Travelling to Guatemala without gaining weight

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  • rnasm
    rnasm Posts: 29 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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.
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  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    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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