How to handle Holidays (vacation)

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siany01
siany01 Posts: 319 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Next Saturday I am off to Italy for a week. I have just really got back on the road for this journey and don't want to undo my progress so far by losing it on Holiday. I am planning on taking Jillian Micheal's away with me and doing 3 lots of 30ds level 2 but I suppose my biggest worry is staying on track for eating. How do I log the food, most of it is going to be restaurant food that won't give calories.

Don't get me wrong, I am planning on enjoying myself and having a few treats but I don't want to pay for it for weeks after could I just ate and ate.

Thanks

Replies

  • Querian
    Querian Posts: 419 Member
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    Just walk a ton while you are out sight-seeing and eat what you want! I always walk so much on vacation that I don't usually gain any weight. It's only a week, you'll be fine!
  • Siege_Tank
    Siege_Tank Posts: 781 Member
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    Generally, try and avoid the highest calorie foods, like Deep fat fried carbs (anything breaded and fried), and try and choose more veggies, protein, and meat.

    You don't have to log, it's supposed to be a VACATION!

    Just be mindful of the fact that you can eat a LOT of fried stuff without getting full, at an extremely high caloric price.
  • marcvandenberg
    marcvandenberg Posts: 190 Member
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    Walk a lot and make choices.
    Chicken steak fish etc
    Be easy on desserts, try a small sorbet-icecream
    Enjoy
    Share some dishes.
  • Athena53
    Athena53 Posts: 717 Member
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    DH and I are leaving for Paris next week and I know we're going to be walking a lot. I don't log my food, but if you like the discipline and accountability, maybe you could just write it down and put in some estimates.

    Having said that- relax a little. There's plenty of wonderful, healthy Italian food- pasta in tomato or olive oil sauces (not cream-based), seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables. DH and I also tend to pick up meals in grocery stores- probably a little over-processed, but you can get sandwiches, wraps, salads, and in most countries they have nutritional info on them. You get a view of local life, you save $$$ that you can spend on the occasional extravagant restaurant meal, and you have more time to sightsee (and walk!). Another thing: chose your splurges. You don't have to indulge in everything. It's easy for me to pass up ice cream and pizza, for example, but one review of our hotel mentions an exquisite pastry shop nearby where they had breakfast every morning. Goodbye, oatmeal bran and black coffee. Hello, napoleon pastry and coffee with REAL cream! I also found a bus trip to Reims to see the cathedral and tour a couple of Champagne manufacturers- with samples.

    DH is 15 years older than I am and likes to turn on the TV and make himself a martini after a day of sightseeing; I go to the gym or out for a run, and then we have dinner. I'm bringing a FitBit this time and hoping for a 20,000-step day here and there!
  • cyoka13
    cyoka13 Posts: 288 Member
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    I am leaving for vacation in just under two weeks. My plan:

    1) Log what I can. I eat at restaurants a lot anyways. If the restaurant does not have nutrition menus readily available, I do my best to estimate the calories and I choose healthy option *most of the time. I will be a place with a lot of seafood to, so that will help with making healthy choices.

    2) Sight see, walk and swim! Fortunately, I will be doing a lot of swimming which will help keep my TDEE up. I am also taking "You are your own gym" Although I will likely not get in my regular schedule, a few routines will help my progress stay on track.

    3) Enjoy! I will keep logging because even if I am not 100% accurate, it will help gage where I am at. But - I am not going to stress over being 100%. I am going to eat good food (sneak in a couple of pieces of key lime pie ;) and know that 9 days of vay-kay will not "ruin" my progress even if I do take a small baby step back. I also have the good fortune of liking data. Logging is not a hassle to me as it is to others because I see new data points that correlate directly with my weight loss/gain.

    Have a great time!
  • siany01
    siany01 Posts: 319 Member
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    Thanks. It is the accountability of logging that I want to keep, it helps to keep me mindful of my choices. I have 3 small children so the stress alone will burn alot of calories but it will be very active. There is a gym but its 6k away and I am not up to running that yet which is why I thought of taking 30DS with me.

    We will be buying food for breakfasts and most lunches, its the restaurants that I worry about, I have become so aware of how you can actually eat a days calories in one meal when eating out.

    Thanks for you tips
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    i wouldn't even worry about logging (just because i don't have international on my phone to log haha). you can maybe write down what you eat so you don't forget? i do that on vacation if i cannot get on this site, i just jot it down and try to guestimate that day what it is (i have been logging so long i am good at guestimating food nutrition), and then you can always add it later.
    stay active, walk around a lot. do your exercise. make smart food choices. the food in italia is amazing and i would hate for you to miss out on some things. no need to deprive yourself, but no need to make every meal laden with fat either. just try to stay away from anything with heavy cream, butter, extra oils etc. as long as you are moving around a lot and not eating non stop all day, you should be fine. i went to italy for a week and a half and really didn't gain any weight because we were literally walking around all day every day, so it didn't matter. make sure you get some of that gelato!!
  • flitabout
    flitabout Posts: 200 Member
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    Contrary to popular belief eating Itialian food isn't bad. I am not talking about what Americans have done to the food. I am talking real Italian food. Growing up in an Italian house household and eating that way I never had a weight issue. The bulk of the food we ate was fish lentils and veggies. Pasta and meat was the side dish. Make sure to stay away from the fast food and enjoy the real Italian food! Mostly just have fun it's a vacation 1 week isn't going to ruin your diet! Mostly have fun!
  • Athena53
    Athena53 Posts: 717 Member
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    Remember, too, that most European restaurants aren't into gargantuan Cheesecake-Factory type portions. Thank heaven. I read an article a long time ago about how requests for doggie bags are met with complete puzzlement in Europe. The portion sizes are more typical of a single meal rather than a meal plus a to-go box.
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    Contrary to popular belief eating Itialian food isn't bad. I am not talking about what Americans have done to the food. I am talking real Italian food. Growing up in an Italian house household and eating that way I never had a weight issue. The bulk of the food we ate was fish lentils and veggies. Pasta and meat was the side dish. Make sure to stay away from the fast food and enjoy the real Italian food! Mostly just have fun it's a vacation 1 week isn't going to ruin your diet! Mostly have fun!

    agreed. my family is full italian, but even when we went over there the food was very whole and delicious. the family had their own garden, and the food was mostly cooked with just olive oil which is good for you. i don't really recall eating anything fried per say, but there is a lot of awesome options out there that you just need to find! but yeah the week and a half i was there i really didn't gain anything. and we were out all night alla discoteca drinking and dancing lol (they're open until like 5am, it's awesome)
  • LadyL2012
    LadyL2012 Posts: 127 Member
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    Personally I do not diet on holidays, but that would probaby explain why I gain on them!

    I think in Italy it is easier to make better choices that are just as satisfying. For example try substituting pasta for lentils (about 150cals difference in serving) and stuff like parmesan and cheddar for ricotta. If you're mainly eating buffets in hotels I have a trick that always works. Dish your food up on the smaller plates, you think you're eating more than you are and you feel satisfied easier.

    Get walking up those hills and swimming to burn some calories too!
  • boatsie77
    boatsie77 Posts: 480 Member
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    Relax, enjoy your vacation--just make the healthiest, most delicious choices possible. You are trying to develop a lifestyle change where you eat healthy and exercise the majority of the year and relax and enjoy yourself while on vacation. Part of that lifestyle is to develop the ability to transition smoothly from one to the other--consider this a practice run on how you really want to live the rest of your life (which I'm sure isn't stressing out on vacations wondering if the chef slipped a pat of real butter into the fish sauce).

    Last week I returned from a 7-day cruise and didn't stress out over what I ate (which was a lot). A month before I left, I signed up for a Mud Run that would be held 2 weeks after I got back (which is next weekend BTW) to remind me to jump back into my healthy lifestyle the moment I set foot on shore.

    I weighed in when I got home and had gained only 2.2 pounds(!) which a week later are now gone + an additional 1.6...THIS is the way to live--not stressing out on vacation.

    Go! Enjoy! Then come back and return to your healthy lifestyle...you deserve nothing less.
  • Ranocchia
    Ranocchia Posts: 73 Member
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    How was your vacation?
  • ice1200s
    ice1200s Posts: 237 Member
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    Just keep moderation in mind and you'll do okay. Have a GREAT trip!
    I'm heading to FL in Dec for 11 days, and I'm not bring my fitbit, I'm not bringing my laptop, and I'm sure as hell not bringing my phone. I'm gonna have fun!! I will bring my Kindle (basic) reader in case I get some down time.

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