Going CRUISING!

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myfriendb00
myfriendb00 Posts: 20 Member
in Success Stories
Well people June 28th I set a goal to lose 50 lbs before my cruise which is this sunday!! I have cruised before and no how easy and tempting ALL the food can be! Well with 4 days left to go...I have lost 46 lbs.... I have decided to go for another 30 lbs...to put me at my ideal weight for my body. I want to enjoy my long awaited vaca....but know I will worry about THE FOOD...and feel I have to exercise all the time!!! EEEEEEEEE

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  • Minnie5732
    Minnie5732 Posts: 2 Member
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    I'm going on my first cruise this winter and I'm worried about the food. Do you track your food while on the cruise? How do you control yourself?
  • myfriendb00
    myfriendb00 Posts: 20 Member
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    I will be trying to track it all..... both on ship and in the ports... I figure I will also be doing alot of walking...so that will help. Hopefully the gym has a scale! haha....dont want to come back with an additional 10lbs... not a good surprise! And BTW...YOU WILL LOVE your cruise ENJOY!
  • mensasu
    mensasu Posts: 355 Member
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    Sounds like you had similar goals to mine. I started in July and we cruise Feb 3 for 49 days! I want to be 50 pounds down by then and so far have lost about 40 .....but..... we booked another set of cruises for 14 days total leaving Nov 16 so now I have the same kind of dilemma.... Likely will only be down the 40 pounds for this set of cruise but don't want to gain weight or I won't meet my Feb goal ..... plus I've heard that its common to gain 1 lb per cruise day!

    so my goals on the cruises are:
    1) No alcohol ... okay that cheating cause we don't drink so its easy
    2) No desserts ... relatively easy since we have given up sweets since July and don't have any cravings for them
    3) Stay low-carb ... maybe harder but there are a lot of good food choices and saying no to bad choices has to be done if we are going to survive the 49 day cruise we have planned and not look like blimps when we return
    4) Lots of water to flush out the sodium they apparently lace all cruise food with
    5) Walk the promenade and swim on sea days. Do lot of walking tours on shore.
    6) Take the stairs always

    So its wonderful you've pretty much made your first goal and have decided to go for more. (I'm also now about 30 away from my ideal and that will be my next weight goal) And good luck on the cruise ... just be sensible and I know you can do it cause you've gotten this far already!
  • mensasu
    mensasu Posts: 355 Member
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    I will be trying to track it all..... both on ship and in the ports... I figure I will also be doing alot of walking...so that will help. Hopefully the gym has a scale! haha....dont want to come back with an additional 10lbs... not a good surprise! And BTW...YOU WILL LOVE your cruise ENJOY!

    The spas usually have a scale, but they say you should weigh yourself when its in port to keep the variations down. Also see if you can weigh yourself when you first get on board and then wear roughly the same clothing each time. Remember that you WILL see weigh gain from the salt.
  • myfriendb00
    myfriendb00 Posts: 20 Member
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    I love everything about cruising...EVERYTHING! The steps are a great idea.... and desserts.....WELLLLL the chocolate melting cake is SOOOO good. Maybe just one! haha And for sure with the swimming! I will be hitting the gym...early A M and late nite also. The key is to not lose track of what goes in...and make sure you burn off the extra!!
  • myfriendb00
    myfriendb00 Posts: 20 Member
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    I will be trying to track it all..... both on ship and in the ports... I figure I will also be doing alot of walking...so that will help. Hopefully the gym has a scale! haha....dont want to come back with an additional 10lbs... not a good surprise! And BTW...YOU WILL LOVE your cruise ENJOY!

    The spas usually have a scale, but they say you should weigh yourself when its in port to keep the variations down. Also see if you can weigh yourself when you first get on board and then wear roughly the same clothing each time. Remember that you WILL see weigh gain from the salt.
  • myfriendb00
    myfriendb00 Posts: 20 Member
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    Hey thanks for the tip!! Why not weigh on sea days??
  • mensasu
    mensasu Posts: 355 Member
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    Hey thanks for the tip!! Why not weigh on sea days??

    The movement of the boat apparently can swing the scale quite a bit. I know its sounds weird cause I would have thought there would be as much movement in dock but that's what I read.
  • Rabbit914
    Rabbit914 Posts: 246 Member
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    Congrats on your accomplishment so far!! For me a cruise is a very special occassion so I say enjoy yourself, but try not to OVER indulge. Indulging is ok. It's when youhave 2 molten cakes each night that you may have an issue. Walk alot, but really overall I say enjoy yourself. I know I couldn't go on a cruise and be restrictive, maybe make better choices and not as many helpings of good stuff as I used to, but I would certainly enjoy myself. When you get home you're right back on track. Enjoy your cruise!! IMO- it's the only way to vaca!! I love it!
  • AliciaAnne1984
    AliciaAnne1984 Posts: 35
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    I worked on cruise ships for a few years so I'm familiar with the food dilemma. My first year I gained weight, then I came to my senses and stopped with the unhealthy choices.

    For me it was all about:

    - Drink lots of water.
    - Portion control. You're on vacation so I think indulging a little is good but balancing that and not doing huge amounts of indulging every day.
    - Hit the gym and the walking track.

    The great thing about those huge buffets is that they do have lots of healthy options, it's just that most people don't choose them :)

    Have fun!
  • fitwithin
    fitwithin Posts: 210 Member
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    Congratulations on your weight loss! You will do great. Just take the stairs, dance to the great bands, and stay active. Watch your portions and enjoy yourself! We have a cruise planned in December to the Bahamas and another one with the girls in Cozumel in February. I've lost 30 pounds and ready to get serious to lose another 20. Good luck and have a wonderful time!
  • kjm123079
    kjm123079 Posts: 43
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    I just got back from my cruise this past Sunday and I can tell you, it seemed hard at first to be able to control it all, but ultimately it was easier than I thought. I decided it was easier to go to the buffet (rather than fancy restaurants) each time because I could choose what I ate and how much. There were alot of healthy options like fresh fruit at every meal, alot of steamed veggies and healthier options. Also I chose to walk around port each day instead of the bus tours. When I did do tours, I chose ones that had some activity in them, not a 4 hour seated bus tour. And last but not least, if you can, forget you ship has an elevator. Walking up and down those stairs all the time helped. Always makes you feel better know you gotta climb (in my case 7 -10 flights of stairs) to get to and from the food. Good luck and have a great time.
  • leslie4302
    leslie4302 Posts: 33 Member
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    I went on a cruise in February and managed to only come back one pound up. I still ate the foods I wanted/liked, I just worked really hard on watching my portions and not going crazy. Which cruise line are going going on? We were on Carnival and I tried some of their low cal options at dinner, and they actually turned out to be really good. Especially their sugar free desserts. I had been dieting since December, and was also surprised to find that some of the foods I loved on my last cruise didn't taste so great anymore, as my body, and taste buds, had become accustomed to healthier food. You may experience this also.

    As for activity, I only used the gym once. I ran on the treadmill, but I felt unbalanced being on a moving ship. I focused on choosing excursions where I could burn lots of calories- snorkeling, swimming, etc. (When we were snorkeling I let all of the air out of my vest and tried to swim a lot.) I also walked around the ship a lot. There's always stuff to see/do, and there's a track.

    Enjoy!
  • m_wilh
    m_wilh Posts: 362 Member
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    Hubby and I went on a cruise in March and LOVED it! I didn't overeat once. I ate what I wanted to but as soon as I was satisfied, I stopped. We used the stairs instead of the elevator, walked all over the ship, used the gym each day, and was very active at the ports. I also drank lots of water. The bad news is I gained 8 pounds anyway (I'm sure it was the sodium) because the day after I got back, I started drinking lots and lots of water and five days later, I was down, 9.5 pounds. That is the good news. Try not to obsess about the food. Enjoy your cruise and when you get home, get right back to what you've been doing leading up to cruise weight. Whatever weight you put on will come off fairly quickly.
  • kbmiller1
    kbmiller1 Posts: 9 Member
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    I went on a cruise in July and was going to be good and then thought, you know what, I'm on vacation. One week of "crazy" isn't going to kill me. I ate a lot, I drank a lot, I had dessert. I didn't work out (the gym was always CRAZY crowded and running on the deck was impossible). I did take the stairs all the time and was quite active swimming and in port.

    The moral of this story--at the end of the cruise I had gained
    two measly pounds-- which were gone two weeks after the cruise. I went right back to my good eating and lifestyle habits and don't regret a minute of my vacation!! I'd do it exactly the same again.

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