Vacation time... HELP!

southernchick417

Hey guys! So I need some advice.. This has been bothering me for the past few days now and I just don't know how to go about it. So I'm going home on vacation for about ten days (FL to PA) at the end of the month. Part of me doesn't even want to go because I know i'm going to mess up and hate the scale when I get back. Now, when I'm home, there is a lot of home cooked meals and family get togethers and going out since its been years since everyone has seen me. How do I go about this? Do you guys stay on track during vacation and track calories? Or do you say screw it, it's vacation and not track anything? We're usually up very early and go to bed very late because we go out on the town, shopping, exploring and visiting old favorite places... which leads to yummy restaurants for lunch and dinner most of the time. What should I do? I would reallllly hate to gain weight but I know I'm not going to lose any on vacation. Any advice or your own experiences would be wonderful

knitmom71

We spent a good part of December on vacation, and I worried about this before I left too. In the end, it wasn't bad. I didn't log, but I had been doing so for long enough before we went that I had a pretty good idea what I could eat without going totally overboard. When we went to restaurants (which we did a lot), I generally tried to order the healthier things on the menu (sometimes even checked the calorie values online from my smartphone), but I also made a point of enjoying myself and ignoring the nutritional content sometimes. I came back about 4 pounds heavier than when I left (after being away for 2 1/2 weeks and hardly exercising beyond walking), and it took me a couple of weeks after we got back to take them off. It was well worth the slow down of the overall weight loss to be able to enjoy myself while I was away. At the same time, I was careful enough that it wasn't too big a setback to overcome when we got back.

an8e

It's difficult to get out of home cooked meals without offending a family member, so exercise it up!

I recently went on holidays and it was a 'gourmet food trail' think chocolate, cheese, pasta and wine. I ate rich foods: but only until I felt full. I exercised every day, was very busy. I was unable to log in to mfp as there was no phone service, but at the end of the holidays??? I had lost weight (only a little, but I was stoked!)

Good idea from the person above about ordering healthiest menus when out at the restaurants: no need to worry about offending anyone in that scenario. Good luck with the home cooked meals! You got this!

southernchick417

Thank you both! Awesome perspectives from each end Since you mentioned it an8e, over the holidays I actually somehow lost 5 pounds from barely any exercise, just watching my portions. I think I will be able to do this after all!