Bemoaning holidays...

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I've been a frequent reader of posts on here, always find it very interesting. My own story was just a bullet biting moment at the turn of the year that has stuck. From January 6 to the start of July, I lost 6 stone.

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I was delighted with this - but then summer holidays hit! The kids were out of school and we travelled. Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, places like that - and always in a hotel. The thing with hotels is that you pretty much always end up eating out. I was convinced I'd put at least two stone back on. Turns out I've gained just 13 pounds. A slight relief, but I think next time I'll stick to an apartment or somewhere I can cook for myself!

This post has sort of turned into a moan rather than anything else :bigsmile: but thank you for reading nevertheless!
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  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    You've made great progress.

    And don't worry too much about the holiday weight - you'll probably find that most of it is water weight from the increased food intake. Stick to your plan and in a couple of weeks you should be back where you were.
  • niallfh
    niallfh Posts: 15 Member
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    You've made great progress.

    And don't worry too much about the holiday weight - you'll probably find that most of it is water weight from the increased food intake. Stick to your plan and in a couple of weeks you should be back where you were.

    Thanks Karen. I've been back on the horse so to speak this week, just a couple more days until I weigh in again. I keep telling myself that this is why we work so hard to get our weight down - so that we can enjoy the holidays and trips away.
  • Snip8241
    Snip8241 Posts: 767 Member
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    You have made wonderful, life changing progress. Even though you gained, isn't it nice to know you have mastered the things you need to take the weight off?
    You should be so, so proud!!!!
  • Falcon
    Falcon Posts: 853 Member
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    you look good and don't worry, we slip off the horse now and again.

    You don't look the same in both pics. Crazy how our looks change with weight gain.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    You've made great progress.

    And don't worry too much about the holiday weight - you'll probably find that most of it is water weight from the increased food intake. Stick to your plan and in a couple of weeks you should be back where you were.

    Thanks Karen. I've been back on the horse so to speak this week, just a couple more days until I weigh in again. I keep telling myself that this is why we work so hard to get our weight down - so that we can enjoy the holidays and trips away.

    Keep reminding yourself of that because its what many of us believe

    Just returned from a 2 week vacation myself and have gained 9 lbs and as eating out and drinking tends to be an integral part of my relaxation while away I see it as a sign of a good vacation :smile:

    At the end of the day after what you have lost losing the amount you gained should be no issue and as they say its what you do for the majority of the time that defines your weight not the special occasions

    I don't know about you but apart from Christmas etc I only go away for 2 weeks a year so it leaves a lot of time to remain on track
  • niallfh
    niallfh Posts: 15 Member
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    Keep reminding yourself of that because its what many of us believe

    Just returned from a 2 week vacation myself and have gained 9 lbs and as eating out and drinking tends to be an integral part of my relaxation while away I see it as a sign of a good vacation :smile:

    At the end of the day after what you have lost losing the amount you gained should be no issue and as they say its what you do for the majority of the time that defines your weight not the special occasions

    I don't know about you but apart from Christmas etc I only go away for 2 weeks a year so it leaves a lot of time to remain on track

    Thanks Chris. Yes, the lifestyle sounds familiar when it comes to enjoying a relaxing holiday. I am a single parent, so holidays are largely based around the children's breaks from school - so usually around 5 or 6 weeks a year. Always a fortnight at Christmas. So far this year it's only been the summer that has left me gaining weight. I'll shift these 13 pounds, I'm fairly confident about that. :smile:
  • niallfh
    niallfh Posts: 15 Member
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    You have made wonderful, life changing progress. Even though you gained, isn't it nice to know you have mastered the things you need to take the weight off?
    You should be so, so proud!!!!

    Thank you! I do feel a sense of pride, but I feel more pressured now to keep the weight down. I don't think motivation has dipped so much, it's more that logging has become part of life and it doesn't take as much focus as it did at first. It's become routine. Instead now the difficulty is the focus on eating right. I no longer feel any guilt or shame if I chalk up 3000 calories. I simply look at it and think, hey, that wasn't a good day - I'll fix it tomorrow. My general routine has been Mon - Fri eat well, and Sat and Sun will look after themselves. That's kept me going so far, the only problem with holidays is that every day is a Sat or Sun! Haha.
  • niallfh
    niallfh Posts: 15 Member
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    you look good and don't worry, we slip off the horse now and again.

    You don't look the same in both pics. Crazy how our looks change with weight gain.

    Thank you Falcon. Yes, I've been told that quite often. I never look the same in any two photographs! I'm like Hannibal from the A-Team! :laugh:
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    OMG you look incredible! What a fantastic job you're doing!
  • 2013sk
    2013sk Posts: 1,318 Member
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    OMG!!! You've lost so much weight, and pretty quickly too... 7 months?

    How many calories were you consuming? What exercise did you do?

    Well done - You look great!!

    Majority of the 13lbs will be water weight - High sodium, salt etc
  • niallfh
    niallfh Posts: 15 Member
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    It was just seven months. I just stuck to the 2lbs a week targets set, but starting walking 2 miles every day. I'm very lucky in the job that I have that I can wear suitable enough clothing that I can go for a 2 mile walk at lunchtime and not worry about wearing uncomfortable footwear or clothes. As the lighter evenings came in I started adding a further walk in the evenings. This won me back anything between 300-600 calories each day and just that little amount made all the difference to my adjustment to what I eat in a day.

    Cereal in the mornings. Soup for lunch most days, and a lot of fish for evening meals. Still managed the occasional chicken breast or beef steak now and again though :)

    I did almost completely cut out bread though. Not a single biscuit/cookie, crisp/chip or piece of chocolate passed my lips between January and April at least. I had a friend doing it with me and we kept each other sane throughout with regular updates.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    did you enjoy your holidays? if the answer was yes then it's a win regardless.

    It's not like you will be doing that all year round...it's special.

    I gained while on holidays in Feb...didn't take long for it to leave and I didn't regret one bit of food I ate or one drink I drank...
  • niallfh
    niallfh Posts: 15 Member
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    Majority of the 13lbs will be water weight - High sodium, salt etc

    I'm hoping so. It would be heartbreaking to have to cut right back on my cal intake for two months just to claw back one weeks' worth!
  • niallfh
    niallfh Posts: 15 Member
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    did you enjoy your holidays? if the answer was yes then it's a win regardless.

    It's not like you will be doing that all year round...it's special.

    I gained while on holidays in Feb...didn't take long for it to leave and I didn't regret one bit of food I ate or one drink I drank...

    Oh I definitely enjoyed them. Was averaging about 4000-5000 cals each day almost. Most of that was beer though - and at least one heavy meal a day. Indian food, Malaysian food, Italian food.... the list goes on!
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    Holidays are meant to be enjoyed and build special memories with family. Always worth it! At least now you know the drill which is to have fun and get right back on the saddle when the holidays are over.

    Congrats on the weight loss!

    Excellent job!
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    Congrats on the weight loss, you look great!

    I bet you enjoyed the holidays with your kids, and you'll lose that weight once you are back to normality!

    I'm a teacher and I tend to lose weight in the holidays running round after my kids lol. I'm on maternity leave now and I've also got my 5 and 3 year old.
  • niallfh
    niallfh Posts: 15 Member
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    You've made great progress.

    And don't worry too much about the holiday weight - you'll probably find that most of it is water weight from the increased food intake. Stick to your plan and in a couple of weeks you should be back where you were.

    Wow Karen - you were right!

    Weighed in today and after just four good days back on the wagon since I went back to work, I've dropped 7 of those 13 pounds! Amazed.
  • hyg99
    hyg99 Posts: 354 Member
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    Just want to add, you look fantastic, what a fantastic result.

    I went on holiday too, gained a few pounds but within 2 days they had disappeared again.
  • niallfh
    niallfh Posts: 15 Member
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    Well, it's taken me until now to get over this blip. I'm now a pound lighter than I was in July, having put about a stone on since then and now, at the end of October, I've lost that stone again. Delighted to say I've recovered, and am now back on track to lose more, but wow that was difficult! :neutral_face:
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    You look great!