Vacation Tips

Jessyd76

Hi folks -

I'm going on a cruise to the Bahamas next weekend. While I'm planning on relaxing and enjoying the vacation, I'd like to do so with 0 weight gain. My plan so far is:

- Keep up with my gallon a day of water
- Log. I probably won't be hitting my macros, but at least I can watch my calorie intake.
- Plan on 2 workouts during the trip
- Limit alcohol... obviously no binge drinking. But when I am having a drink go with a martini, a glass of red wine, or a lite beer.
- Make the best choices I can with food... I'd rather splurge on a few drinks than dessert and rich foods. And do a protein shake for either a meal or snack each day.

Got any other suggestions?

Asher_Ethan

If you can keep up with all that, great! If you can't, just enjoy your vacation... You can come back full swing as soon as you get back.

I just went to Mexico for a week and anytime I ate anything I didn't finish it all; I would always leave just a little bit, that seemed to help.

eileensofianmushinfine

I came back from vegas this week. We were there for a week. I had my protein shake every morning and tried to keep up with drinking all of my water. When we ate dinner out we shared dessert. I did 3 cardio workouts during the week plus had over 10,000 steps most days. I came back 2.5 pounds up. Both my trainer and I think that's a win! Have fun. Keep your plan, but allow yourself to enjoy a bit.

Liftng4Lis

How bout you just be conscientious, use moderation, but most importantly, ENJOY YOUR VACATION!

Machka9

Swim, hike, rent a bicycle and go for a ride, walk or jog on the beach ... try to be active every day.

Kalikel

Sounds like a great plan to me! I think it's really smart of you to go in with a plan and not just say, "It's vacation! I'm eating everything!!"

That's lifestyle change.

Shells918

If your going to drink, drink. Dont waste calories or sugar on the virgin drinks. Have a good time! You sound well prepared !

Jessyd76

Thanks folks! Really appreciate the responses!!

Orphia

Good plan! Have a wonderful time!

RBracken34

I'm going to follow this... I have a vacation coming up and won't have internet access where we're going... for two weeks (what did we ever do without it?) and the food choices will be very different and everything will be in different measurements, so I'm just trying to be really aware of what certain portion sizes of things look like and trying to familiarize myself with the sorts of things I might be eating. Two weeks feels like too long not to at least try to keep up with things.

KateTii

It's fantastic that you have a plan in place, but I would like to give my holiday strategy...

I recently went on a 10 day holiday (my first in over 12 months) which involved no logging and no moderation (aka, ate and drank whatever I want). This was on a cruise ship (no internet - couldn't log) and involved stuff like double desserts, sugary cocktails and massive buffet breakfasts. On the first day back, the scale said +5kgs. After a couple of days allowing salt and water retention to come off, it turned out I only gained about 1.5kgs which came off quickly. The very next day after getting back, I was 100% straight back into it. I was refreshed, re-motivated and relaxed.

Now this won't work for everyone, but for me it meant I got to enjoy my holiday the way I wanted to. For me, holidays are my time to "let myself go" with food, and to cut that out, would not be a lifelong-maintainable goal.

z304

Plan out active activity possibilities ahead of time- this really helped me. Have a list of 'wake up and jog the empty ship decks early' 'swim laps under the stars' 'yoga classes these days' 'great recommended run at this point' (I made all these up, I know zero about cruises), etc. At night when you think about your next day, or in the morning when you think about that day (do you just do whatever all the time? or do you have a schedule?), think about what things would get you moving and sound fun.
& most importantly ENJOY!

fishcat123

Most cruises have a lot of good fruits and vegetables, so you will probably have some healthy options. Like others have said, I think that you should relax and enjoy your vacation, but not waste calories on high calorie food that you aren't excited about.

Machka9

I just came back from my 3-week holiday to Canada, and while I let myself go in terms of food ... I ate whatever I wanted to eat and did not log anything ... I kept the exercise up. Actually, I exercised more than usual because it is summer in Canada and I had the time.

And it's all good.

oh_happy_day

Sounds like you've got a plan! Stay active (plenty of swimming and walking), lots water and eat mindfully (i.e. don't restrict yourself from delicious holiday food & drinks but don't stuff yourself just because it's there). Like the pp's have said, you'll probably experience a jump on the scale from the sodium so don't panic if it happens.

Machka9

Machka9 wrote: »

I just came back from my 3-week holiday to Canada, and while I let myself go in terms of food ... I ate whatever I wanted to eat and did not log anything ... I kept the exercise up. Actually, I exercised more than usual because it is summer in Canada and I had the time.

And it's all good.

Here's my blog about my holiday.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Machka9/view/holiday-eating-755775

thereshegoesagain

While on the ship, take the stairs never the elevators. Have fun!

Jessyd76

Great tips folks!! Really appreciate them!

trulyjoyouswoman

When my sister and I do trips in a car we pack our own ice chest with healthy foods, snacks, beverages and water bottles to drink then we have picnics in beautiful places we see along the way and stretch our legs in a walk. We do have one super nice dinner out over the course of the weekend. This is also budget friendly. We were able to see more parks, museums and activities that we would have spent on more expensive less healthy fast food.

vivmom2014

Another vote for lots of swimming and walking.