Maintaining weight while eating out on vacation

cnjg420

any suggestions on how to maintain weight eating out 3 times a day for a week on vacation thanks for any help

arditarose

You know your maintenance calories. Eat that amount. Have you been tracking your food for awhile? You should be able to eye ball portions and make wise decisions if so.

Francl27

It proved to be impossible for me, lol. But I think it depends the most on what your breakfast options are. The hotels I typically stay at have mediocre food and I often end up eating more calories than I'd like in order to not be starving by 10am because I just can't stand cardboard oatmeal and 'fake' eggs, and breakfast is for me the most important meal of the day...

Otherwise... sauce on the side, grilled meat, no fried food... which is easy to say considering that 90% of the restaurants I ended up going to in vacations didn't have veggies substitution (only side salads, which I couldn't stand after 2 days) and typically only had sandwiches/burgers and salads. When they had 'grilled meat and veggies' options, it was twice the price of a burger/sandwich and fries...

The best bet is probably to stick to chains that have nutrition information, but that makes for very sad vacations (and again, the lighter menu is often 30% more expensive too). Or only eat half (doesn't work for me, I need volume). And avoid desserts unless it's a local specialty you never get to eat or something...

Honestly my last vacations were extremely stressful because of the food, and it totally sucked. I ended up giving up looking for places with healthier choices after 3 days because I didn't want to completely ruin my vacations... I ended up gaining 2 pounds, which could have been worse I guess (and that was still restricting myself and passing on dessert except a couple times, picking the 'less worse' option on the menu etc). There was no temporary water weight gain for me as I lost it all on the drive back (having to go to the bathroom every hour was SO MUCH FUN when driving 6 hours).

So my advice is to do the best you can and try to stay active (which I couldn't really do as my kids HATE walking and will basically ruin your day if you have to walk longer than 5 minutes somewhere).

californiagirl2012

It's hard on vacation as they serve too much food. My husband and I like to pick a main meal for the day and keep the others light or just snacks, and try to stay active with fun activities. Have fun!!!!

hgycta

Francl27 wrote: »

It proved to be impossible for me, lol. But I think it depends the most on what your breakfast options are. The hotels I typically stay at have mediocre food and I often end up eating more calories than I'd like in order to not be starving by 10am because I just can't stand cardboard oatmeal and 'fake' eggs, and breakfast is for me the most important meal of the day...

Otherwise... sauce on the side, grilled meat, no fried food... which is easy to say considering that 90% of the restaurants I ended up going to in vacations didn't have veggies substitution (only side salads, which I couldn't stand after 2 days) and typically only had sandwiches/burgers and salads. When they had 'grilled meat and veggies' options, it was twice the price of a burger/sandwich and fries...

The best bet is probably to stick to chains that have nutrition information, but that makes for very sad vacations (and again, the lighter menu is often 30% more expensive too). Or only eat half (doesn't work for me, I need volume). And avoid desserts unless it's a local specialty you never get to eat or something...

Honestly my last vacations were extremely stressful because of the food, and it totally sucked. I ended up giving up looking for places with healthier choices after 3 days because I didn't want to completely ruin my vacations... I ended up gaining 2 pounds, which could have been worse I guess (and that was still restricting myself and passing on dessert except a couple times, picking the 'less worse' option on the menu etc). There was no temporary water weight gain for me as I lost it all on the drive back (having to go to the bathroom every hour was SO MUCH FUN when driving 6 hours).

So my advice is to do the best you can and try to stay active (which I couldn't really do as my kids HATE walking and will basically ruin your day if you have to walk longer than 5 minutes somewhere).

I agree with all of this, unfortunately, the same thing seems to always happen to me (except I'll usually gain between 5-10 pounds which throws me off, guess I trust myself more than I should).

However, a few more recommendations I can make are these:
Breakfast - if you get an omelet see if they have egg whites available instead of regular. Order bacon over a heavier breakfast meat like sausage. Use a little jelly instead of a lot of butter on toast, and see if sugar free syrup is available if you get pancakes (or maybe top them with jelly and be ok with that if you can). Also, if it's there try to make your sides fresh fruit or low fat yogurts! Low fat milk is also a better bet than fruit juice since it has some protein and calcium and not just sugar. If you can handle it, black coffee is also a lifesaver for filling you up, or even coffee with a splash of milk (again, the calcium is nice and this will help to fill you more).
Lunch - depending on how breakfast went, you may not be hungry so ask yourself, are you eating because you're there or are you actually hungry? Make sure you've been drinking enough water and keep doing so throughout the day! Keep lunch light, maybe some soup (low sodium is always ideal but if it's not there then soup at least is low in calories, just watch out for that water weight) or a side salad (but don't get yourself sick from these, either).
Dinner - If burgers/sandwiches show up, always pass on the mayo and other high fat spreads. Cheese is healthy, but generally you can save quite a bit of calories by passing on the cheese since they generally use high fat slices with tons of sodium anyways. Try and choose veggies or fruit on the side instead of fries, or even a baked potato instead of fries if they have it available. Try to avoid ribs and other super calorically dense meats, and choose leaner stuff instead. If you get dessert, try to share it with someone and never eat the entire thing! If you're craving chocolate, hot chocolate is actually surprisingly satisfying and far less calories than a chocolate cake!
But just stay focused on hydration, staying active, and enjoying yourself! Don't drive yourself crazy obsessing over food but don't binge and hate yourself, either! Have fun!!!

myfitnesspale3

BBQ is excellent nutrition if you minimize the sweet sauces, forgo the buns and skip the high-carb sides like fries and corn. I love me some BBQ and coleslaw.

Francl27

myfitnesspale3 wrote: »

BBQ is excellent nutrition if you minimize the sweet sauces, forgo the buns and skip the high-carb sides like fries and corn. I love me some BBQ and coleslaw.

Coleslaw can be a calorie bomb if there is too much mayo too though!

Dootzy1

It's vacation. Enjoy it, but don't pig out. Make your calorie splurge choice about things you can't ordinarily have.
You will gain some on the scale, but not as much as you fear. This is your life. Make great choices.

ntagabtf

How much time before the vacation? You could preemptively diet.

I have a mini-vacation planned for May, so I'll be eating below my calories in the 2 weeks leading up to it. I assume I'll return with a jump in the scale. I lost the weight once, I can lose a couple of pounds of vacation weight no problem.

CrabNebula

ntagabtf wrote: »

How much time before the vacation? You could preemptively diet.

I have a mini-vacation planned for May, so I'll be eating below my calories in the 2 weeks leading up to it. I assume I'll return with a jump in the scale. I lost the weight once, I can lose a couple of pounds of vacation weight no problem.

This.

Francl27

ntagabtf wrote: »

How much time before the vacation? You could preemptively diet.

I have a mini-vacation planned for May, so I'll be eating below my calories in the 2 weeks leading up to it. I assume I'll return with a jump in the scale. I lost the weight once, I can lose a couple of pounds of vacation weight no problem.

Yeah it was my plan last year too, just didn't work out because I was too hungry, lol.