Vacation Mindset
Rogstar
Posts: 216 Member
Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Vacation
Sorry if it gets long; I learned a lot about myself this last week and feel I need to get it out.
Last Wednesday (April 5th) I weighed in at 202.6 lbs. My short-term goal when I was ~218lbs in January (not my highest!) was to get down to Onederland before that day, since we were leaving for a vacation in Colorado. I obviously missed my goal.
Well…instead of getting upset (like I might have done in the past) I decided to let it go, and enjoy my vacation but still be peripherally aware of my intake/output. After all, I was near ovulation and I usually gain a little, or at least retain, weight for a few days. I had to remember that we were going out to visit friends that I hadn’t seen in years, and they weren’t going to care if I was 3 lbs higher than I had wanted to be! They just wanted to see ME!
I spent time hiking in the mountains, going for after dinner walks, and generally stayed very active. But I also drank a lot of beer and cocktails, went to a wedding and multiple breweries and bars, ate out for every meal, and had a weird sleeping pattern, getting 4-6 hours a night with a nap midday. So, I figured it was a wash, and I’d get back to it when I got home. Every day, my tracking involved getting pretty specific with my breakfasts, but by the afternoon I’d just add a note in my diary like “I’m on vacation, and ate burgers, sweet potato fries and shawarma. Delicious!”
I came back yesterday after 6 days, and this morning weighed in. Today I was 199.2lbs. I was absolutely shocked. I figured that I’d at least retain water from all the sodium from eating out, or from travel, or even from an elevation change.
But looking back, I see what might have happened. Like I said, I was ovulating, so I probably naturally lost weight afterwards. But, I also did not snack once. I only ate full meals, and even though we ate out for around 15 meals, I never finished everything, nor did I bring the leftovers back. Sure, I had a beef burger on brioche with blue cheese, but I probably only ate half of it. Sure, I had a plate of Mongolian Beef with a spring roll and soup, but it was only a Lunch portion, and I had it after a 4 mile hike through a rocky state park. Sure, I drank way more alcohol this week than I’m used to (so maybe some dehydration?), but I realize now that I only had an average of 2 drinks a day, and other than that, I didn’t drink anything else other than water. I had no fast food (except a Burger King breakfast at the airport on the way back), so we sat and enjoyed local fare and great company. I truly enjoyed every meal I ate, and found it easy to stop when I was satisfied.
Also, I never have stayed so active on a vacation before. I kept wanting to go out and see more! I had so much more energy this time than I have in the past and just wanted to walk. Something that I have taken away from this vacation is that I need to get out and hit local trails more often. So much more interesting than a treadmill, or walking around the house!
So, I guess I’m just posting this to encourage anyone out there who might be stressing about an upcoming vacation. Enjoy it! You might gain, you might lose, or you might stay the same. You might learn something about yourself that you can use in the future! You don’t necessarily have to stick your every-day diet plan if you don’t want to, just eat what you need to, stay active, and make the most of your time away from the ordinary! If things don’t go the way you want them to, then don’t despair. Just pick yourself up when you get back! One week, or one vacation cannot derail months or years of hard work, unless you let it.
If you got through it, thanks for reading guys…now I need to find a new goal for the summer months!
Sorry if it gets long; I learned a lot about myself this last week and feel I need to get it out.
Last Wednesday (April 5th) I weighed in at 202.6 lbs. My short-term goal when I was ~218lbs in January (not my highest!) was to get down to Onederland before that day, since we were leaving for a vacation in Colorado. I obviously missed my goal.
Well…instead of getting upset (like I might have done in the past) I decided to let it go, and enjoy my vacation but still be peripherally aware of my intake/output. After all, I was near ovulation and I usually gain a little, or at least retain, weight for a few days. I had to remember that we were going out to visit friends that I hadn’t seen in years, and they weren’t going to care if I was 3 lbs higher than I had wanted to be! They just wanted to see ME!
I spent time hiking in the mountains, going for after dinner walks, and generally stayed very active. But I also drank a lot of beer and cocktails, went to a wedding and multiple breweries and bars, ate out for every meal, and had a weird sleeping pattern, getting 4-6 hours a night with a nap midday. So, I figured it was a wash, and I’d get back to it when I got home. Every day, my tracking involved getting pretty specific with my breakfasts, but by the afternoon I’d just add a note in my diary like “I’m on vacation, and ate burgers, sweet potato fries and shawarma. Delicious!”
I came back yesterday after 6 days, and this morning weighed in. Today I was 199.2lbs. I was absolutely shocked. I figured that I’d at least retain water from all the sodium from eating out, or from travel, or even from an elevation change.
But looking back, I see what might have happened. Like I said, I was ovulating, so I probably naturally lost weight afterwards. But, I also did not snack once. I only ate full meals, and even though we ate out for around 15 meals, I never finished everything, nor did I bring the leftovers back. Sure, I had a beef burger on brioche with blue cheese, but I probably only ate half of it. Sure, I had a plate of Mongolian Beef with a spring roll and soup, but it was only a Lunch portion, and I had it after a 4 mile hike through a rocky state park. Sure, I drank way more alcohol this week than I’m used to (so maybe some dehydration?), but I realize now that I only had an average of 2 drinks a day, and other than that, I didn’t drink anything else other than water. I had no fast food (except a Burger King breakfast at the airport on the way back), so we sat and enjoyed local fare and great company. I truly enjoyed every meal I ate, and found it easy to stop when I was satisfied.
Also, I never have stayed so active on a vacation before. I kept wanting to go out and see more! I had so much more energy this time than I have in the past and just wanted to walk. Something that I have taken away from this vacation is that I need to get out and hit local trails more often. So much more interesting than a treadmill, or walking around the house!
So, I guess I’m just posting this to encourage anyone out there who might be stressing about an upcoming vacation. Enjoy it! You might gain, you might lose, or you might stay the same. You might learn something about yourself that you can use in the future! You don’t necessarily have to stick your every-day diet plan if you don’t want to, just eat what you need to, stay active, and make the most of your time away from the ordinary! If things don’t go the way you want them to, then don’t despair. Just pick yourself up when you get back! One week, or one vacation cannot derail months or years of hard work, unless you let it.
If you got through it, thanks for reading guys…now I need to find a new goal for the summer months!
8
Replies
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glad you had a great vacation!0
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I have had the same experience, and I've even taken it a step further by replacing the dieting mindset with the vacation mindset. Works great. For the first time in my life I'm not worrying over my weight.0
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kommodevaran wrote: »I have had the same experience, and I've even taken it a step further by replacing the dieting mindset with the vacation mindset. Works great. For the first time in my life I'm not worrying over my weight.
That's incredible. I want to get there, but every time in the last few years that I held up a little and tried not worrying about my weight, I gained. Then I would mentally let myself go, and gain more. I'm currently about 40lbs down from my highest, and I feel like I can incorporate more of this vacation mindset soon. I truly believe that I can get to a healthy weight by eating what I want, just less of it. I also want to make sure this loss is not a fluke!0 -
The last vacation I took was for the purposes of a 50 mile bike ride and a hike. The two before that were to cross country ski. I always come back from a vacation weighing less than I did when I left. For me, the vacation mindset is "I'm in a beautiful place, I'd rather be outdoors enjoying it than in the kitchen."0
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Last year I went away for two weeks and didn't track a single morsel, didn't restrict anything if I wanted it. But I'm also just used to eating less now so I couldn't cram all of the things in, despite me having an extensive list of things I wanted to try! Came back with a 2lb gain. I can totally live with that.
I'm off again on Monday for two weeks and have actually stopped tracking as of Monday this week but again, I am so habitual now I am mentally clocking up calories and making decisions that won't lead to weight gain. When Go away I won't do this but I'll also be 1000 times more active than I am at home.
A holiday is for enjoyment for me, not eyeballing and logging that delicious thing I just want to enjoy in the surroundings.
When I get back there will be a date I start tracking again, having a fixed day helps me just pick up my good habits where I left off.
I don't understand those that religiously track every morsel whilst away but then I guess they probably don't understand how I don't!0 -
I just booked a week in Barbados. I am so nervous about gaining while I am gone. I think because I have worked so hard, i "think" I will come back 10 lbs heavier or something. Mathematically that would be almost impossible - like 51k calories in a week!!! I am totally expecting sodium/water weight gain.
How do you keep yourself sane while preparing for a trip!0
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