Vacation = Fear of Impending Doom

skcornett

You've had lots of good advice, so there's not much I can add. If you're at the beach, you can certainly walk. Depending on the beach, the sand may be a tougher workout than just walking down the street. Get a boogie board or body surf with the kiddos - that will burn some serious calories.

A definite perk to the condo is you can buy/bring groceries so you still have some control over what you are eating. But remember that it is vacation and you should enjoy it. This is a lifetime of changes, and there will be days when you want something you don't normally have - so get it, satisfy the craving, and move on.

Don't stress so much about food/exercise that you forget to notice the sunsets!

mrmanmeat

This summer I am headed to the beach for a week and am already worried about "falling off the wagon" so to speak. I will be away from my routine, my gym, etc. There will be lots of restaurants and many chances to say "aww heck, I'm on vacation". How do you all deal with this temptation? What is the best way to not be so far (physically & weight) from where I left off that when I get back that I don't even want to start again?

I don't get why people don't think they can't eat right at any restaurant. Order chicken and veggies if you need too. Plain chicken.

Exercise while you're there.

It's self control, find some before your trip. Best of luck.

seebeachrun

Check to see if your hotel has a gym. I'm going to Savannah and HIlton Head Island for a week in June and I made sure both hotels I booked had gyms. I plan to get up on time (no sleeping in) and exercise in the gym from an hour every day before starting my day. That way, even if I am bad for the rest of the day, I at least got in my exercise.

However, I also heavily researched local restaurants in both cities near my hotels and the historic district where we'll be during the day. I used urbanspoon and yelp to narrow down my choices according to diet and budget. I have planned out my meals for lunch and dinner every day with a little flexibility as far as which restaurants on which days. I have plotted all of the "approved" restaurants on a map that I plan to carry so if I get hungry I have a few choices already narrowed down so that I can find them fast. Although time consuming and a pain in the butt, planning ahead like this helps me avoid being lazy and making bad food decisions.

Enigmatica

I just came back from 5 days of vacation and lost a pound. Yes I ate more, and ate fun things I usually wouldn't, but I was also VERY active. I hiked as much as 12 miles per day. I couldn't log my food because internet was so slow and spotty. And I didn't bother stressing about it. My approach was to still eat healthy foods, have a few fun treats, and take advantage of the opportunities to get out and exercise. Vacation doesn't have to be a diet disaster

hunter624

Just come back from one weeks holiday in devon and cornwall, cream teas,cornish pasties and pub grub.
Now I'm starting to loose again, nothing in food diary for the weeks holiday, thats what it is, a holiday, a rest, time to chill out and enjoy yourself good luck to you.

gauchogirl

Personally, I don't worry about it. I try to make reasonable choices (I don't generally drink alcohol or pop, so liquid calories aren't usually a problem.) I will have a lot more desserts because I AM on vacation. It doesn't bother me though because, say the worst that could happen does happen. Say I gained like TEN LBS in the week I was gone. Or even 15. Over the course of my life, no big deal. 10 lbs could take me a month or even two or three to lose, but so what? If you live a healthy LIFESTYLE and aren't on a DIET (short term) the fluctuations of life aren't the end of the world. Most of us unfortunately live a lifestyle that includes working full time and vacationing rarely. I say enjoy it. It is a bit self-limiting anyway. You can't physically gorge yourself so much that you gain like 30 lbs. If you did, you'd feel sick the whole trip anyway. Try to get in a fair amount of movement, try not to drink a bazillion calories and make conscious decisions about what foods you REALLY want...not just what are easily available (junk foods.)

Have fun!

TriumphNow

Kudos to all those that eat very well and lose weight on vacation. That is really great. Unfortunately, I gain every time I go on vacation. I walk a lot and go to the gym but good food is still part of a good vacation for me. BUT I always get right back on track with eating healthy, exercise, and drinking lots and lots of water when I get home. I know this is not the way for everyone but it works for me. I still enjoy my vacation and keep moving forward on my journey. Whatever you do, don't let it take you completely off track if you gain weight on vacation or any other time for that matter. Enjoy you trip! Vacation is always wonderful and I think we all need it from time to time

bradXdale

The beach can be one of the BEST places to workout. Especially early morning runs / walks on the beach, can't beat the breeze or the views. I live 45 minutes from Daytona so I usually go to the beach quite often during the summer time.

Last Spring Break my buddies & I walked from Daytona Beach into Ormond Beach...

Almost 15 miles - http://mapq.st/LsVejK
Took us about 2 to 3 hours, but we got there!

lovesweetlove

I have no advice, but recently went on a weekend cruise and stayed in a hotel for a few days after. I gained ten pounds, it was devastating! I brought my workout clothes, but only worked-out one day. Between the lack of exercise and the buffets/restaurant eating, it was very hard.
The only good thing is that when I got back, I hit it hard and was able to drop those 10lbs within a week, which makes me think a lot may be water retention, ect.

Good luck, hopefully you're getting some good advice AND you're strong enough to carry it out!

jamiem1102

What everyone has suggested is so great! I don't think people should be so scared to go out and have a great time. Just make sure you utilize portion control, healthy decisions, and most of all: have fun!

mrmanmeat

Kudos to all those that eat very well and lose weight on vacation. That is really great. Unfortunately, I gain every time I go on vacation. I walk a lot and go to the gym but good food is still part of a good vacation for me. BUT I always get right back on track with eating healthy, exercise, and drinking lots and lots of water when I get home. I know this is not the way for everyone but it works for me. I still enjoy my vacation and keep moving forward on my journey. Whatever you do, don't let it take you completely off track if you gain weight on vacation or any other time for that matter. Enjoy you trip! Vacation is always wonderful and I think we all need it from time to time

I eat good food on vacation too. It's called portion control.

joy31021

Vegas next week for me- just plan to enjoy myself! there will be lots of drinking and eating but lots of walking too

TriumphNow

Kudos to all those that eat very well and lose weight on vacation. That is really great. Unfortunately, I gain every time I go on vacation. I walk a lot and go to the gym but good food is still part of a good vacation for me. BUT I always get right back on track with eating healthy, exercise, and drinking lots and lots of water when I get home. I know this is not the way for everyone but it works for me. I still enjoy my vacation and keep moving forward on my journey. Whatever you do, don't let it take you completely off track if you gain weight on vacation or any other time for that matter. Enjoy you trip! Vacation is always wonderful and I think we all need it from time to time

I eat good food on vacation too. It's called portion control.

There's always at least one that has to respond to someone's opinion just to be negative. My point was for him not to beat himself down if he gained on vacation. It happens just like we gain sometimes any way for various reasons. The important thing is to get right back on track and not let it totally deter you. The weight I gain on vacation is usually lost in a week or 2 so to me it's worth it. I put the extra effort in before and after so the gain is not out of control. As I said above, it's not the way for everyone but I think I've done very well overall and eating what I want on vacation does not mean I throw in the towel on my whole weight loss journey. That's why it's so important to look at this as an overall, long-term lifestyle change, not a temporary fix.

myak623

I'm not help since I always say, "Aww heck, I'm on vacation!"

Enjoy your vacation and don't stress it too much. If you're like me, I like being active on the beach, frisbee, vollyeball, football. You may be burning more calories than you think.

cshodges

Thanks for posting this, I also have a vacation coming up in June and have the same fears. I appreciate the ideas this has surfaced, so thank you!!

CyberEd312

Just returned form the OBX had a rental up the 4x4 beach for a week.... I came back a couple pounds heavier than I left but had told myself anything less than 5 lbs. was acceptable. (After losing 306 lbs. I wasn't fretting a few pounds). I got up every morning before the sunrise (which was breathtaking by the way) and hit the beach for a nice brisk morning walk... Being 8 miles up the 4x4 beach round trip into Corolla and Duck was a 90 minute excursion figuring in airing and deflating the tires for driving on the beach so I did not get in any weight training... So walks was all I did... I lax my eating and for the most part took the week off, I wasn't going to let the fear of food ruin our vacation so if I wanted chips I measured out a small bowl and if I wanted some salt water taffy or chocolate covered cashews I did the same... We ate out at a few places and enjoyed every minute of our trip and when we got back home I picked up right where I left off and within a week I was back to my weight I was when we left... Don't stress over it, enjoy your week off, get in some walks, and you'll be fine...... Enjoy yourself....

CyberEd312

Kudos to all those that eat very well and lose weight on vacation. That is really great. Unfortunately, I gain every time I go on vacation. I walk a lot and go to the gym but good food is still part of a good vacation for me. BUT I always get right back on track with eating healthy, exercise, and drinking lots and lots of water when I get home. I know this is not the way for everyone but it works for me. I still enjoy my vacation and keep moving forward on my journey. Whatever you do, don't let it take you completely off track if you gain weight on vacation or any other time for that matter. Enjoy you trip! Vacation is always wonderful and I think we all need it from time to time

Couldn't agree more and that is why we Enjoyed our vacations!!! lol We had a blast!! and was so worth the couple pounds....
I eat good food on vacation too. It's called portion control.

There's always at least one that has to respond to someone's opinion just to be negative. My point was for him not to beat himself down if he gained on vacation. It happens just like we gain sometimes any way for various reasons. The important thing is to get right back on track and not let it totally deter you. The weight I gain on vacation is usually lost in a week or 2 so to me it's worth it. I put the extra effort in before and after so the gain is not out of control. As I said above, it's not the way for everyone but I think I've done very well overall and eating what I want on vacation does not mean I throw in the towel on my whole weight loss journey. That's why it's so important to look at this as an overall, long-term lifestyle change, not a temporary fix.

MB_Positif

Just try to make the smartest food decisions you can at the restauratns. Try to share meals with others. I know it's probably not advised by most, but on my last vacation I was stuck on "family time" which meant no one was every ready to get moving until 11 am. So we pretty much only ate late breakfast and dinner each day which helped me not go over on calories. I kept little snacks in my bag and we were moving constantly. I didn't get to do any real exercise unless you count being at Disneyland from 9 am until 11 pm as exercise...haha.

scapez

I don't track when I'm on vacation - too much guesstimating and such. I eat 'pretty' well but I usually splurge as well. It's nice to go off the wagon every now and again.

Also, when I'm on vacation, I'm out and about more than I would be sitting behind a desk for 8 hours a day so that's something that I take into consideration too.

I "may" pick up an extra pound or two, but I just get back to the program and all is good with the world.

myfitnessnmhoy

You're setting up habits that will allow you to maintain your healthy weight for a lifetime. Consider this your first test.

Focus on activities that keep you moving, enjoy all the foods you want in small portions. Eat what you are hungry for, don't chomp down on empty calories when you aren't hungry. Do your best and when you get back the scale will be your score.

There is no "fail", there are only successes and minor setbacks. When you get back, you get to see how ready you are to maintain this on an ongoing basis.

If you maintained the same weight, it's a WIN!

jsjaclark

Thanks for all the ideas and support!! I am planning on getting up early and doing some fast walking on the beach. Since we are renting a house I am not sure there will be a gym nearby but I can still walk...before the kids are up, after they are asleep, during the day.
Thanks too for the water idea. I'm not a drinker but I do love me some sweet tea. :-)

Since you are renting a house, you will have access to a kitchen so maybe instead of going out for every meal, you can cook a few. At least you can get breakfast and maybe lunch at the house. It will also save $$$$.

Thomakk

Headed to the beach myself in a couple of weeks. I plan on walking, swimming, and playing with the kids. We will be grilling at the house most of the week also. No worries. I'll continue to log calories when possible.