Going on a cruise...

I am going on vacation at the end of November and aiming to lose 20 lbs.... I feel your pain with wanting to look good on a vaca!! I definitely agree with the other poster's reply. I plan to use the (free) cardio room in my hotel for my 5 night stay. That way, I know I'm putting energy into looking & feeling good, and I won't feel guilty having ANYTHING to eat on vacation. It's easy to think of a vacation as a "eat whatever you want, let's celebrate!" type of occasion, but as I can tell by your post both of us know that can sideline all the hard work you've put in! I actually have my bathing suit hanging in my room to motivate me! Is there a picture of yourself from your last cruise that you can keep with you on this one, to motivate yourself? My boyfriend is the SAME as your husband, he can eat and eat... he does gain, but he's a tall/muscular guy who can lose easily (grrr... lol). So it's tempting to order the same thing or split what he's getting because it looks so good ("Oh, I'll get a burger too...", etc.). BUT I have to tell you, the last few weeks I have gone to the grocery store and have been making healthy meals, and he has been making changes just following my footsteps! So if you make those changes for YOU, he may just follow suit. Now instead of fast food on work breaks, my bf actually told me he ate a tuna sandwich, yogurt & celery, and loves not spending all that extra money on fast/bad food every day. Also, it helps to go grocery shopping together to pick out healthy foods you both like. I found that my boyfriend and I especially like snack foods late at night (bad, I know). Instead of something bad like candy or sweets, we decided to get hummus and Wheat Thins - yum! Now we are addicted So, some things that have helped me would be, keeping up working out despite you being in a vacation/fun environment, order what is best for YOU instead of going with what your hubby orders (not saying you do this, but I know how easyyy that is to do), and grocery shop together to pick healthy foods. Do it little by little and you will be amazed. We are now eating turkey burgers instead of beef (delicious, and much better for you!), cooking on the George Foreman now that the weather is cooler out, snacking on fruits, veggies, yogurt, etc.
Some options for good foods that most places have: a salad with grilled chicken, grilled chicken wrap (without dressings), turkey burgers or mini turkey burgers, grilled chicken, and lots of soups! I also split my plate in half by separating it with my fork, and when I'm done with the first half I evaluate if I'm actually hungry enough to eat the second. Most of the time, I haven't been. So those are a few things that help me...hopefully they will help you on your vacation! And a 20 pound loss is amazing, don't get down on yourself - just keep it up!

One of my MFP friends asked me to respond - I just returned from a British Isles cruise. Here is what I did - although I did gain 4 lbs that I believe was water weight because I lost it in four days. By the time a week was up I was down two additional lbs.

I never went to the main dining room for breakfast - ate casual buffet - oatmeal, fruit, yogurt - healthy. Lunch was sometimes on an excursion and I just watched what I ate - more veggies - no starches/bread. Dinner in the dining room I ordered seafood choices - more veggies and no starches/bread. They had a low cal dressing for salads. I did order dessert but found myself eating a bite or two and savoring it.

The drinks will kill ya! Order something light like white wine and sip! I think the martini's are what caused the gain!

The ships have a great gym - work out at least every other day. I joined two spin classes on "at sea" days. Skip the show and go dancing after dinner! Take the walking excursions. If you are going on a warm weather cruise - swim! I swam two days only because of the weather and excusions we went on.

Most of all - have a great time and enjoy every bite!