Back in the saddle after traveling

history_grrrl

Argh! I was doing so well for nearly three months, and then I did the dreaded deed . . .

Dear reader, I went on vacation.

I started out so earnestly, bringing a tasty, veggie-packed salad to the airport. I even brought my cute little food scale and stocked up on my staples - Greek yogurt, berries, tuna, eggs, avocado, etc. - as soon as I arrived.

I ate none of it. Instead, I ate every meal out or at a friend’s house. I even, once, ate at a fast-food joint while o PN a road trip when we forgot to bring decent food along (and that was truly gross, as I haven’t had that stuff for years).

So I suspect I have gained back most of what I lost. I haven’t yet stepped on the scale yet - not looking forward to it - but it’s gotta be done. The two weeks of hedonism is over.

Oh, but somehow I still fit into the dress that has been my “am I losing any weight?” tester. It wasn’t that flattering, but it fit nonetheless.

Undoing this is going to take a while. But that’s okay, because I have time.

But things are about to get complicated because my GP is sending me to a nephrologist. It appears I have stage 3 kidney disease. No idea how this happened, but it seems clear that the need to lose weight will be more urgent while maintaining a healthy and satisfying diet is about to get a lot more challenging.

Motivational speeches and pep talks welcome!

springlering62

Chill. I’m on a flight to the west coast as I type this.

I’ll do all of the above. In n Out is on the menu as soon as we get off the plane and I had donuts for breakfast. Lots.

Yeah, I’ll be up five or six pounds by the time we get home, but most of that will be gone within a week. It’s just water weight from cabin pressure, unfamiliar high carbs, stress (family, ya know….).

This has been the rinse and repeat pattern for the three or four years I’ve been in maintenance. I simply treat it as a welcome refeed, and then drop calories -if necessary- when I get back, if it hasn’t all dropped after a week.

You’ll be absolutely fine.

😘

mpwalker9791

2 weekends ago I went to Chicago for the weekend. It was a social yet work weekend, so I knew eating well wasn't going to work. I tried to eat healthier options, I had to skip meals which weren't intended, and honestly I was trying to eat 3 good meals a day. Instead I had a crappy lunch (work provided), and an ok-ish dinner. Instead for snacks I made sure I packed healthy snacks. Then I came back home, got covid, and there went eating well out the door. Both my husband and I got covid, nothing healthy in the house, and honestly I didn't care, I needed food in me. After 2 weeks of eating like crap, and not eating 3 meals a day, not getting enough protein, I was afraid to get on the scale. Well...I actually lost weight! Not exactly the way I had planned, but at least my 2 weeks of eating like crap didn't set me back. I have a long way to go, and switching back to my healthier meal choices has been hard. Esp these last 2 days as my appetite has come back, and I didn't pack breakfast because I haven't been hungry enough to eat one in 2 weeks.

Moral of the story. Just pick yourself up and dust yourself off. I thought I was going to have to battle loosing weight again when I was finally so close to hitting my weight loss goal, to find I actually still hit it. Don't let the setback discourage you, eat well for a few days, then check yourself. You can undo the last few weeks

history_grrrl

Thanks for the positive feedback! It’s definitely what I need to hear. I just ate a normal meal ( wasn’t hungry today till dinner time), and tomorrow I’ll get back on track with exercise.

@mpwalker9791 We were in Chicago at the same time! I went for the weekend to see family and then to Wisconsin to see friends. So sorry about the COVID.

KerryBSoCal

I understand your surprise about the CKD-3 diagnosis. The same thing happened to me earlier in the year. Apparently a lot of people have no idea this has happened. It’s not uncommon in older women, either. Let me know if I can help in any way. 😎

history_grrrl

KerryBSoCal wrote: »

I understand your surprise about the CKD-3 diagnosis. The same thing happened to me earlier in the year. Apparently a lot of people have no idea this has happened. It’s not uncommon in older women, either. Let me know if I can help in any way. 😎

@KerryBSoCal, thanks so much for the offer. I would really like to talk to someone with a similar experience about this; is there a way for us to communicate privately if you’re amenable? Alternatively, I was thinking of starting a new thread about it; there are a few here but not a whole lot of discussion. I’m definitely in the older women category and had no idea this was a thing.

yirara

Not stepping on the scale yet might have prevented you from seeing: The Travel Water Weight Gain! *spooky sound*

For me, this usually vanishes within a week and can be up to 2kg. Gnarly stuff.

And eating more during vacation: It looks like you weren't away for a long time. Also ask yourself whether you've massively overeaten every day. I mean, to gain 2lbs of bodyfat you'd need to eat 7000 calories over your maintenance calories. If you were away for a week then that's 1000 calories over maintenance every day. That's quite a lot. Not saying it's not possibly. And even if: then it's just 2lbs. You could probably lose that again in 2 weeks. So what have you lost? Two weeks of a lifetime? It's nothing, really.

history_grrrl

@yirara You are so right. I was gone for two weeks. I did eat a lot on some days, but on others I found that I got full very quickly and just couldn’t eat much. In fact, I organized a get-together with a bunch of friends and we ordered from my favourite Indonesian restaurant, and I barely touched the food because I’d had a big brunch.

I just weighed myself and burst out laughing, because it shows the exact same weight as before I left! Much ado about nothing.

yirara

Congratulations! Don't get too afraid of traveling, and if panic sets in try to remember that it takes quite some eating effort to gain a substantial amount of weight And remember the evil travel waterweight. It always goes away even though it loves to stick around for a bit.

KerryBSoCal

@history_grrrl
I sent you a friend request. 😎

history_grrrl

@KerryBSoCal Thanks; accepted and message sent.