Vacation and Tracking Tips!!

aimroe
aimroe Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi!! So I am going on vacation for a week! YAY :smile:
However I am worried about how to stay on track. The good thing is we rented a home, so I can watch food that way. But I know that I won't have access to a gym. Beach - yes. Pool - yes. Drinking alcohol - yes!

Any tips for help would be great :flowerforyou:

I do expect to gain a little - preparing myself for that... just want to enjoy my vacation but still not go over board.

Replies

  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I think the best plan of action is to walk, hike, and swim A LOT and then you can eat all of the things! And drink...cheers! Enjoy your vacation.
  • aimroe
    aimroe Posts: 13 Member
    Thanks! :drinker: I didn't think about the hiking! I did make sure to pack some good shoes tho!
  • gimpygramma
    gimpygramma Posts: 383 Member
    I am facing the same issue though our get away will be for two weeks and it is a road trip so lots of restaurant eating and many hours sitting in a car. I will try to get in at least an hour of walking a day but I find it hard to calculate calories when eating out. DH is heavily into ethnic restaurants so salad and grilled chicken is not usually an option. Looking forward to any tips that others may be able to offer.
  • crystalflame
    crystalflame Posts: 1,049 Member
    If you're going to be cooking and have control over your meals, make good choices like you would at home. Stay active - I may not be working out, but I know I move a lot more on vacation because I'm not tied to my office chair and there's a lot to see and do. Aim for maintenance calories instead of trying to lose... You can fit more booze in that way :drinker:
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    Did a cruise last year and enjoyed myself. Ate/drank whatever I wanted and walked everywhere. Came home, weighed myself, gained 7 pounds few days later I lost all of it. :bigsmile:

    OP, enjoy your vacation. :flowerforyou:
  • Murph1908
    Murph1908 Posts: 125 Member
    My vacation is coming up in about a month. My wife and I won't be tracking at all. We plan to enjoy the vacation thoroughly. Plus it'll be hard to estimate much of the eating out calories (ball park food, amusement park food, etc)

    How much weight can we really expect to gain? If we eat 1000 calories over our maintenance every day, we'll gain 2 pounds. That's 3500 calories for me. We'll be walking quite a bit, so our activity will be higher, so maybe 4000. I am not going full binge and stuffing my face all week, but just not worrying about trying to track anything.

    I am not afraid of a 2 or 3 pound gain. I'll drop those back off in 2 weeks at the most.

    So my tip is to not track.
  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,269 MFP Moderator
    My tip is to watch portion sizes. You can eat whatever you want, but realize when you order food from a restaurant, you're getting way more food than any one person should eat (unless you order ala carte). I usually ask the waiter to bring a go box with my food, then portion it in half and put one half in the box. That way I'm not tempted to over eat... And if I get hungry later, I have a handy snack ready to eat. :)
  • dorothytd
    dorothytd Posts: 1,138 Member
    I'm all for enjoying vacation! But I think one of the mistakes a lot of people make (if weight gain is a concern), is that everything gets tossed into the wind. But it doesn't have to be and you can still have a great time.

    For example .... There is generally a lot of down time in which to schedule something active. Sometimes I will just put my elbows up on the edge of the pool and bicycle my legs for an extra burn while we're hanging out. And the food... Even in the preparing at a vacation home, we'll pick some healthy options to go with the less healthy ones, so the meal isn't a total wash. If it is a donut morning, then it isn't an ice cream night. (Save that for the cereal morning day.) Balance is good!

    Most foods and drinks are trackable. It doesn't take that much time and keeps you in the right mindset. I agree with the person who mentioned maintenance calories. Definitely expect to go over if you're "set" to lose.

    Of course, most of all, have a great time. Vacations are rare and wonderful things.
  • R_Woodruff
    R_Woodruff Posts: 74 Member
    My plan of attack for vacation (which is in 10 days!) is to share meals with my mom who is going with me. I'm going to the Florida Keys so good thing about that is a lot of fresh seafood options, but still need to watch my portions. I am prepared to gain, but hopefully will maintain. FINGERS CROSSED! lol All you can do is try your best to keep it under control and enjoy yourself! I won't be tracking personally, but to each is own. :D
  • redwoodkestrel
    redwoodkestrel Posts: 339 Member
    I'm heading on vacation to Hawaii in about 2 weeks for 10 days. I have a small, portable food scale that I can pack in my luggage. We've rented a house so I should be able to track my breakfast and lunch accurately, plus the house has a fitness room. Dinners will be harder since different people are taking turns making dinner each night, and some nights we will go out. And this is a family reunion, and when my family gets together, the drinks flooooooow. :drinker:

    My plan is to do my usual 20-30 minute morning workout (either through walking/running or in the fitness room), have sensible breakfasts and lunches, be very active during the day (hiking, swimming, snorkeling, and kayaking are four of my favorite things *ever*!), to have a couple drinks with my family in the evening, and to enjoy dinners without stressing over them. :happy:

    I want a stress-free vacation, including not stressing about food. So the plan I've come up with seems the most sensible to me to enjoy my vacation while also not going crazy on the calories. :laugh:
  • Sunbrooke
    Sunbrooke Posts: 632 Member
    My husband and I take a lot of mini vacations and trips. Here are some tips I've learned:

    -don't treat every meal like a special treat meal. Pick one a day and try extra hard to eat healthy for the others
    - opt for the hotel buffet for breakfast, when possible. They usually have fresh fruit, yogurt, whole grain cereal/oats, and hard boiled eggs. It is easier to eat healthy there than at IHOP since there won't be a menu full of omelettes and pancakes to turn down.
    - grab a meal at the grocery store. Many grocery stores have salad bars now, so you can make your own salad and grab an apple and a bottle of water for a meal. They also have sushi, prewashed salad mix, individual salad dressing packets, light TV dinners, deli sandwiches, veggi trays. This goes for fast food too!
    -bring/buy some cheap paper plates, sandwich bags, and plastic forks utensils.
    -if you will be in your hotel room for a few days, go to the grocery store and buy some healthy snacks like chips and salsa, hummas and a veggi tray, lunch meat and pittas, hard boiled eggs, grapes, strawberries.
  • gimpygramma
    gimpygramma Posts: 383 Member
    My husband and I take a lot of mini vacations and trips. Here are some tips I've learned:

    -don't treat every meal like a special treat meal. Pick one a day and try extra hard to eat healthy for the others
    - opt for the hotel buffet for breakfast, when possible. They usually have fresh fruit, yogurt, whole grain cereal/oats, and hard boiled eggs. It is easier to eat healthy there than at IHOP since there won't be a menu full of omelettes and pancakes to turn down.
    - grab a meal at the grocery store. Many grocery stores have salad bars now, so you can make your own salad and grab an apple and a bottle of water for a meal. They also have sushi, prewashed salad mix, individual salad dressing packets, light TV dinners, deli sandwiches, veggi trays. This goes for fast food too!
    -bring/buy some cheap paper plates, sandwich bags, and plastic forks utensils.
    -if you will be in your hotel room for a few days, go to the grocery store and buy some healthy snacks like chips and salsa, hummas and a veggi tray, lunch meat and pittas, hard boiled eggs, grapes, strawberries.
    Some great ideas here. When it comes to breakfasts, I found when I did a lot of work related travel that in virtually any restaurant I could by-pass the menu and order one poached egg and two slices of multigrain toast and they would accommodate me.
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,161 Member
    I'm off to Europe on an 8-day vacation myself.

    To keep on track, I will continue to skip breakfast (which I have been doing now for 18 months, no problems!) and I will choose meat and veggie at every meal. No dessert. No bread. Allowance for booze.

    I will be walking everywhere....so, even though I won't be weight-lifting while I am away, I guess I'll get a cardio boost with all the walking!
  • aimroe
    aimroe Posts: 13 Member
    Great tips and insight everyone!! Thank you :flowerforyou:

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