Weight Loss While Travelling?

kristysmith477

Hi everyone,
I'm heading off to backpack through Europe for this summer, which I'm super excited for! At the same time, I'm in a routine with my eating and I'm worried about falling off track. I do plan to do a good amount of walking and bring healthy snacks with me, but I'd love any additional advice or tips on how to maintain weight loss (or at least not gain weight) while travelling.
Thanks!

CarvedTones

Log everything, even if you can't get it online right away. write it down if you have to. Stay in a deficit.

ccsernica

If you're backpacking, I very much doubt you'll have problems losing weight. You won't just be walking, you'll be walking while carrying a load, and doing that all day burns a LOT of calories. https://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/how-many-calories-do-you-burn-backpacking

Courtscan2

Just try to log as much as you can, aiming for maintenance is a good plan. Try to eat a light, healthy breakfast (more plain yogurt with fruit, less croissants) so you have more wiggle room for the rest of the day, and most of all - have a blast and don't worry about it too much!!

motivatedmartha

Make the best food choices you can for most of the time, lots of fruit n veg, avoid dressings and learn to pass up on the cakes and pastries. But also allow yourself occasional treats to celebrate the cuisine of where you are. Walking, sightseeing etc will see you at least maintaining if not losing, providing you don't eat everything on offer Enjoy!

db34fit69

I don't know where you are traveling, but in case you eat breakfast, this is where you can really make some delicious low-calorie choices. In Germany and Austria, hotel/hostel breakfast usually has loads of cold cut meats, vegetables, müsli, and yogurt, which make for a filling, high-protein, low calorie option if you choose. Italy, for instance, is tougher, as most breakfast is pastries, cakes, and jam, so you might want to buy some yogurt to keep in your room fridge and slice up some fruits into it.

For lunch, you'll be walking around a lot so probably can budget in some higher-calorie local food, but there are always lower-calorie meals available like broiled meats and vegetables. Most places have some kind of soup and salad. Things like filled wraps are now trendy everywhere. You can also go for a Döner Kebab all around Europe, these are pretty filling and not outrageously bad for you if you're active during the day (probably 700 calories). You can also order these with just vegetables, which would drastically reduce the calories.

If you go through Germany, try to pick up some Handkäse (cheese) which I find tastes amazing, and its nutrition stats are fantastic. It only has around 1% fat but 30% protein per 100g (as much as chicken breast). You can get it with caraway seeds, and it comes in packages of 4 small round 50 g pieces. Perfect for snacking!

If you are going around hostels, you will probably be cooking dinner there, hopefully meeting other travelers. So for dinner you can keep up your usual meal plans and substitute in some local ingredients into your favorite recipes.

Drinks:
Of course alcohol-free beer isn't as good as the real stuff, but a bottle is only around 60 calories instead of 140 and is great for hot summer days when you're sweating. You can also halve your calories when drinking wine by ordering a wine spritzer (Weinschorle in german, dont know in other places) which is half wine and half mineral water. Same thing with juices, instead of a regular juice or a soda, get half and half (Schorle in german, again, dunno about other languages). Tastes better anyway and you can order interesting juices with it, like rhubarb, cherry, or passionfruit.

Have fun!

mkculs

I spent a month in Europe doing a ton of walking -- and weighed exactly the same when I got home. I was ok with that; had a fabulous time and enjoyed the food I had. My son and I would say, with every meal, "This is the best [whatever] I've ever had!" Then one day my son said, "You know, Mom, maybe all the food tastes so good because we are always starving by the time we eat." Ha, was he ever right! But it was so nice to be so active and enjoy meals so much, and NOT worry about gaining weight.

I'd honestly say that the one thing I could have done to show a weight loss over the course of that month would have been to skip desserts. I ate 2 a day (lunch and dinner). But, as I said, I have NO REGRETS!

Enjoy your time abroad.

cwolfman13

When I back packed Europe I ate all of the food and also drank quite a bit...lost 8 Lbs that I really didn't have to lose.

Typically when I'm traveling in any capacity, I eat my meals and rarely snack and I'm on the move most of the time. Weight gain while traveling has never been an issue except one time when we were at a resort and basically did nothing besides eat and drink and hang out on the beach everyday. Even then, I gained a couple of actual Lbs and that was it.

tbright1965

Spent 3 weeks in Italy in 2012. Only had a car the middle week and even that was just to drive to whatever town we were visiting in Tuscany and then walking around all day.

We had gelato and a pizza margherita everyday. Both my wife and I returned weighing the same or less than what we weighed before we left.

We certainly didn't starve. If anything, not being at home with things to snack upon helped immensely.

kristysmith477

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for your advice! The link to how many calories you burn backpacking was really eye-opening, I had no idea backpacking burned so many. Thank you all so so much

elisa123gal

I did not backpack..but spent 14 days in Rome.. i walkedall day...ate what i wanted and didn't gain. You should be fine. I will say I don't binge eat ..i just ate normal meals..but didn't stick to any calories or restricted foods.

peaceout_aly

kristysmith477 wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I'm heading off to backpack through Europe for this summer, which I'm super excited for! At the same time, I'm in a routine with my eating and I'm worried about falling off track. I do plan to do a good amount of walking and bring healthy snacks with me, but I'd love any additional advice or tips on how to maintain weight loss (or at least not gain weight) while travelling.
Thanks!

Hi! Frequent world traveler here! Just got back from a 16-day trek through Italy and my concern was maintenance and not losing all the muscle that I worked hard to pack on. You want to enjoy the food that each country or city has to offer, but not go over your calorie intake. Totally attainable! Protein bar for breakfast, prep for lunch (something easy to pack in a Tupperware like egg whites and ground turkey, grilled chicken and veggies, something along those lines). For dinner, enjoy what you wish (within means). Give yourself a limit on splurging on alcohol and desserts. For me this was easy because I have a nut allergy so I wasn't able to safely eat any desserts on my stay. I opted for espresso or sambuca instead while everyone else indulged. If you're concerned about going out to eat, a good basis is to get grilled meat and veggies. Avoid heavy pastas, tons of bread or fried food. Most of all, enjoy your trip! Sounds like a once in a lifetime experience.

psychod787

cwolfman13 wrote: »

When I back packed Europe I ate all of the food and also drank quite a bit...lost 8 Lbs that I really didn't have to lose.

Typically when I'm traveling in any capacity, I eat my meals and rarely snack and I'm on the move most of the time. Weight gain while traveling has never been an issue except one time when we were at a resort and basically did nothing besides eat and drink and hang out on the beach everyday. Even then, I gained a couple of actual Lbs and that was it.

Yep, my experience as well backpacking Europe. Walk a lot. The local food is usually pretty good. Avoid the crappy Americanized places! LOL Just be careful in Amsterdam...... just saying!