Going on vacation!!!

sunnyk8

**Cue the music from the movie Psycho**...

Next week I am taking a vacation with my boyfriend. We are off to Washington DC for our first visit to the nation's capital (and I could not be MORE excited).

BUT, I am really nervous about not being able to eat as healthy since I don't have my kitchen to prepare dinners in and most of our meals will be dining out. We aren't renting a car so we will be walking a lot, but I still want to eat well too.

Any suggestions about vacation eating?

jgoldsmith

im in the same boat. however i am moving not vacationing. everything is in limbo, havent made it to the gym, and havent eaten properly. i have managed to not gain weight so far which is good. but i am nervous!

jmmtaylor

Just make healthy choices, and when you order your meal ask for a to go box and automatically put half of the meal in the box when you get it. Then your not eating more than your supposed to (since their portion sizes are huge). Also if you know where you are staying you can see what there is to eat near your hotel. Then you could kind of have an idea of what is offered so you make make healthier choices.

That's about all I have for you. Have fun!!

sunnyk8

Oooh, I just found out that the place we are staying has a full kitchen in it. Excellent... that should make it a bit easier!!

00trayn

I live near DC, there are lots of yummy and tempting restaurants in the area! I suggest checking out the DuPont Circle area, it's got lots of places to eat that aren't horrible for you and lots of choices. It's easily accessible on the Metro (red line).

Anyway, in general, a few tips are:
-Portion control! Don't eat your entire plate, or order an appetizer as your meal. I'm almost always able to find a decently healthy option on the menu, but when it's a double sized portion, it has a ton of calories anyway. If you have a mini fridge in your hotel, just stash your leftover dinner in there or just bite the bullet and don't take home a takeaway box.
-Limit the alcohol. I know for me, I like to drink when I travel, but fruity cocktails, big margaritas, and heavy beers really add to the calorie count. Stick to one a day, if that.
-Eat at places that have published nutrition info. I have a smart phone so I'm constantly checking online to see if where I'm eating has nutrition info (chain restaurants should, smaller local owned places won't usually) so you'll have to read the menu carefully. And it's OK to tell your server to hold the butter, dressing, oil, etc in your food.

Have fun in DC! My favorite places are the Air and Space Museum, the Capitol, Natural History Museum, and walking around the monuments (The FDR monument is my fave). DC is an easy city to walk around, and the metro is quite simple as well.

superwmn

I'll be in DC visiting friends next week. Warm it up for me.

Listen, listen, LISTEN to your body. If you eat when you're hungry (carry something in your handbag so you're never RAVENOUS) and stop when you're full, you will NEVER over eat and can EASILY maintain on vacation no matter WHAT you eat.

I ALWAYS enjoy the local treasures on vacation, but I don't eat an entire dessert or entree, just a small portion (stopping when I'm full). You SHOULD have a hot dog and fries at Ben's Chili bowl, but you don't have to eat everything they give you. Eat until you're satisfied and toss the rest. Go slow so you can savor every bite AND so that you won't miss fullness when it happens.

Balance that with all the walking you'll be doing and you'll be fine.

More importantly, approach this with confidence and not terror. Perception is everything. You are stronger than food. It's just food. You're an actual person. It can't beat you.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Charmagne

MzBug

Other than the tips given above....

Bring a purse that you can fit some snacks into! Not overly large because it WILL be searched at different tourist locations. The different Smithsonian buildings are great, just remember you CAN'T do them all in one day! At the max 2 per day. Bring some cool weather clothes, it's getting into the high 30's at night now. You should still have good color on the trees, but they are startting to drop the leaves.

Have fun!!

sunnyk8

I'll be in DC visiting friends next week. Warm it up for me.

Listen, listen, LISTEN to your body. If you eat when you're hungry (carry something in your handbag so you're never RAVENOUS) and stop when you're full, you will NEVER over eat and can EASILY maintain on vacation no matter WHAT you eat.

I ALWAYS enjoy the local treasures on vacation, but I don't eat an entire dessert or entree, just a small portion (stopping when I'm full). You SHOULD have a hot dog and fries at Ben's Chili bowl, but you don't have to eat everything they give you. Eat until you're satisfied and toss the rest. Go slow so you can savor every bite AND so that you won't miss fullness when it happens.

Balance that with all the walking you'll be doing and you'll be fine.

More importantly, approach this with confidence and not terror. Perception is everything. You are stronger than food. It's just food. You're an actual person. It can't beat you.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Charmagne

Thanks!!! Great advice! We will be in DC at the same time it sounds like

TracieJ65

Well, Sunny, I just got back, Sunday night, from an 11 day vacation and I couldn't be happier to report that I maintained my weight! I gave myself the "OK" to gain up to 5 pounds, but to my suprise, I did not. I was very nervous before I left, as well, and went back and forth for a month, on how I was going to handle it. So, with that, let me tell you what I did!

I did not have an internet connection, so the only way I could keep up with my food diary was on my blackberry and I did do that, faithfully. I did want to have some kind of idea as to what kind of calories I was putting in my body. I did not keep up with the amount of water that I usually drink, but I did keep it at a minimum of 8, no matter what.

We ate at various different places. Fast food, buffets in Vegas, fine dining and just plain great little cafe's. What I did, at each and every place that we ate a meal at, was look over the menu very carefully, or walk the entire buffet, when we were in Vegas, before I made any kind of decisions. I always, always had some kind of salad, first. I love salad so that was not a problem for me, but when you have a salad, and some water, before the meal, you eat less of the actual meal. I always tried to choose what would be the healthiest meal, and lowest in calories, from the menu. I like pretty much all kinds of fish/seafood and I love chicken and turkey, so I always tried to choose something along those lines as they are much lower in calories. I never over ate and as soon as I felt a little bit full, I QUIT eating. Now, I have to say this was very, very hard because I am a true believer in not wasting food, but I have become an even truer believer in not over eating. At buffets it was easier because I would get basically a "bite" of this and a "bite" of that. It was just an expensive buffet for me because I surely did not eat a whole lot.

I also indulged in some deserts. I actually ate some ice cream from baskin and robbins, a couple of times, as I love that ice cream and we do not have it anywhere in my state. It is something that we always look forward to when we go on vacation. At any of the restaurants/buffets, I would have one, or maybe two, bites of something just to "taste" it. That was all. I indulged in it, but kept it to a minimum.

Now, I must say that I did get in a LOT of exercise. I walked a lot because we were doing things that required a lot of walking. I used the swimming pool where we stayed almost every day and absolutely loved it. I can say that I burned a lot of calories in that 11 days and that was with two days driving there and two days driving back. Every time we stopped I put in 15 minutes of intense walking.

What it finally boiled down to, for me, was that I was on vacation and I needed to enjoy myself without undoing everything I have done, to lose weight, in the last 9 months.

I hope that helps you as it worked great for me.

Enjoy yourself.

amysj303

I love DC! I think the tips are good, but I think it is unrealistic to box up most meals unless you are headed straight back to your room, who wants to carry around a to-go box? Maybe you could split entrees with your your boyfriend-then you can have a glass of wine or something! second on the snacks-fruit and cheese, so you don't have to order out for a little hunger!
Enjoy DC!