Vacation strategies

FitAgainBy55

It's going to be a tough spring/summer staying on track. I have a lot of vacation time to spend and now that my wife and I are vaccinated we will likely travel a lot to catch up.

I recently went on a short vacation (long weekend trip, 4 days total). My goal when I go on vacations is generally just to avoid gaining any weight. What are your strategies for dealing with vacation and the uncomfortable (sometimes water, sometimes a little fat) weight gain afterwards ?

My approach:

1. Food ... same as at home (no special diet) I just eat less of what I want or whatever everyone else is eating.
2. I do continue to log guesses for my calories with the goal of eating at or below maintenance.
3. Skip breakfast unless everyone else is going out to eat breakfast. I do this to make room for larger meals. I know a lot of people will disagree with this but this has worked well for me over the years. I use breakfast as a regulator. If I over eat for dinner, I'll often reduce calories on my next meal.
4. Walk everywhere possible.
5. Pick family outings that are active: hiking, kayaking etc..
6. I get up early in the morning and exercise before my family is awake.
7. Don't weigh myself for 2 or 3 days after returning -- let the water weight settle.

I survived without major setbacks. But now I have to do it again 2 weeks later for a longer trip.

BTW, I waited longer to weigh in because a couple days after I got back I got my first vaccine dose and decided to delay weigh in even longer due to that. Here's what happened with my weight:

Lietchi

I'm currently on vacation for a week. We're renting a house and restaurants are closed (except takeaway) so I'm pretty much doing the same things as at home.

But last time I was 'truly' on holiday:
- I had a good breakfast each day (but not excessive)
- a light lunch or just a snack, or simply nothing
- a restaurant meal, often 2 or 3 courses, or a homecooked meal if we were renting a house and felt like cooking ourselves
All logged as well as I could: I have a portable/foldable scale, which I'd use for non restaurant meals, or even at restaurants if I thought it wouldn't be noticed; guestimates for the rest. And I tried to stay within maintenance calories, on average.
My holiday included a lot of walking (hiking or walking around in interesting towns and cities), so that gave me some leeway to enjoy the local foods. French food, hard to resist 😁

I've been known to skip breakfast for other high calorie occasions, but it really doesn't work well for me while on holiday: it's a lot easier to eat a good filling breakfast wherever we're staying and pack something light for 'on the road' or during our hike if we get a bit hungry. I don't get really hungry during hikes anyway.

My weigh-ins were peculiar last time, since I lost weight on holiday, and then gained it back in the following weeks. Some strange water retention phenomenon, I think, since it corrected itself after a few weeks.

I do wonder about my struggle to let go while on holiday: packing my scale to continue my weigh-ins, carrying a food scale with me everywhere and still logging my foods. I'm still in weight loss mode now, but I'll need to think about some strategies to cope with holidays when I'm in maintenance. Holiday weight gain was the very start of my weight gain journey to obesity, so I don't want to get myself in trouble again that way.

Theo166

I think you have a great strategy, you are being active but not sacrificing some enjoyment of the vacation.

I would only add 'stocking up on some healthy snacks' to take with you. If I'm not famished, I'm more sane when I order off the menu of a great restaurant. I make smarter choices.

nooshi713

Those are all good strategies. I aim to eat at maintenance and log as best I can although it can be difficult when eating at restaurants.

I also tend to be active on vacation and burn more. I avoid alcohol.

ninerbuff

While I don't vacation a lot, I will ALWAYS workout and usually I'll either book at a hotel with a gym or I'll find a gym I can buy a week's worth of visits. As for food, I just make sure that I still count as best as I can and order food that I'm familiar with. Desserts are my downfall though on most vacations. I don't drink so that's never been an issue.

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MsCzar

Maybe not vacation (yet) - but sometimes I work all week in places where all meals are provided. Not only are the meals tasty restaurant fare, but needing to keep to a busy project schedule makes eating a somewhat 'now-or-never' event. For example, If I skip the provided breakfast to save calories, hours later, there might be something I don't much like provided for lunch... or I might be too busy to eat lunch at all. So I've learned to enjoy every meal and not worry much about the calories that week.

That does NOT mean a full-out binge. But rather what I euphemistically term 'generous maintenance.'
I continue to log calories every day, but don't weigh my foods. I also don't sweat precise calorie counts. For example, '4 Toll House Cookies' (500 cals) is pretty much my go-to listing for every dessert - even if that dessert is apple pie or cheesecake.

I make sure to get plenty of sleep and don't eat after 7pm. I avoid the scale for a full week after resuming calorie-deficit eating and regular exercise schedule. If after a week back on track and my weight stays the same or moves 2-3 pounds in either direction, I'm still a happy camper.

33gail33

I usually lose weight on vacation. If I am not working I usually eat breakfast mid morning, and end up only having 2 meals instead of three. If I'm at my cottage I am kayaking, biking and doing work around the place - if we are vacationing out of the country we are usually swimming, snorkeling, hiking, zip lining and doing active stuff every day. It is in the winter when I am stuck in the house and sitting around more that I gain more weight - boredom eating and less activity.

AnnPT77

I usually eat indulgently on vacation. If it's a week or so a year, even a couple of times a year, it's really NBD. On my most extreme days, I tend to top out at 2-2.5 times my TDEE, and that's not a thing I'd do every day, day after day. It's improbable that I'd gain more than around 3 pounds, in a week; I know how to lose that if necessary . . . and out-of-pattern eating, IME, tends to result in less weight gain than the math would suggest. I do try to include some activity even during inherently sedentary vacations (like crafts workshops), because I start to feel like cr*p when too inactive for too long.

Many of my longer vacations have been rowing camps, which tend to have Really Good food, and plenty of it. I eat freely, and quite a lot, but with maybe 5 hours of rowing and often some other activities (walking decent distances to/from stuff, yoga sessions, machine or rowing tank coaching, maybe strength training, etc.), that's always worked out pretty close to maintaining.

wunderkindking

It's 1 out of 52 weeks. I log loosely and do what I want. When I have kitchen facilities my eating habits don't change. When I'm eating out I keep most of my general habits (skip dressing on salad, don't do the 'side' item at fast food, whatever) and I'm more active due to the nature of my vacations.

But I also don't give a single crap how close to or far over my calories I am.

It's a week. I'm pretty established.

yirara

I'm maintaining and not losing. Thus I just try to eat at maintenance. Chose reasonable portions for dinner (I never go to buffet places anyway), eat pretty much what I want, hope to find some amazing local things to eat. And expect to have gained maybe 1kg over 2-3 weeks. No issue. Flight water weight tends to stick for up to 7 days for me. Thus I know what to expect when I come back, and that things will be all right. If I was losing I would probably try to eat at maintenance.

No actual vacations booked yet as I can't expect a vaccination until summer or so. Meh! Rubbish operation here! But I am currently looking at trips to two small local islands: take train out, boat, 1 day hike over the smaller one, sleep there, probably take the morning boat to the other, cycle there, stay the night and do some more walking the next day, take boat and train home. And see if I can get fresh fish or something like that.

CMB44512

We had a trip planned for way over two years to go with family to Hawaii, a few weeks ago(which of course was cancelled). The whole mind screw of not being able to go spiraled my GF and I into not caring about our workouts. I know if we had still been on track for our vacation we would be looking and feeling great right now.
How to get motivated again?

FitAgainBy55

CMB44512 wrote: »

We had a trip planned for way over two years to go with family to Hawaii, a few weeks ago(which of course was cancelled). The whole mind screw of not being able to go spiraled my GF and I into not caring about our workouts. I know if we had still been on track for our vacation we would be looking and feeling great right now.
How to get motivated again?

@CMB44512 Beach vacations are a great motivator for people. Hopefully we will be in a place were you can rebook safely soon.

I personally try to pick longer term goals because I've seen many people lose weight for a beach vacation and immediately gain it back afterwards.

Speakeasy76

I only go on an actual vacation once a year, so my situation is different than yours. However, I do go to visit my mom, where my eating is a bit looser because I don't have all of my "normal" foods. Like someone else said, it's only one week, so I try not to stress too much about it. That doesn't mean I go overboard--I've been eating more moderately and generally "healthy" for so long, it's now 2nd nature for me to typically choose healthier meals and eat smaller portions. I also am active and try to do some online bodyweight workouts as well to keep me active. We've also stayed at condos, so I"m able to eat my normal or even lighter versions of breakfast and lunch and eat out for dinner.

Ironically, I have never gained weight on vacation, but have actually lost weight. I think it's because I sleep better and am less stressed, or it may just be a total coincidence.