Travelling to Guatemala without gaining weight

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  • rnasm
    rnasm Posts: 29 Member
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    2BeHappy2 wrote: »
    Please let your sister enjoy her time there while you stick to your own plans!
    How 1 eats in their own familiar surroundings will usually be different when they go out of it, so let her enjoy this time of being with her friends and getting to visit such a wonderful place :smile:
    Thank you for your concern for my sister :blush: but its really she requested me to do that for her! I told her its only two weeks and she definitely deserves a break!

    According to her she will feel more comfortable having a set of rules in addition to guidelines to help her. Otherwise what she fears might happen is that she will enjoy one meal then feel worried (as its hard to guesstimate something so unknown to you especially in terms of cooking method) and then she will just eat "safe" foods, which she already know their nutritional and calorie info, and miss on experiencing the food.

    The restrictions are mostly in terms of portioning and scheduling, not in the foods themselves :wink:

    As you said each has their own way, and I am only obeying her requests, with the help of the lovely people at MFP :smiley:
  • rnasm
    rnasm Posts: 29 Member
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    ttcbelieve wrote: »
    Hi i'll add drinking lots of water especially in the evening
    Thanks! thats something easily forgotten!
  • rnasm
    rnasm Posts: 29 Member
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    Cheerios0392 wrote: »
    How long is she going for? If it's only a week or two she probably doesn't need to worry too much and can just work off any holiday weight when she gets home... the weight gain would probably only be a few kilos :)

    I'm going travelling soon but I'm going for a lot longer than a week or two and will be doing a similar thing to what you posted. However, my first step will be going to the supermarket when I land and buying things like protein bars, canned tuna, bread rolls, peanut butter etc and only eating 1 meal out per day.
    She is really worried about gaining a couple of kilos, as her weight loss is now averaging 0.6 a week, so a couple of kgs will take more than three weeks to offset :neutral_face:

    We did this for two trips awhile back each around two weeks, and we did just that! first thing done was supermarket for snacks, breakfast and lunch; had one meal out where we just ate normally (reasonable choices, standard portion control), shared a dessert, had coffee and biscuits out.
    It was okay then as they weren't really vacation trips where we wanted to explore and try new things.
    But yeah that is definitely is a good idea when travelling: first thing is to go to a supermarket :wink:
  • rnasm
    rnasm Posts: 29 Member
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    toronto_j wrote: »
    I travel quite a bit (usually two weeks max) and I don't worry too much. I haven't gained any weight on my last few trips. Basically I stick to drinking lots of water, eating fresh food, being mindful of portion sizes/eating one big meal and two smaller ones, limiting fried food and keeping up physical exercise (whether through activity like hiking or using a hotel gym). I know it's tough to give up control for a little while, but as long as I haven't gained (or gained more than a pound) when I get back, I'm happy. I was in Colombia last year and the portion sizes are huge with around 7 items on the plate but it seems to have been balanced out by all the physical activity. I ate lots of meat, hamburgers, a few desserts and alcohol.

    That is really good to know :smiley: thanks! As for fried food, maybe I am not very observant in terms of culinery arts, but I find it really hard to know which foods are fried in latin foods in general!

    So really thanks for the tip on fried food! I have underestimated how common it is there I have made her a list, of the common foods she expects there and added their descriptions and whether they are fried on not :wink: so she can limit the portions.
  • nickatine
    nickatine Posts: 451 Member
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    tonyrocks922 wrote: »
    When I travel I eat whatever I want but in a reasonable quantity and don't count/log. I don't continue to lose, but I've never gained anything but water weight on vacation.
    same
    But generally when I'm travelling I walk way more than I usually do, and maintain or even drop a pound or two. Last year when I was in Cabo San Lucas I was boozing it am to pm and eating what I pleased but walking everywhere and swimming frequently.
  • sonyacares
    sonyacares Posts: 8 Member
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    Ahhhhh....Guatemalan cuisine. My mouth waters! Black beans are a staple there. They just won't be in the form you are accustomed to. They aren't refried, they aren't whole, they are more of a thick paste form. I love them. Tortillas--(corn of course) you can get them on every other corner by the cute little ladies making them by hand (5 of those suckers for 1 Q!) Be careful of street meat and fruit vendors. There are those you can trust, but the locals have to tell you which ones. If you like mangos and papayas, you are in for a treat! Plantains, cheesy tacos called "gringas", Pollo Compero, Saritas ice cream, their bakeries, I could go on. My point: indulge in their culture. You guys will do enough walking to work most of it off. It's a BEAUTIFUL country. Enjoy it and don't obsess about MFP while there. Trust me, it will be very tricky to log their cuisine. Be safe-and have fun!
  • 2BeHappy2
    2BeHappy2 Posts: 811 Member
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    This is why I made the statement on not being too restrictive on the "rules" because its not like going on a cruise or to your in-laws where you can get the same foods anywhere.
    Have a heart to heart w/ your sister and let her know that her short time there is more precious spent with people that she doesn't get to see every day or anytime she wants. Shes going to be more active there than she's clearly used to, all in all I think everything will balance out.
    I think she'll enjoy her time sightseeing, being w/ friends and taking everything in that her food "choices" should not be the center of her attention!
    If she thinks or believes something might be higher calorie, she can share or have the rest to go but I think the experience of it all should be her main focus :wink:
    Of course having her own "go to" snacks will help her stay on track or in moments when they may not have access to a market, street vender or restaurant!
  • diegops1
    diegops1 Posts: 154 Member
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    I travel a lot in Central and South America. The only time I have gotten sick was from a Whopper at a Burger King in the Cancun airport on my way home after 3 weeks touring the backlands of Guatemala and southern Mexico visiting seldom visited ruins. My wife loves the Maya villages and people. We stay away from tourist towns as much as possible and travel by bus like the locals. My general rule is to eat where the local businessmen and govt officials eat. Portions in Guatemala are not huge like in the US. The locals are used to eating 1000 calories or less in a day. If you go to tourist locations, you can pig out, but why? Smaller portions do not hold for richer countries like Argentina, Brasil, etc. But in Central America I have never had a problem. Have fun.
  • williamwj2014
    williamwj2014 Posts: 750 Member
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    I hate this rule thing..I restricted myself while on vacation during the holidays and it was easily the dumbest things I could of done because I was so focused on weight loss and not the vacation. Just enjoy yourself out there and if you gain weight, lose it when you get back...it's not like you plan on coming back home and eating horribly (unless your will power is that bad) but based on how long you've been on a diet, you should be fine getting back on track...
  • transientcanuck
    transientcanuck Posts: 82 Member
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    I agree with what others are saying. I tried establishing rules while travelling to new countries and trying new things, but halfway through I ended up throwing in the towel because I felt too restricted. In the end I would gain numbers on the scale, but most of it would be in water weight. Any real weight I gained would just be lost again after getting back into normal routine.

    Plus, I would get exhausted with the constant guessing game of what was in my food and whether or not it was good for me. I ended up turning down options I wanted to try.

    I would say enjoy the opportunity to eat these local cuisines as you likely won't have the chance to do it again. As long as you don't go crazy, not too much damage should be done.
  • rnasm
    rnasm Posts: 29 Member
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    diegops1 wrote: »
    We stay away from tourist towns as much as possible and travel by bus like the locals. My general rule is to eat where the local businessmen and govt officials eat. Portions in Guatemala are not huge like in the US. The locals are used to eating 1000 calories or less in a day. If you go to tourist locations, you can pig out, but why? Smaller portions do not hold for richer countries like Argentina, Brasil, etc. But in Central America I have never had a problem. Have fun.
    That seems amazing! I love the idea of doing that, but I only find it possible in places that I get to see more than once. Thanks for the note on the portions, that was what we were afraid of, as she had some friends who went to South America and cautioned her a bit especially about the snack/street food portions.

  • rnasm
    rnasm Posts: 29 Member
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    sonyacares wrote: »
    Ahhhhh....Guatemalan cuisine.
    They seem so amazing! I am not actually going on the trip :( ,, just helping my sister. Thanks for the advise on meat vendors, I will pass it on; she will be meeting some local friends so hopefully she will not have to worry as much.
    sonyacares wrote: »
    My point: indulge in their culture. You guys will do enough walking to work most of it off. It's a BEAUTIFUL country. Enjoy it and don't obsess about MFP while there. Trust me, it will be very tricky to log their cuisine. Be safe-and have fun!
    tonyrocks922 wrote: »
    When I travel I eat whatever I want but in a reasonable quantity and don't count/log.
    williamwj2014 wrote: »
    I hate this rule thing..I restricted myself while on vacation during the holidays and it was easily the dumbest things I could of done because I was so focused on weight loss and not the vacation.

    This is what this post is about :smiley: there are no restrictions on what to eat, and definitely no logging! She wanted to continue logging in some form (not as detailed is she currently does on mfp), as it would make her feel more in control while still able to eat all the local foods. I was only able to convince her against it by providing some restrictions in terms of portions.

    A lot of advice centres on "eating reasonably" and this is really what I am trying to help elucidate. I know now whats eating reasonably is when it comes to steaks, fillets, fish, sea food; its easy now to know when a pasta portion is too big, or when a casserole has just too much cheese. But Guatemalan food is new to us, and its hard to judge what a reasonable portion for each food item there; how heavy exactly is a chile relleno, which taquitos are healthier than others. Its not reasonable to expect her to try to analyse each food she eats, so that is what I was trying to give her, a guideline to follow without worrying too much about the new foods she is exploring.

    Also, if we were good at "judging" reasonable portions, or trust our bodies to tell us when we are full, we would not have had to be on a diet for long.

    Thank you again all for all your help :smiley: and I will try to convince her more to make it less of an issue.
  • rnasm
    rnasm Posts: 29 Member
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    2BeHappy2 wrote: »
    I think she'll enjoy her time sightseeing, being w/ friends and taking everything in that her food "choices" should not be the center of her attention!
    It is not really, that is why it is delegated to me :wink:
    2BeHappy2 wrote: »
    If she thinks or believes something might be higher calorie, she can share or have the rest to go but I think the experience of it all should be her main focus :wink:
    Of course having her own "go to" snacks will help her stay on track or in moments when they may not have access to a market, street vender or restaurant!
    That is what one of my tasks was, to help find out which foods might be higher in calorie so she can eat less of (or for example have as a meal instead of a snack)

    Thanks four your reply :smiley:
  • rnasm
    rnasm Posts: 29 Member
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    crystalflame wrote: »
    .. doesn't eat all the tortillas provided, she'll be fine.
    Thats very good advice :smiley: will remind her of that :wink:
    Thank you also for the local food descriptions :smiley: its helping getting them through my head!
    crystalflame wrote: »
    The local beer is worth trying. Zacapa is the best rum in the world. And if she's in Antigua, there's a wine shop where each glass of wine you buy is cheaper than the previous one.
    That's lovely thanks! I might try to convince her to cancel any rules regarding drinks :blush:

    Also in Antigua: Hector's, which would be a 4-5 star restaurant anywhere else in the world and absolutely must be tried, and a local chocolate shop run by Pablo who's one of the most awesome people on the planet.
    That sounds exciting, I thing I will try to convince her to not put any rule regarding drinks :blush:
    crystalflame wrote: »
    Eat sensibly,
    ...
    ETA: If you guys have been at this 15 weeks, you can afford a diet break. Eating around maintenance for the duration of her trip will probably help keep the weight coming off steadily when she gets back home.
    That is what she asked me to help her define :wink: and she is definitely not aiming to lose weight, just maintain it.
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    I'm not understanding why you are making this thread and not your sister. If this is her concern then she needs to look for her on advice. You shouldn't be doing it for her.

    Not surprised she is worried about the food but when you guys have been supplementing with slim fast products. That's why people say it's not sustainable. Now she's going away and has to eat real food.

    So much this. The "we" thing is throwing me off.

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