Vacation – the overrated evil

jerryvo

I just got back from 4 days of vacation plus 2 days of business travel. My clothes still fit and my bed did not buckle when I laid down last night. When I was gone I did not log any calories. I ate pizza in my hotel room, I ordered fried food and pasta at restaurants, and I even drank a soda or two. I did not get too crazy but I did not limit myself to my usual reduced calorie / healthy diet routine. Since I usually eat at a deficit and sit at a desk job I am guestimating that even with the extra calories I did not totally blow my actual TDEE by too much and on vacation you do a lot more moving that you do sitting at work so that helped too. A quick unofficial weigh in only shows a 1.x pound gain and I am OK with that because I had fun and lived my life.

I wanted to share because I see so many people worried about what they will do on vacation and how they will log every calorie and make up for missing their normal workout routine. Yes I needed an extra kick in the pants today to get back into the swing of things but the world did not stop spinning and I had fun. You can do the same thing. It is OK to go out and live life once in a while.

DON’T FEAR THE VACATION!

brynnsmom

I totally agree, usually when I get back from vacation I wait a few days to weigh myself and - surprise! - despite my fears there's no gain. I think it's because we (my husband and I) tend to be really active when we travel, and there isn't as much food readily accessible when you're in a hotel (as in, a fully stocked pantry and fridge like at home). I know I eat more indulgent meals while vacationing, but not much in between.

Gee_24

Lovely post, thank you.


I'm off in October for 16 days and have no plans to go out. But every time I'm on holiday from work, I gain up to half a stone. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it, but thats honestly how much I eat when Im in the house all day writing music and watching movies in my comfy duvet on the couch!

I will log this holiday, but also perhaps up my calories to 1700 a day. Still 10% under TDEE. Im sure it will be fine. And if 1700 is hard hitting 1900 maintenance half the time will be ok with me too.

Gee_24

hitting 1900 maintenance half the time will be ok with me too.

Oh my nevermind. I only have 1900 maintenance when Im at WORK. lol God I'll need to do some recalculations...

I_Will_End_You

I came back from my week long vacation a pound lighter. Drank alcohol heavily every day and ate whatever I wanted. Funny how that worked out...

fishgutzy

Depends on what you are doing on vacation.
My wife and i took a two day trip to mountains and did a lot of walking and hiking. The Pizaa Hut deep dish meat lovers pizza didn't hurt the scale at all.
But if I ate that way while sitting on my ars watching netflix for a few days it most certainly would hurt the scale.
Logging make us more aware of what we are taking in and burning out. This awareness is still with us on vacation even if we don't log. Our behavior toward food has changed as well. So while it may seem that we eat more than usual on vacation, it is certainly nothing like we did before MFP.

YaGigi

Depends on what you are doing on vacation.
My wife and i took a two day trip to mountains and did a lot of walking and hiking. The Pizaa Hut deep dish meat lovers pizza didn't hurt the scale at all.
But if I ate that way while sitting on my ars watching netflix for a few days it most certainly would hurt the scale.
Logging make us more aware of what we are taking in and burning out. This awareness is still with us on vacation even if we don't log. Our behavior toward food has changed as well. So while it may seem that we eat more than usual on vacation, it is certainly nothing like we did before MFP.

Amen to that!