Travel and Holidays

robingmurphy

In the past when I've lost weight, either travel or a holiday threw me off and afterward I found it very difficult to get back on course for weeks or months. And tomorrow I'm leaving for a trip to Florida for Christmas. Help! How do I approach this differently this time? I think in the past the stress of trying to make healthy choices and stick to a moderate calorie goal in an unfamiliar environment and inevitably failing resulted in me having a "I ruined my diet - screw it!" mentality and binging more than I might have otherwise. Then when I got back from the trip u felt like a failure and had trouble getting the motivation to start up again and re-lose the pounds I just put back on. What's a better way?

ABabilonia

My philosophy for trips and vacations is just to let myself go (within moderation) and resume my routine once I'm back home. Unfortunately trips and vacations have too many unknowns that make keeping track extremely hard (yet not impossible). What you can do is manage your calories wisely. If you know that you will have a relatively heavy lunch then try to have a light breakfast and dinner. Even if you go to restaurants you can have salads or light meals. Try not to let a few days of failing off the wagon ruin your motivation and/or your long term goals. New Year is coming, New Year, new you, good luck.

Lillymoo01

My approach will be to enjoy myself, my company AND my food. I won't go with the I can't have .... because I am watching my weight mentality. If something looks good, and I think it is worth the calories then I will eat it, just a small serving rather than a large one. I will try to stick with eating at meals only and not snack during other times which will be the biggest challenge. I won't be weighing food but I will guesstimate as best as possible. I also plan to be active. Nice summer weather by the beach gives plenty of opportunities for walking and swimming.

I will be gone for one week only and my weight will reflect what I do the remaining 51 weeks not just this one.

robingmurphy

Thank you for your thoughts - they're very helpful. It sounds like in the past I've gotten off track by focusing a loton trying to meet calorie or health goals on vacation or over a holiday rather than putting most of my energy into getting back on track. That's something I can do differently this time.

WhereIsPJSoles

I now look at trips as like practice for when I no longer feel the need to log. Just trying my best to eat at maintenance without actively having to look at the numbers. Also, I always set a date for when I’m going back to logging/deficit. Not always the day I come back, I might give myself a few more days to return to normal, but once the date is set it’s set and I can’t act like I didn’t know it was coming.

Blythmag

Quit the snacks and enjoy yaself, instead of fries have salad with whatever, diet drinks, walk as much as you can.limit the damage in truth then get straight back on it on return

Skipjack66

I just got back from a vacation to Florida myself. I did log and *sort of* keep to maintenance the first few days. By the second week I stopped logging and just enjoyed myself. I didn’t go hog wild though. I had a beer when I wanted to, ate some sweets when I wanted to, and ordered what I wanted in the restaurants. I walked, biked and swam A LOT. This helped.

I put on a few pounds. When I got home I took an extra two days to start logging again, then buckled down hard to lose what I’d gained. Mission accomplished, plus an extra pound for good measure. Clingy Christmas sweater - I’m ready for you!

You can do it too. Have fun, just don’t go totally overboard, and get back to dieting just like you start back to your work/school/regular routine.