Vacation tips

Aubgurl81

I’m leaving in about 5 days for a week long vacation with my parents and my sister and her husband. What are some tips you have for traveling when you’re the only one in the group trying to lose weight and you go out to eat almost every single meal, except breakfast.

88AViva

Eat mindfully. You don't have to eat the same thing as everyone else, but if you do, just mind your portions. Track honestly. Stay on track as much as you can but know that it's not the end of the world or failure if you eat over your calorie limit on your vacation. Fluctuations are normal. Don't tank your progress just because you had one bad meal or a bad eating day. It's one week 🙂 it won't affect your overall progress, just aim for more good days than bad (food wise) and try to get some walks in if you can. Have a great time 🌼

Chef_Barbell

I enjoy my vacation and come back to counting calories. It's not what you eat in one week that matters, it's what happens the other 51 weeks.

IAmTheGlue

I hope you have an amazing vacation and make memories you can cherish with your family!

The good thing about MFP and calorie counting in general is you can eat what you want. So, on your vacation, eat what you want to eat. If you are dying to try (whatever) at a restaurant, go for it and log it. I have some food restrictions due to my health and I can find something to eat most anywhere that meets my calorie goals and my nutritional needs. I bet you will be able to find something suitable at any restaurant, too.

The main thing here is just keep going. Be honest and log it. The next day start over. For any weight loss plan to work, it has to be sustainable or at the end you gain it right back.

Have a super fun vacation!

csplatt

Just a thought—why eat out almost every single meal? When I go to the beach, for example, I go grocery shopping and plan to eat out twice during the week. Just a thought.

But at the same time, if experiencing a locations food scene is important to you, then enjoy yourself and lose whatever you gain (which may or may not be actual fat) when you return!

cwolfman13

I don't go crazy with things, but I just enjoy my vacation. Very often, depending on where I'm going, the food culture in the area is a pretty important part of my trip and overall experience. I don't actively diet or try to lose weight on a vacation. There are 52 weeks in a years...1-2 weeks is pretty immaterial.

I'm also far more active on vacation than when I'm home where I sit at a desk for most of the day 5 days out of the week. On vacation we're always on the go. I was in Austin at the beginning of June...I was averaging around 23,000 steps per day and also doing some kayaking and other physical activities. At home I pretty much top out at 10K, but only if I walk my dog that day...a non dog walk day is usually around 5-6K as my primary exercise is cycling and not step based.

Sinisterbarbie1

There are always obvious things you can skip like the bread and butter service, and healthier options you can choose like grilled options versus fried or sauteed and avoiding anything with heavy sauces and slathered in/dipped in butter or mayo. My husband and I often choose to have appetizers for our main meals since portion sizes at restaurants can be overly large, or to split appetizers and a main course. But this is how we eat all the time whether we are on vacation or at a restaurant in our home town. And when on vacation we don’t feel obliged to eat 3 meals a day if we aren’t hungry. Since hotel breakfasts are often bigger and served later than what we eat at home we may skip lunch. Or if we have a late lunch we migh pick up some light snacks like veggies and hummus to eat in our room or just go to the bar for an appetizer and a drink for dinner. We are actually on vacation now and that is exactly what we are doing. But we don’t do this because we are particularly worried about counting calories - it just makes us feel less lethargic and enjoy the trip more. (She types as her husband snoozes on the beach post lunch! We had grilled fish tacos btw. Yum and nothing but about 3 oz of the fish, some pico de gallo and microgreens ). Just enjoy your trip and your family and don’t let it derail your thinking about your health or make you feel like you are doing something wrong. Get back to your regular routine when you get home. But also don’t be a total people pleaser to the point where you are eating and drinking in ways you don’t want to in order to go along with your family’s habits. If you don’t want to do something, don’t do it.

LiveOnceBeHappy

Choose carefully at restaurants. You can get oatmeal for breakfast. Two eggs and dry toast. Get a chicken sandwich and don't eat the bun with a side salad instead of fries. It can absolutely be done. I just got back from 10 days of eating out 3x per day for most days! Tomorrow will be my first time back on the scale in 11 days. I did calculate in the middle: even if I overate by 1000 calories per day (huge over for me!), then 1000 x 10 days = 10000. 10000 extra calories would be about 3 pounds. I can take 3 lbs back off in a couple weeks. I had a great time with some fun food in California, so I'm not going to freak out!

siberiantarragon

First of all, is it going to be more trouble than it's worth to try to lose weight while on vacation? It might be better to just go into maintenance for a week and then go back to weight loss when you get back.

Also, you don't have to eat a full meal 3x a day and you don't have to order a full meal at every restaurant. I'm not trying to lose weight but I have been maintaining at ~2100 cals for a long time. I've found that most restaurant meals are in the 800 to 900 calorie range (not counting appetizers, sugary drinks, desserts, etc.) So if I'm in a situation where I have to eat out for every meal, I usually end up eating only twice a day plus maybe one snack.

AnnPT77

LiveOnceBeHappy wrote: »

Choose carefully at restaurants. You can get oatmeal for breakfast. Two eggs and dry toast. Get a chicken sandwich and don't eat the bun with a side salad instead of fries. It can absolutely be done. I just got back from 10 days of eating out 3x per day for most days! Tomorrow will be my first time back on the scale in 11 days. I did calculate in the middle: even if I overate by 1000 calories per day (huge over for me!), then 1000 x 10 days = 10000. 10000 extra calories would be about 3 pounds. I can take 3 lbs back off in a couple weeks. I had a great time with some fun food in California, so I'm not going to freak out!

Just as a general observation: I don't know where OP is traveling, but in most parts of the US, I've found that I can order things that are on the menu without some component, rather than ordering the whole dish and throwing away food. (It may not be possible with pre-made dishes, but many are assembled to order.)

I order sandwiches without the bun fairly often, because I'm not a big bread fan, and they tend to be a fair number of calories (for something I don't even like much!). I've done it at sit-down restaurants, fast casual, fast food chains, and it usually works. It may take a little extra explaining, the prep may take a little extra time, sometimes they charge you for the whole dish, but it usually works. I don't like throwing away food, if I can avoid it.

Especially at sit-down restaurants, it's always worth asking about variations, if that's what you want: Can they leave the sauce off the chicken dish? Serve the pasta with just the marinara but no meatballs? Make a plate with just all of the vegetable side dishes, instead of a main dish? Etc. If I'm polite, the worst that ever happens is that they can't. If they can, I tip the server extra.

Maybe this is an obvious tactic, but I've found that some people I eat out with are surprised when this is possible. Also, this may not work in other places, I don't know.