Tips for eating healthy on cruise

nas425

Hi All - I’ve been trying to lose weight and have been doing well. I have a cruise coming up in a few weeks and don’t want to lose my momentum. Does anyone have suggestions for healthy eating - preferably not including salad - I can’t eat too much of that with my IBS - are there any calorie counters or nutritional guides out there for Royal Caribbean?

Thanks!

middlehaitch

Ooh, from what I have seen Royal could be a challenge with all the optional eating venues. I cruise Celebrity so less options but still lots of tempting food and froo-froo drinks.

Random thoughts and what has worked for me.

If you have been here on MFP for a while you will know, visually, what your portion sizes are, try to stick to them.

Try to plan where you want to eat for the day and rate them good, better, best, and portion calories appropriately. (If lunch is the best venue that day cut back on breakfast and dinner)

Save the calorie rich drinks to occasionally, flavoured vodka/gin with a calorie free mixer is much lower calorie, as is light beer or wine spritzer.

Take the stairs. Maybe not deck 3-17 but even part way will burn calories. If you are anything like me You will move more during a cruise than during in a regular week at home so your calorie burn will probably be higher.

If you don’t have wifi and can’t log keep a daily journal of food and activity. No need to be precise, it will just keep you aware. (I’m lousy at the journal after the first couple of days but it just sets my head into awareness mode.

Remember this is just a small break in your life and many similar ones will be happening so it is good to find a way of holidaying-celebrating that you enjoy without going completely off the rails.

If it doesn’t taste good don’t finish eating/drinking it (especially if it is complementary).

Have a great time on your cruise, I don’t have one until April. When you get home and weigh yourself don’t panic it will take up to a week to drop water weight.

Cheers, h.

sollyn23l2

I say go off the rails. Life's too short and stressful already to worry about calories on a cruise. Eat away and enjoy it. Then get back on track after you get home

neanderthin

I hear if you eat and drink in international waters the calories don't count.

cmriverside

Yeah, (what neanderthin says is true, always ,) I also agree with sollyn. How often do you go on a cruise? Once or twice a year?

Call it a "Refeed" and enjoy it. It's a good thing! https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

Food on vacation is one of the great joys of life. You know approximations, I doubt you'll over-eat the whole time. When I go on vacation I tend to eat a really small first meal mid-morning, do my walking or shopping or swimming or whatever and then have a good sized mid-day meal and on most days a lighter dinner. I don't limit myself on that one big meal.

Have fun!

PAPYRUS3

I found this on mfp...it's old, but maybe might help?
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/nutrition-facts-calories/royal-caribbean-international

kaydensmom2009

When I went on vacation twice during my weight loss, I kept losing during both of them. Even if you don’t want to be aggressive, you can still maintain. I didn’t treat vacation as an excuse to binge eat. I’m not too familiar with the options available at the cruise specifically, but you can do this anywhere. Just be mindful of what you eat. I usually eat 2 meals a day consisting of a protein, a fruit, a vegetable, and a carb as well as 2 snacks a day. So I continued to do this on vacation but on the days that I wanted a cake or ice cream or something high calorie extra I would just replace the snacks with it. By thinking about it in terms of nutrients I still got those in instead of eating just high carb junk meals that I tend to go for if not watching. And there’s still flexibility to enjoy different foods available. And I still worked out every morning on vacation usually, which is running for me.

BrightEyedAgain

My advice is to log as best you can even though you know it isn't accurate. Plan the night before which meals will be your big ones, and which you plan to be careful about. I agree with the poster who said take the stairs as much as possible. And be deliberately inefficient about walking places like your cabin. You can get a surprising amount of extra steps on a big cruise ship if you are consciously trying to. That can help balance the inevitable food splurges.

The main thing is to have a good time and decide consciously when to splurge instead of just letting it happen and feeling out of control. I love the advice you got above---STOP eating anything that doesn't taste wonderful. That is fantastic advice for a cruise because of all the goodies you'll be tempted to try. Have high standards for each bite you take, and put the food down if it doesn't taste as good as it looks. The sheer variety on a cruise is one of the things that makes it easy to overeat, so let yourself be super-picky.

As for the alcohol, I find it easier to skip it than to drink in moderation. That way I don't drink my calories. However, if the nifty cocktails are important to you, choose ahead of time what you will have and when. Log it. Then stick to it. Have the waiter bring you water or club soda along with your drink. Then you have something to pace out your sips and turn to when your alcoholic drink is finished.

My final advice would be to reset your MFP calories to Maintenance for your trip. That way you have a higher number than usual, but it's still a reasonable amount of food that won't derail your progress. MFP has a weekly function as well as a daily one, so I like to look at that to see how my days are averaging out. Then if you have a high day, you can balance it the next day. Or, if you want to splurge that day, you may find that you have the weekly calories to play with anyway, so rock on!

Whatever you do, have an plan for the first few days back home to help you get back on track. The trip itself is temporary, and you can regroup if that's the only thing going on. It's what you do when you get home that matters most. Ignore your weight for the first few days because you'll have water weight that doesn't matter. Instead, just get back to your plan and trust that things will work themselves out. It'll be fine.

ninerbuff

nas425 wrote: »

Hi All - I’ve been trying to lose weight and have been doing well. I have a cruise coming up in a few weeks and don’t want to lose my momentum. Does anyone have suggestions for healthy eating - preferably not including salad - I can’t eat too much of that with my IBS - are there any calorie counters or nutritional guides out there for Royal Caribbean?

Thanks!

Sorry, but foods on cruises are high calorie. Though you don't want to hear it Eat vegetables first by themselves (salad, vegetable plate, etc.) then take a quick break, then go back and just have a little of other stuff.
Also there is a gym on all cruise liners. Get in there first thing in the morning, usually 6am, get in a good workout and also use the deck to stroll around and get in some walks. Calorie burning is important on cruises cause of the 24 hour access to high calorie foods.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition