How to prepare for vacation
Wingg_
Posts: 395 Member
Hi, I am going on vacation on March and I kind of scared of gaining lots of weight back. Therefore, I am starting to lose a couple of kg to prepare for the vacation. Or do you guys normally lose the holiday weight after your vacation? I'm gonna try to eat healthily during the trip but it beig said that its a vacation I don't want to restrict myself too much. So I am going to lose a few kg before March. How do you actually prepare for upcoming vacation?
0
Replies
-
I like to workout while on vacation, it helps minimize the gains during. I always choose hotels with workout rooms and pools...
Drink lots of water to help eliminate the sodium bloat. Get back on a deficit when you get back and amp up your workouts. (I guess the same goes for before the vacation, as well.)0 -
i don't know what kind of vacation you're planning, but you might have access to a hotel gym, or at least a road to do some running on if you're worried about not being able to exercise. try and look at it as a break in your regularly scheduled program.
if you're worried food wise, keep logging your food if you have internet access. if you don't, just try and stick to smart decisions. load up on fruits and veggies while eating out.
but remember, it's vacation. enjoy yourself.0 -
I too am going away in March.
I reached the lower end of my 5 lb sliding maintenance weight a couple of weeks before Christmas.
From now until March I will eat at my TDEE which will be maintenance, plus exercise x 5.
With the amount of activity during my holiday ( cruise then 5 wk in UK) I only expect to be a couple of pounds heavier and still within my maintenance weight goal when I get home.
Don't forget one usually retains water when travelling, so ignore the scales the first week you get home.
Cheers, h.0 -
I prepare by buying some sun cream and packing my clothes.
Your vacation is three months away and you are already stressing about a potential temporary weight gain and getting "scared of gaining lots of weight back". Sorry but IMHO that's not the way to live your life and not the way to be a happy maintainer.
So what if you gain a couple of temporary pounds? Just get back in your normal routine after your break and maybe a small calorie deficit for a while and you will lose it again and just have memories of a good vacation.0 -
I prepare before the vacation and then I do whatever I want while on the vacation. Then I fix whatever I did when the vacation is over. The delicious vacation.0
-
Honestly, I would try not to think of it as a "vacation from healthy eating". Food for most of us is an addiction, that is why we gain weight because it makes us feel good or we are super stressed and turn to something that gives us instant gratification. Not many heroine addicts would say "well, I am going on vacation so I get to do heroine for a few days, but then I am going to go back to no drugs once I am home". Eating healthy and working out is a life change! (just another perspective) lol This is how I psyche myself out into not eating junk.... now a cupcake is not as bad as heroine of course.. Or is it?0
-
Since I believe in wearing some sort of activity tracker (right now, I am trying out a fitbit flex and a lumo) I get my 10000 steps in, and try to make each meal like I am at home and I don't eat just because food is around. Oddly, this is easier now that most airlines are charging for snacks (no free peanuts anymore!) I also have a Barre3 and yoga ap on my iPad and iPhone with quick workouts on them - no props needed! I stand as much as I can while traveling as well. Plenty of time to sit on airplanes, and the airport certainly has plenty of room to walk!0
-
One more thing - my husband and I have a rule on all cruises - no elevator after we get our carry on luggage in the room. We traditionally lose weight on cruises by just not making the food our entertainment...and not taking the elevevator.0
-
My vacations always mean a lot of additional walking and sightseeing. And then, I will chose to walk some more. I'll go one subway stop further. Or walk around a park rather than through it. Take the stairs, not an elevator. Find a grocery that is close to your hotel so you can get some fruit for nutritious snacks. I still log everything I eat and try to stay at a maintenance level so I don't totally blow my progress, but it allows me an extra glass of wine and an extra treat. Healthy food is great food! I make similar choices as at home, but at much better restaurants. I stay away from the sauces, starches, and desserts with only an occasional indulgence. If I have a pound or so to lose when I get home, I buckle down and do it.
0 -
on my honeymoon I went on a week long cruise and I ate basically whatever I wanted but just less. I think I gained 2 temporary lbs the whole week and was happy I didn't go crazy on calories but also happy I didn't completely restrict myself. find a happy medium and yes, work hard until you go0
-
I ate out for a week in vacations last July and we didn't walk that much either, and I only gained 2 pounds... and with my small deficit it took me a month to lose it. Not the end of the world at all. Just because it's vacations doesn't mean you have to eat all the foods, just be mindful of what you eat (have treats, sure, but maybe not 3 a day, if you're going to have dessert, don't have fried food beforehand etc), be active, and it shouldn't be an issue at all.0
-
How long is your vacation? Say it's a week and you indulge in extra booze and dessert every day...assume an extra 1000 calories a day. That's really only 2-3 lbs for the whole week, unless you plan to do nothing but eat. I wouldn't stress about it too much and just enjoy yourself.0
-
You haven't given enough details of the vacation to give you a solid answer.
For example, my last vacation was a road trip - 10 days and around 5k miles. I drove to the next destination at night and either hiked or saw historical sites during the day. The first day, I planned to hike 26 miles, but only got 16 miles in due to a mild injury. I over-ate that day because I ate back more than I expended. Over the rest of the trip, I had to be more careful, but ultimately had ended up with some extra calories. No big deal... I can go back to eating less after the trip.
If, on the other hand, your vacation includes very little (or no) activity... even from walking around various places (use a tracker like Fitbit for this), then the answer would be to focus more on food intake. You need to provide more details.0 -
Vacation in the wilderness with only the food you can carry on your back or hunt/gather. The best way is to have somebody take you out in a helicopter and leave you somewhere. Extra points if there are bears - you will have to run.0
-
I prepare for vacation by reading about interesting things to see and do, making sure my packing list is up to date and appropriate for my destination, and buying anything I need to take that I don't have.
Part of my preparation is to look for places to run, hike, and bike, and if I plan to bike a lot, I'll find a place to rent a bike, or pack my folding bicycle. I like to stay active.
I don't worry about food, though, other than to keep in mind the basic principle that most of the time, I should eat only when I'm hungry, and if there's a treat, I should have as little as I need to be satisfied.
If I gain a little weight, I know what I need to do to lose it again, and I'll do that when I get back.0 -
Like others have said, it's going to depend on what kind of vacation you're talking about. If you're on land, it's potentially possible to keep better track of your calories thanks to many restaurants having their information available as well as the possibility to buy food in a store and use the nutrition information labels.
Myself, when I go on vacation it usually means going on a cruise. In my experience, that means that the only nutrition label in sight is on the back of the beer bottle. Everything else is a mystery.
I'll usually try to vaguely track my calories, but I don't sweat it that much because I know I won't have an accurate gauge of the portion size and I won't know everything that the chef has put in.
I never say "I can't eat _____ because I'm watching my weight". Rather, I enjoy the opportunity to try new or fancier foods and attempt to mitigate things by:
1) Making multiple, SMALL trips through the buffet, giving myself the opportunity to figure out if I've had enough before making the next sojourn. (This also helps avoid feeling obligated to clean an overloaded plate.)
2) Trying to get a basic workout in. You can find many "on-the-go" or "hotel" workouts to let you do something with minimal equipment.
3) Making activity that isn't dedicated exercise into a part of the vacation. This includes things like taking the stairs, not the elevator, walking between destinations, and simply going for a stroll every now and then. On my last cruise, we decided to do a "Deck-athalon" where we'd walk a lap on every accessible deck, just to have something to liven up a day at sea.
Most of my cruises have been seven days or less, so I've never really put on much weight in that timespan. If I do, it's usually quick to come off with a little extra effort when I get home.
Given that you're in a "maintenance" phase, as long as your vacation isn't very long, you probably won't have much to worry about as long as you don't gorge yourself.0 -
I agree with other posts that you can't consider this a vacation from a healthy lifestyle--making it your lifestyle (including while on vacation) is what's going to lead to long-term success. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy/splurge, but for me, it would be a lot about mindset. I'd stay mindful on vacation because the bigger challenge would be upon return if I had overindulged. It would be hard to rein in cravings if I were to spend spend a string of days eating treats. For a vacation, I would maybe plan on a couple of treat meals--spread out by a couple of days--but stay focused otherwise. It's natural for me to want to do more active things on vacation (even if it is just long days of walking). So I'd just make sure to incorporate being active, either by hitting a gym, running along a beach, hiking, sightseeing, etc.0
-
Preparing in advance by losing a little bit of weight is an interesting idea! I usually gain about 5 pounds on vacation, but most of it is water weight that drops off quickly after I get back to my normal habits. I've never tried losing the weight in advance, but it seems like it would be worth trying out!
I always have trouble tracking my calorie intake when I'm on vacation, so I can't speak to that part of the equation. I try not to make it a free-for-all, but I do tend to want to eat local foods that aren't always trackable in the app... for example, I ate at an amazing vegetarian buffet in Stockholm this year, but could not have told you the names of most of the dishes.
I look for ways to stay active on vacation, usually doing a lot of walking around cities or hiking in nature, and I try to pick hotels that have fitness centers so I can put in some time on the elliptical. If you aren't staying somewhere with a fitness center, in the US you can often find local gyms that offer a daily drop-in rate of $5-$10.
0 -
I prepare by buying some sun cream and packing my clothes.
Your vacation is three months away and you are already stressing about a potential temporary weight gain and getting "scared of gaining lots of weight back". Sorry but IMHO that's not the way to live your life and not the way to be a happy maintainer.
So what if you gain a couple of temporary pounds? Just get back in your normal routine after your break and maybe a small calorie deficit for a while and you will lose it again and just have memories of a good vacation.
This x1000. I went on my last vacation with the mental attitude of pure relaxation and you know what happened? I drank a LOT of pina coladas, ate what I wanted when I was hungry, stopped eating when I felt satisfied, and overall lost two pounds.
Stress will set you back. Do what you can now to get healthier and go and enjoy yourself!!!
0 -
I wasn't worried about gaining weight when I went on vacation, because it was a VACATION. A vacation from working out, a vacation from counting calories. I ate what I wanted and drank even more than that, and didn't feel guilty about any of it. But the best part was that I did so much walking while I was away that I actually lost 5 pounds by the time I got back.0
-
I just got back from a five-day christmas bender. I stayed at a hotel with a nice fitness center that I busted out some treadmill and elliptical for an hour each morning. then I went and sat with family and drank my life away (in the form of vodka-cranberries) all day, each day. I ate everything in sight. I enjoyed family time. I focused on my workouts, and drinking at least a gallon of water each day. my work pants wouldn't button, yesterday. but today, I'm back to needing to wear a belt. "just keep moving." and drink as much water as you can (especially if you party hard). you'll be alright. go. have fun. and don't forget your toothbrush!0
-
Enjoy yourself , this is my advice. not only food wise, but everything wise. take long walks , swim if in a cruise , work out if you feel like it, and if you don't who cares , its only a couple of days , don't stress over it so much. this is what I do, and usually I loose from 5 pounds to more depending on how long I am on vacation.0
-
On my last vacation I stayed at Holiday Inn Expresses most nights. They have gyms. Most hotels have internet access, so you can still track calories, and look up meals from chain restaurants to have a good idea of how many calories you are eating. I packed a baggie of trail mix for on-the-road snacks, and bought some cut-up veggie paks as I went. I brought my laptop to the hotel gym and worked out in the morning, before the rest of my party got up. I used the Blogilates beginner's calendar - no equipment needed for most of the exercises..
While we were there I was walking around the park all day (8-12 hrs). I logged it as about 5 hours of walking a day, taking out a 1/2 hour of total walk time for every event (i.e. ride, parade, meal) during the day. All that exercise suppressed my appetite.
I didn't buy a lot of treats for myself (one one-scoop sundae and a couple of Dole Whips), but I would have a bite or spoonful of my daughters' churros, soft pretzels, and frozen lemonades when they offerred. All logged, and I kept under my calorie goals every day. Nowadays, I would try to get more protein...
At the end of the trip I had lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks (6 days in the car, 5 days in the park) so...Of course, being morbidly obese meant I was burning a lot of calories just doing the walking...
Vacationing doesn't necessarily mean weight gain, and weight maintenance doesn't mean no treats. Enjoy yourself, and enjoy your time with whoever is going with you0 -
Whenever I go on vacation, I always try to stay in a hotel with a gym and/or I map out running routes beforehand. I make sure to do some cardio every single morning. Then I enjoy myself but I don't go crazy - I make healthy choices while making room for some treats. And if I gain a few pounds, it's not a big deal - I just lose them when I get back.
If you're maintaining right now, then you should be aware at this point of what is a healthy choice and what is not. While losing weight beforehand in anticipation of a weight gain might sound like a good idea, I'm not so sure that it is... It's just life. Enjoy it.0 -
I just got back from a weeks' vacation - the hotel we stayed in had a small gym. I used the gym for 4 of the 6 days we were there - the other two days I walked a lot outside. I feel better doing something every day.0
-
Unless your vacation consists of you being locked in a chocolate factory for 10 days I wouldn't worry about it.
0 -
tracyannk28 wrote: »Unless your vacation consists of you being locked in a chocolate factory for 10 days I wouldn't worry about it.
I need to figure out how to book such a vacation.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »tracyannk28 wrote: »Unless your vacation consists of you being locked in a chocolate factory for 10 days I wouldn't worry about it.
I need to figure out how to book such a vacation.
+1
0 -
I lose an extra three or four pounds before the holiday. This has worked for me in the past. I come back to being a little bit over my "zone" and a couple of days later I'm back where I want to be on the scales.0
-
I also have a vacation in March and have worried about this as well. I will not be in maintenance yet and don't want to gain or stunt my weightloss. I managed to escape the Holidays with steady weight loss and working out. Generally, I don't drink except when on vacation. We're going to a resort in the Caribbean and there will be lots of beach and drinking. The one thing I remember from prior vacations there is that I felt really awful if I overate in all that heat. So my approach is to eat only when hungry and to stop before I feel full. And also not to give myself a license to abuse junk food and candy. If I'm at dinner and want dessert, fine. But I won't raid the grocery shelves of candy and junk for the room. I'm not taking any doggy bags; if I didn't finish it at the restaurant, so be it.
There is also a gym so I plan to work out, if I feel like it. I was thinking I might use the opportunity to do some extra heavy lifting since I haven't been building muscle while on a caloric deficit. So I think of it as a sort of "bulk" opportunity. And when I get back I will return to a caloric deficit and do a "cut". It might wind up being a really good thing.
I would love to hike or do a lot of walking but I'm not sure I can get my vacation buddies to agree to that. But at the very least, I can squeak out an hour of HIIT/Weights every morning or so. Mentally, it will help me from freaking out about gaining weight.
Maintenance scares me because I am really good at losing weight but not so good when my foot comes off the pedal. So this will be like "practice" for when I am in maintenance. I can have rich food but I don't have to abuse it. And I need to prove to myself that you can't get fat in a day or a week. It takes prolonged caloric excess to accomplish that. As long as I get back to normal when I get back, I will be just fine.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions