be great!

Stay strong peeps xo

DemoraFairy

I also tend to agree with the *kitten* it attitude. I've never found it to be too detrimental, especially if it's a holiday where you're going to be walking everywhere.

To demonstrate, here's my weight loss graph over 30 weeks. The spikes circled in red are where I went on holiday for a couple of weeks (yep, took the scales with me). As you can see I went up a lot, but immediately lost it and got back to where I was because the majority of it was water weight. And that was a holiday for a wedding, not only did we all stuff our faces on the wedding day itself, we also gorged on all the food left over for the next few days (it was all organised by my gran at the villa we were staying at so we had all the food). And we all spent most of each day lazing around on the beach rather than doing much walking. So yeah, I say enjoy your holiday!



Hopefully someone will be able to suggest some good places to go in Berlin, though!

jemhh

I eat while I want on vacation. Sometimes I eat big all day, sometimes I go for the salad. We went to Disney for a week. I gained 4 lbs. Got home on Saturday and it was gone Tuesday morning.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

I just got back from vacation. The wifi sucked where I was so I really had no choice but to not log. At first it bugged me, then I adopted the f*** it attitude and you know what? It was liberating! I didn't make a glutton out of myself but I did indulge a bit. I gained less than 2 lbs over my break and it was gone a week later. So my advice is to embrace the f*** it attitude and accept that you will gain a bit. Be okay with it, enjoy your vacation, move on.

Gska17

I'm going to Mexico soon for a week. I plan on eating and drinking All The Things (healthy options when available), not weighing in when I return home, and going straight back to tracking. Life's too short imo!

WinoGelato

GingerSka wrote: »

I'm going to Mexico soon for a week. I plan on eating and drinking All The Things (healthy options when available), not weighing in when I return home, and going straight back to tracking. Life's too short imo!

If you drink the water, it is likely you will have assistance in not gaining weight on vacation!

LAWoman72

We're going away this coming Sunday through Easter Sunday. I will absolutely eat out and have yummy things, but I'll be counting what I eat - coming as close as I can reasonably determine given the fact that many restaurants don't post NI - and realizing that I won't be coming in exactly, which I normally do when I'm at home.

Gska17

Kruggeri wrote: »

GingerSka wrote: »

I'm going to Mexico soon for a week. I plan on eating and drinking All The Things (healthy options when available), not weighing in when I return home, and going straight back to tracking. Life's too short imo!

If you drink the water, it is likely you will have assistance in not gaining weight on vacation!

HA!

Francl27

My last vacation, I still logged. Tried to be as active as possible (used the treadmill at the hotel, went for walks), tried to stick to the best choices at restaurants (was still a guesswork though), limited to one dessert a day... had a couple 'I don't give a f***' meal, and gained 4 pounds, 2 of which I lost right away (water weight), 2 that took me a couple months to lose... I ate 20% over my TDEE in average... We ate out every meal for a week, but I didn't snack.

My next vacation I'm planning to do the same but really try to eat at maintenance... we'll see how it goes...

RoxieDawn

Spit out the food... Nahhh I am just kidding..

Gosh if there is a magic bullet for this, I need to know...

ndj1979

when I go on vacation, I try to eat within my calorie limits but if I go over then it is no big deal.

Middle of April I am playing in a golf tournament and then going on a business trip the following week, so that will be about a week and a half where I won't be able to weight food and accurately log everything in. So, I will try to log it as best I can, and if I have some blow out days no big deal, because I will just be back on track when I get back in town...

so enjoy your vacation, log as accurately as possible, and if you have some blow out days, no big deal...

a healthy lifestyle should not restrict your ability to enjoy things like vacation, holidays, birthdays, etc....

rungirl1973

How often do you go to Berlin? If the answer is frequently, then by all means make healthy choices, track as close as you can, etc. If the answer is once in a lifetime, I would say enjoy all of the local fare and get back on track when you get home.

That's just my opinion. I'm not going to eat a salad or grilled chicken at a restaurant that's known for something that may be higher calorie if there's little chance I'll ever return in my lifetime. My last vacation was Hawaii, I ate a lot of fish and drank a lot of Mai Tais and pina coladas.

maxit

Be open to new sights, sounds, tastes and opportunities. Walk a lot. Savor what you eat and all your other experiences, too.

yirara

I'm traveling a lot for work, and I love vacationing. My advice:
- I do gain some water weight from flying and I read here that many other people do as well. Don't worry about it. It will go away again. Use a scale if you like when you return, but be prepared that it will show more due to water. Your weight will most likely go down in a few days
- don't go for buffet food as there's just sooo much to try and eat but order a la carte. Hey, a la carte food often is much better quality anyway. If you order a starter then don't take a desert, or the other way around.
- try to be active: walk around, sightseeing, explore the neighbourhood of your hotel or go swimming.
- just relax.

BioQueen

I still log - but I don't beat myself up about it if I am over. The main reason why it is important to me to not ignore my intake is because if I overeat, then I feel AWFUL, full, icky, etc., and that can make me sluggish doing all the things I want to do on vacation. If anything, I think that is motivation. I want to feel energized and ready to go to see and do all the fun things!

esjones12

Depends on the vacation and how long it is. Went to Mexico for a weekend and ate EVERYTHING in sight. Gained 5 pounds and lost it within a week-ish without even trying. On vacations where I can easily take food with me, I do. I pack my usual health-ier go to items that I know calories for and eat that food. I will usually indulge in dinner/drinks. But I make sure the rest of the day I'm eating stuff my body is used to and not going ALL OUT the entire vacation. It's what seems to work for me. I don't fret over a few pounds up cause they come off easily in the few weeks to follow. And it's not like I spend that much time on vacation.....

snowflakesav

Enjoy your holiday. You will walk it off.

Alassonde

My last vacation I indulged a lot, but we also walked all over the place (and sweated a lot, it was hot in Florida!). I also only went nuts for 1 meal a day instead of all 3. Managed to go a week without gaining weight.

holly55555

Just log as usual. Why do you need to change your eating habits when you're on vacation? Go over your goal if it's some special amazing meal and make up for it the rest of the week, just as you usually would.