How to prepare for vacation

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.

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.

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?

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.

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 go

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.