Vacation Weight Control

johnjely
johnjely Posts: 99
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm just now starting to be conscious of my health. This is good, yes, but I'm also a bit nervous. I have a week-long vacation planned at the end of July and am worried that it will impact my progress, or completely throw me off track. So...

I was wondering, what do all of you do to prevent the evil "vacation weight gain" ?

Replies

  • BelovedGarden
    BelovedGarden Posts: 11
    One summer on a very long trip, I would run around the gas station while my husband was filling the tank. That actually helped quite a bit.
  • nikki91950
    nikki91950 Posts: 647
    i hate to say it, but i'm in your same boat, darling. i'll be going on vacation for a week in less than a month from now. unfortunately, there's no sure fire way to guarantee that you'll keep yourself on the right track. i would recommend planning your meals ahead as much as possible, getting in as much exercise as you can (even just some extra walking or swimming), packing and bringing along some healthy snacks, keeping track of your calorie intake (if possible), and just making healthy choices with every meal that you eat. don't forget about portion control as well. i might even suggest picking one day or one meal to just not worry about what you're eating. maybe plan it for the middle of your vacation, and then you can have an incentive to stay on track in the beginning, and you'll get a little bit of a break, and you might be able to make it the rest of the week without stumbling. i hope this helps, and i wish you all the luck in the world!
  • kjensen15
    kjensen15 Posts: 398 Member
    If you're going some place tropical take advantage of the fresh fruits as well as the seafood! My achilles on vacation is the alcohol! :(
  • rtolworthy
    rtolworthy Posts: 10
    I, too, have a week long vacation at the end of July with the in-laws.. I'm nervous about gaining or just thinking that since I am on vacation I can eat whatever I want to. I know that I won't have a dedicated time to work out like I do when I am at home. The best plan of action I can think of is to just make healthy choices given what you have to work with. My husband and I had to make an emergency trip 2 weeks ago because his grandfather passed away. The food that was brought to his grandmother's house was amazing, plus it was my MIL birthday, so we had a triple layer German chocolate cake. I just ate small portions and didn't eat bread when we went out to dinner. I thought I did horribly the 5 days we were gone, but when I got home and weighed myself I was pleased to see I had lost 2 pounds! Just make the best of what you are given.. Enjoy your vacation and don't stress about gaining weight..
  • barbiecat
    barbiecat Posts: 17,202 Member
    :flowerforyou: If you have been posting your meals on MFP and learning as much as you can about nutrition and healthy eating, you will be able to order sensibly at restaurants----grilled, broiled chicken or fish, salad w/o cheese or croutons with dressing on the side, steamed veggies w/o butter....stay away from fast food restaurants, choose fruits and veggies for snacks.......also, as someone already said, get your exercise wherever you can find it.....suggest walking and other active forms of recreation......plan your eating in advance as much as possible and decline all offers of food that you hadn't planned to eat.....don't make eating the center of your vacation.:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
  • longhorns2
    longhorns2 Posts: 23
    Add me to the vacation worries list.

    I am not stressed about food as much as exercise. It's just hard to find the time to get exercise in when I am away from home and out of my routine. I am BIG on routine. So this is where I fall every year.

    I plan on picking up the running when I am gone- can do that anywhere, and it gets me away from everyone for a while. LOL But I am in the middle of P90X and I really don't want to stop, but think I will have to. So I am with yall on the stress over vacation weight watchin!
  • pagraber
    pagraber Posts: 5
    I had to work out of town for a week this month, but I found a couple of tricks worked for me. 1) I had access to my computer so I could keep up with MFP which helped a lot. 2) Plan where you are going to eat out ahead of time and go to their web site to look up nutritional information (I found Outback, Applebees, On the Boarder, Ruby Tuesday, Subway...all with nutritional information online). I knew before I walked through the door what I was ordering. If you can't go on line, most of these places have nutrition guides on site...try ordering from the guide instead of the pictures on the menu...you'll always choose better. 3) Take your home routine on the road. I did some of my P90X on my laptop DVD player in my hotel room. It wasn't much different from doing it at home. 4) Exercise when and where you can. We are vacationing next week at a State Park in Tennessee so there will be no excuses for me not to get out and exercise. 5) Finally, don't let your will power go on vacation somewhere else. Healthy lifestyles apply to vacations, holidays, and every other day in between. There are two things I don't want following me home from vacations, pounds and credit card bills...so I plan ahead for both.
  • Clew
    Clew Posts: 910 Member
    I too am going on vacay in less than a month. I've gotten into some pretty good healthy choices habits (I even ordered a nice healthy wrap sammitch at the pizza parlor while my guys ate a pepperoni pizza - MEH! - welllll, I might have had a LITTLE pizza, but that's still better than eating a big ol' plate of it :wink: ) ... so I'm just planning on making the best choices I can. And when all else fails, I'll just try to be extra-active. :happy:

    Have a great time and do the best you can :flowerforyou: Even if you gain a pound or two, it'll come back off. Dont let worry ruin your fun.
  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
    I went on a week long caribbean cruise about 6 weeks after I started on my healthy lifestyle. I managed to only gain a bit of water weight that was gone 3-4 days after I got back. Here were a few of the things I did.

    - Moved as much as possible. I would do laps just walking around the cruise ship with my friends, or just wander around. I didn't use the gym on the ship, but if there is a gym where you're staying you could go once a day.
    - Make smart food choices. You don't have to stick to salads and grilled chicken the entire vacation to stay low on calories, but just avoid things that are fried, soaked in butter, etc. Go for healthier sounding options that still appeal to you.
    - My vacations seem to involve a lot of walking, so that's great exercise that should help balance out what you eat. And if there are activities to choose from, be a bit adventurous. Try a hike or tubing or something where you're getting some exercise while having fun.
    - Limit the alcohol intake. I stuck to a drink a day, I think there were 2 days were I had 3 each. Coming from someone who just graduated college in Dec. and was on Spring Break, it was hard but worth it. I still had a great time, my room charges bill was much lower with less drinking, and I didn't gain a bunch of weight from empty drink calories.
    - DRINK WATER! In the same way you would try to avoid too much alcohol, skip the soda and lemonade and other sugary drinks and stick to good old water. If you want, bring the little packets of crystal lite to pour into your water glass.

    Have a wonderful time on your trip! Don't worry if the scale is up the day after you're get back. Give it a few days for water weight to go away and you should be fine :D
  • johnjely
    johnjely Posts: 99
    These are all great suggestions. I'll have my laptop with me, so you can bet your bums that I'll be on MFP on a daily basis. I'm going to Montreal, so there probably won't be an abundance of fresh fruit to munch on, but I'm sure I'll find other healthy alternatives. I'm also going to have to watch my alcohol consumption. (sigh)
  • roylawrence87
    roylawrence87 Posts: 970 Member
    I say do whatever you want on vacation. Thats exaclty what it is. A vacation. If you feel like eating it, then eat it. If not, then don't. You'll know by then if you research and research. I can go on vacation without binging or drinking too much. I eat just a taste under maintenance calories. But then again I could eat donuts and be under my maintenanca calories. So all I can say is educate yourself.
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