Going on holiday - taking a break from weight loss

dortilolma

Me and my fiancee are heading to my home country for a holiday next week and food is always such a large part of my visits there (mostly because it's amazing and I can't get it where I live).

Now I don't want to go crazy but I still want to enjoy the great dishes and restaurants from my childhood.

How would you guys handle this? Throw caution to the wind and just enjoy myself and not log calories? Or maybe still log but raise to maintenance calories as opposed to weight loss?

I just want to avoid feeling guilty about eating over but I also want to be able to relax and enjoy myself while we're away.

jamielynas

on the 15th I'm going on an all inclusive holiday to a 4 star hotel in Spain, there's a 24 hour buffet and the chances of me logging ANYTHING are absolutely nil cause AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FO' DAT!

PosterPens

enjoy your holiday and break for sure! but be mindful of what cals are going in/out, since this isnt just a few months/years deal, its a lifetime change of awareness and consistency.

jennifer_417

I've got a 15-day cruise to Hawaii booked in October. I plan to eat all the things, hit the gym, and do damage control when I get home. I don't even want to worry about it while on vacation!

WalkingMermaid_

Maintenance calories sounds good, try to do some walking and/or swimming whilst you're on holiday. Or you could just take a break from logging and just resume your routine when you return, and not weighing yourself for a few weeks so everything balances out again.

The most important thing is, that you enjoy your holiday

cityjaneLondon

I often find that, although I eat delicious food on holiday I don't put that much on because I'm more active, walking a lot etc. Also, the more delicious the food, the less I need to binge on rubbish because my head is happy and satisfied. I find eating a little of things works for me, so I have had all the delicious things, but not stuffed myself.
Relax and have a great time.:flowerforyou:

kirstyfairhead

Enjoy your holiday but if it were me I would still keep an eye on those cals. You can easy put on a good few pounds in a weeks and it takes me so much work to get them of,f I would be very unhappy to come back and have to spend the next six weeks just losing holiday fat.

For me, maintenance cals would be the way to go but I would probably guesstimate more (assuming you are any good at guessing) rather than logging religiously, you are on holiday after all!!!

Sjenny5891

Every time we visit with the inlaws I have to plan some extra exercise to burn off the extra calories. Go for an evening walk or something.
Just don't go too overboard or you will be disappointed when you get back.

Lysander666

Just enjoy your time off.

I'm obsessive about logging stuff but I'm going to Turkey in a month including my honeymoon in Istanbul, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to eat and drink what the hell I like.

FattieBabs

just log in 2500 a day! And cut when you get back

runningjen74

I'm going on honeymoon in 7 weeks. I have no intention of counting calories.

But I generally prefer nutrient dense food, I get far less headaches, have more get up and go. I fully expect myself to naturally want healthier choices. I will have a glass of wine, maybe a pint of guinness, but as for food, I just do better if I only have it occasionally. We will be staying in a hotel, for 2 nights, with a Michelin Star restaurant - I will be tasting just about everything that's put near me....But tasting. We're trying to balance places with super restaurants, with going more casual - the casual days I'll be eating lighter to save my tummy for the fancier meals.

We're traveling around, I have every intention of getting some nice cycles in (weather permitting), cliff walks, bit of sea swimming.... I will, if there's a gym in some of the hotels try and get in 2+ weight training sessions a week. but if there isn't, I certainly am not stressing about it. But within a week of coming back I plan on meeting my trainer, getting my measurements (calipers) done and starting off with a new base line and setting myself my next new challenge.

All about balance - but I'll be scheduling my self in before I go away so I know what my new baseline is and not avoiding it! I won't be near my final target before we go away, and that's fine. I'm just continuing on what I've been doing last 4-6 months and will continue back when I'm home.

jamiemommy

we are going back to America (I live in UK now) and I know what you mean about eating food from your youth and I was debating whether or not to log as well. I think I will a bit but only to keep tabs that I don't end up eating 3000 calories, even though the chance of that is slim anyway (hopefully lol). Plus I'll keep a pedometer in my pocket and just log the calories from there. I won't be strict like I am at home and won't deny myself carbs or anything like I do here, but I will be conscious of it still. It's to each there own though, so what you feel is right for you. I have also just started though and don't think I've been at it long enough to give myself total freedom;)

aloranger7708

on the 15th I'm going on an all inclusive holiday to a 4 star hotel in Spain, there's a 24 hour buffet and the chances of me logging ANYTHING are absolutely nil cause AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FO' DAT!

This. I wouldn't bother logging. You can semi-monitor your food intake and TRY to make healthy choices, but if eating all that homestyle food is something you WANT to do, then do it. You might gain a few pounds but it's nothing you can't lose again. If that'll make you happy and enjoy your trip, then eat what you want

papillon71

Hi there, I started my journey in January 2013. In early March I went on a weeks holiday to Paris and was unable to be online to log my foods, I was determined not to gain weight on my hols, so even though in hotels and eating out I made healthy choices, I have learned that no matter where you are there is always a healthy option. I also did lots of walking. I just knew a week of going off track could really blow me out.

I believe that to succeed in weight loss it has to be seen as an EVERY DAY lifestyle change, not a restricted diet that you can throw away when it suits. That's just what is working for me this time after years of failed attempts.

I would try to stay on healthy foods, if you do have a fav comfort food have a very small portion, keep up the water intake, that can help shift the pounds, try to be active. I no longer have the attitude of "I am going on holiday and to enjoy myself I need to throw out the healthy eating" I used to, on one holiday I gained about 6kg in 3 weeks, horrendous.

I am on holiday again to a beachside location in August, and again, not going to throw all the hard work away. Holiday, have fun, make healthy choices and you will be fine.

I actually lost 1.5lbs on the week I was away in Paris, much to my shock.

papillon71

@jamielynas, in response to your comment about the buffet eating.

I did the week in the hotel thing with buffet and found for all meals there were healthy choices available, did not log as couldn't as not online and did not want to be doing it, but did make healthy buffet choices, small portions, avoiding the naughty stuff and managed to lose weight on that week. It can be done :-) And I still had a blast on my holiday. Did not feel deprived.

DorisInTheDena

Just got back from a 7 day cruise last Sunday. I took the stairs on the ship. I walked every day. I wore my Fitbit. I ate things I never eat at home but tried to be careful. I gained three pounds. Hit the gym hard this week and lost it all. Enjoy your holiday! Just be careful.

Athena53

Mindful eating is still the key. What dish do you miss the most when you're not in your home country? Well, of course you'll enjoy that, no matter how calorie-laden it is, but it doesn't have to be every day, every meal. Sit, relax, enjoy it, stop when you're full, then balance it out with a meal of leaner food. What's important is setting some limits. You're going to enjoy reasonable quantities of A, B and C but you're not going to just shrug, say, "Hey, I'm on vacation" and eat everything you see. Enjoy it all but take small portions. Staying physically active is also important.

Are there any forms of your favorite food you can take home with you? I know there are very strict laws about bringing plants and meat from one country to another, and you don't want to check things in your bag that might spoil on the trip, but what about favorite spices, or things that are vacuum-packed in foil or plastic? Knowing you'll have the opportunity to enjoy them at home may help you to exercise restraint while you're there.

Francl27

I wouldn't log, just because it doesn't matter and you won't know how much you're eating anyway. I'd try and let yourself indulge once a day, and try and be good the rest of the time, and be active.

healthytanya1

I have a vacation planned to my home town at the end of August and I'm already dreaming of all the places I want to eat at. I do have a hike planned. So I'm thinking maybe to fit in a few active things during the day and eat and drink at night. Hopefully it will balance out. And even if I gain a lb or 2 I think it will be worth it to have fun with my family and friends.

dortilolma

Thanks folks - I think your all right, I'm going to try and enjoy myself and eat the food I love.
That being said I'll probably still track the food, mostly at guesstimates and try and not eat too many delicious treats.

FattieBabs

Just an update. I had a two week holiday, ate and drank what I wanted, did a lot of watersports. Gained 4 pounds but it took just over 2 weeks to knock that off and I am now lower than my pre-holiday weight. I think giving my body a break did no harm at all!

jen_zz

Going to Tokyo soon for a week. I will still try to log, at least quick add the calories to see around how much I'm intaking. Kinda scared!

mazdauk

We had a short break in April and I set to maintenance and tried to track my foods (but did end up with more than I'd intended), but we did do a lot of walking so, with a bit of help from norovirus when we returned:sick: I didn't gain.

Its now less than 2 weeks to our summer vacation in the Netherlands, and I know there's going to be plenty of beer, cheese, pancakes etc. which it would be rude not to eat My husband has insisted he's going to get me out on a bike (OK I've not ridden one for 35 years:huh: ), and we do tend to do some extra walking and so on, so I'm going to set to maintenance and do my best to log (but I'm not taking a food scale with me).

lets see what I come back like

alisonlynn1976

I ate whatever I wanted on vacation. I found that I wanted smaller portions than I would have before, which is great! I was up a few pounds when I got home, as I expected, but now a week after getting home, I'm only one pound above my lowest. So no big deal, and I enjoyed my vacation!

Siegel15

TIMELY thread!!!!
I am off to London (again) for a week in August and I am terrified of gaining back all my extremely hard earned loss!

All good advice above. I expect to gain a little, but I want to keep it to no more than a kilo and a half to two(3-4 pounds). That will be easy to lose quickly when I get home. I plan to be very careful what I eat AND I plan to take my food scale with me to keep me accountable.
I know that may be a bit over the top but I just do not want to gain. It's so hard to lose now at 57. It's so dang much work!