Weekend away - to track or not to track?

fraukazi

Alright, so I have a fun weekend back home coming up and am not sure how to best approach it in order to enjoy, not over do on calories and also not have to tell everyone about my new eating habits. Any tips appreciated.

Here is what will happen: a wedding, a birthday and a family gathering, all on different days on a long weekend. All will involve some alcohol and plenty of food. I will most probably only fit in one run and otherwise mostly drive rather than walk my 10,000 steps.

Now, I thought about 3 options:
a) not track the three event days at all and get back to it afterwards. That means already breaking my streak, which has only been two weeks so far. And also the risk of completely going over board with my fav local foods

b) track as much as possible, acknowledging that i'll go over and run the risk of get demotivated because of it - for now i'm ok with giving myself some room for going over as i don't track all my walking on mfp and i'm just getting back into the habit of tracking, not snacking

c) track up to the events start on each day and make sure i don't over eat /chose healthy until then and enjoy the afternoon/evenings

Staying within my limit will not be possible - 1200cals will probably be just the starter and dessert at the wedding. I also don't want to have conversations with people I haven't seen in a while about not feeding my well-known sweet tooth.

Ugh, i've only just started tracking calories again and don't have any progress to show yet (which is absolutely expected). At the same time many people won't necessarily notice my weight gain in the first place given my outfit choices and would just say "you don't need it, have some fun".

So if you actually read til here, any tips on navigating food, relatives and friends or ensuring to get back into it without too much guilt would be much appreciated.
MrsK xx

malibu927

B, while aiming for maintenance as much as you can. For special occasions I care less about hitting my calories and more about celebrating and spending time with loved ones. You’re always going to run into birthdays and holidays and have to decide what will help you be the least miserable. It’s not just about losing weight, it’s about learning how to handle things even when you reach your goal.

rainbow198

We are all different, but for me planning (as best as I can) and tracking my food everyday helps me to stay on track and it helps to keep the weight off.

I do have balance though. I still enjoy food and treats that I like, but I stay in control and I don't overeat. I stay active by using the hotel's gym, using Youtube workouts in my room, walking to destinations etc.

When I was losing weight I'd have little hacks like maybe not drinking calories or eating light the earlier part of the day and enjoy one big dinner with dessert.

When I return home I usually gain a couple of pounds of water weight from extra sodium and traveling, but it goes away after a couple of days.

It feels great to not have to "get back on the wagon" too.

Good luck!

mbaker566

i aim for maintenance. and vacation is usually active for me so it works out to eat a little more

fraukazi

Thank you for your responses!
I think i'll try a mix of what you suggested. After all, i have three days and can approach each dau differently. I'll track on day one and see how I get on.
And by the time i'm on my way home, i can always skip a dinner for a bigger deficit or walk a little more.
Thanks pals