Opinions please-need vacation advice!

cardbucfan

I'm leaving for a 2 week trip out to the Grand Canyon and other parts west in 10 days. I'm currently set up to lose .5 lb. per week with a sedentary lifestyle and eat back my exercise calories that are calculated with my HRM. I need some opinions on the best way to set things up for my vacation. I will not be wearing my HRM so won't have the true calculations of calories burned. We will be doing tons of hiking in a climate much different than what I'm used to (I'm in Florida-hot humid. Not the dry heat thing at altitude). We will be eating every single meal out and I'd venture to say that 95-99% of those meals will not be anyplace the nutritional values are available.

I'm thinking I have two choices here:
1. set my goal to maintenance and my lifestyle to very active and ignore how much time I spend hiking.
2. set my goal to maintenance and leave my lifestyle where it is and use MFP's calorie count for hiking for the actual duration.

I'll be guessing at the calories consumed so I want the other side to be on the low side. I need to log because I go off track very easily and I'll have both my husband and my kids giving me the "it's vacation! dessert won't hurt ya!" and I will really want to give in! I'm truly not gonna wig out over the numbers but I'd like to stay on track as best I can.

Any thoughts or other ideas out there? Thanks.

trimom63

Whatever you end up doing foodwise, I'm going to preach, WATER WATER, WATER!!! It's dry out here...and if you're coming to Colorado, remember your sunscreen when you're out-and-about...you're much closer to the sun!! I know that's nothing to do with the food strategy, but they're easy to forget about if you aren't from here!!!

Oh, and by the way....have a GRAND vacation!!!

strapple

im from arizona and i hate to say it but there really arent any healthy places to eat up at the grand canyon! maybe it would be easier to order the lightest thing you can find and just eat half of it. when i do this i ask for a box when i order my meal that way im not tempted to eat it all.

as for hiking, in phoenix its already up to 110. good luck and take lots of water!

id say keep your lifestyle the same (because youre only on vacation this isnt a new lifestyle) and log your hiking as exercise. with how much hiking youll be doing, your net should still be even.

mikeyrp

Its a holiday. Suggest you find out your maintenance calories and aim to hit that food wise, ignore exercise completely.

Logic is as follows:

Worst case, you will not gain weight.
Best case, you will loose weight due to exercise.
You can enjoy your food & your holiday but keep things in moderation.

lejess

One thing that I have done on vacation, mostly out of budgetary need, but I suggest hitting up local markets and packing your lunch. Sometimes we ended up doing that for dinners too, just out of convenience. It could be fun to see if there are any farmers markets, and then you and the family can go and pick out fruits, veggies, locally prepared meats, etc. for at least one meal.
And if you cant find that, there is bound to be a grocery store where you can stock up on healthy snacks at least.
Oh and when the fam starts saying that crap about "oh you're on vacation, just have dessert" you can say fine! We split it 5 ways (or however many people you have with). You get to "indulge" on vacation, without killing your calorie goals.
Log what you can, and like everyone else says, drink lots of water!

photo_kyla

Eat as healthy as you can and walk a ton.

You mentioned hiking. Will you have a GPS with you? Most of them can track MPH and time, so I use mine to help me figure out calories. If not, then just log the time and guess at the speed. If you're on established trials they should have the distance marked on the main sign.

I would leave your lifestyle where it is and just add the exercise. Some days you may be cooped up in a car or plane and not get as much chance to exercise.

The big saving grace will be drinking a ton of water. Someone once told be that the first rule of travel is "Drink water whenever you can. Take a bottle and fill it up before you leave your hotel." That will help you feel more full when you go out to eat as well as keeping you well hydrated in the dry heat. (BTW, the second rule is "never pass up a bathroom break")

Most of all, don't stress about it too much. Yes, you want to stay on track, but it's vacation. Enjoy it and you can attack the tracking when you get back.

HeyLisa

Drinking water is so right!!!

But about food, I say make the best choices you can and be ok with that. Lots of seriously good mexican food out there.. I live in PA and there is nothing even close around me. Just go easy on cheese and sour cream... Watch portions.. document food when you can for accountability.. Walk/hike and burn calories when you can.

My belief is that most of us want to lose weight to be healthier and like ourselves better. Living in the real world offers many options.. right??? Well here is some practice knowing that you will be ok as you do maintenance.. so prove it to yourself.. make the best choices you can while enjoying your life!

Have a great time!

cardbucfan

Thanks for the tips. I know we'll be hitting the water pretty hard so I've got that covered and I will be bringing snacks on our hikes so can easily track that. I wouldn't even be worried about it but-oh, yeah, did I mention my high school reunion is 2 weeks later?!?! I will leave my lifestyle as sedentary and try to track the hiking. Our GPS doesn't track anything fun like that (and it would be a chore to pry it out of the teenage boys hands-ooo, calorie burn there!) but we will be on marked trails. Have no desire to repeat 127 hours here!