Help! Going on a "foodie" vacation

blahblah0099 wrote: »

Headed to New Orleans for 5 days next week. While I am very excited and I know we will be doing a lot of walking around etc, I know we will be doing a lot of eating! We have many dinner and brunch reservations.

How do you guys deal with this? I definitely want to enjoy what the city has to offer but I don't want to gain 10 lbs in the process!

I would go, have what I want but not use it as a reason to over indulge for the sake of over indulging, and then go back to normal dieting thereafter.

5 days over the long term isn't much.

There are a lot of things you could do - a few that come to mind:

Leave half the food on your plate

Share the more calorie-dense portions and deserts with a companion

Research food options before hand so you know which ones are healthier/lower calorie

Limit alcohol

Have only one reservation per day (i.e. dinner) and make the other meal i.e. lunch a light picnic in the park with food bought fresh from a local supermarket/market

Skip the hotel breakfast if it's included or pre-plan it to make your daily calorie intake lighter

Eat half the food, have the rest wrapped and not take it home but give it to someone in need along the way...

Or just enjoy it while it lasts sans guilt and get right back to your routine the day you return

Enjoy your holiday!

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ETA: I have may be 20 trips to different countries behind me and can remember at least a couple of memorable meals from each one, and I notice in retrospect I never came back much heavier. Foodie food is to cherish, so usually you are quite conscious what you eat... It was bad habits at home that got me 90+ lb overweight, not the black rice and squid in Barcelona or the Saltimboca in Rome but the nasty miserable chips and cookies and general laziness and unawareness at home... Really, enjoy your holiday, it will probably be what you do after that will really make a difference!

You could practice eating slowly and intuitive eating (listening to your hunger/satiety signals).

Please keep in mind if you eat out a lot you'll be getting a lot of sodium which can cause water retention, so you can expect a jump in the scale, but it should come back down once you are back to normal.

Remember, to gain a pound of fat you need to overeat by 3500 Calories, so to gain 10 pounds you would need to eat an excess 7000 Calories each day of your trip.

My daughter goes to school in New Orleans, undergrad and now med school. The food there is, in my opinion, the best there is. When I go visit (which is pretty often) I eat anything I want then just get back on track the day I come home. The food is too good to miss out on! Have a great time! It's an amazing city!!

Do the tasting menu.

I agree with everything above. Besides! One of the best things about New Orleans is the food! I lived there for two years, gained 15 pounds, regret nothing.

I would totally up your exercise as much as possible. You might be able to get some really long runs in to counteract the higher calorie intake.

I think the key is trying to limit excess drinks and sweets.

Also, lots of walking will help to burn those extra calories, especially if you normally work a desk job. For example, I'm going to a theme park for vacation in a few months' time. While there, I anticipate walking upwards of ten hours per day, which would be a burn of over 1,800 calories per day for me. Even eating at my typical maintenance calories, I would not be gaining weight during my vacation.

However, if you're after an extra burn, why not bring a bathing suit and go for a swim at your hotel? It's not only easy on the joints and a great way to burn extra calories, but can also feel refreshing after a long day.

Keep logging your calorie intake, even if it is just a "worst case estimate" to keep you aware of what you are eating. Even better, try to pre-log into those calories before your eat them so that you are somewhat informed - that might help you from overeating and being regretful later, which is not fun. I find that logging in those calories makes it so much easier for me to pass the bread and butter or choose something a little more weight-friendly without sacrificing a lovely meal.

Agreed: Try and get in as many veg as possible. I have not done this (yet), but I have often thought about asking for a couple of cups of raw spinach as a side dish as restaurants. At home, I plunk my main course on a bed of spinach or other green veg as often as possible, to increase fibre and (hopefully) help me eat less.

Agreed: Try to get in as much exercise as possible to help compensate for the treats and give you that virtuous feeling

Conclusion: Like the others have posted, enjoy without fretting but not overdo it. One week will not add a pile of pounds, but I honestly understand that if you have been REALLY TRYING, you don't want to backtrack. Think "maintenance".

Zedeff wrote: »

I disagree with almost everybody above.

You are going on vacation. This is (for most of us) a once per year, or once every few years, kind of thing. I would forget about tasting menus, adding exercise, logging etc. For me personally I would quick add 3000 calories all 5 days, eat whatever I want, and get back to logging when I get home. How often do you go to NOLA? On your death bed (hopefully many, many years in the future) do you want to look back through family photos of your vacation and remember enjoying po'boys with your family, or do you want to look back at your family having fun and you being jealous and unhappy?

Remember, this is a lifestyle change. A healthy lifestyle INCLUDES indulging on vacation!

This would be me too!

Only 17 days until I head back home to Louisiana for a nice 3 week visit. Generally, the food is very heavy. Try things like crawfish, boiled potatoes and corn, boiled shrimp, blackened chicken or fish. They are still very flavorful but might not have as many calories. Walk a lot and enjoy yourself!
Things to try (without thinking of calories): fried alligator, fried oysters, jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish fettuccine, crawfish etouffee, beignets, stuffed fish, bread pudding, and fried pickles
I'm sure there are about 100 more things I could list but that is what comes to the top of my mind. Have a great time!

Go. Eat. Drink. Then come back and get right back into it. 5 days really isn't enough time to do enough damage. Just know that when you get back and get on the scale you'll more than likely have gained "water weight". A week later it will come off. No big deal.

Zedeff wrote: »

I disagree with almost everybody above.

You are going on vacation. This is (for most of us) a once per year, or once every few years, kind of thing. I would forget about tasting menus, adding exercise, logging etc. For me personally I would quick add 3000 calories all 5 days, eat whatever I want, and get back to logging when I get home. How often do you go to NOLA? On your death bed (hopefully many, many years in the future) do you want to look back through family photos of your vacation and remember enjoying po'boys with your family, or do you want to look back at your family having fun and you being jealous and unhappy?

Remember, this is a lifestyle change. A healthy lifestyle INCLUDES indulging on vacation!

+1.

Obviously though, still try to make good choices, eating fries when you don't really want any that much just because 'you're on vacations' is probably not the best idea.

Personally, what I do is figure out what I really want, and indulge on that, and make better choices elsewhere. Remember that often, the lower calorie options are quite tasty too.

But all the specialties and things I never get to eat? You bet I'm indulging on those.

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BFDeal wrote: »

Meh, I'm split. I want to like the "have fun, eat what you want" answers but every single time I follow that I gain weight and get demoralized. After a birthday party and the Super Bowl this weekend I literally weigh more then when I started back up a couple weeks ago after a short break which was meant to get me losing again after I plateaued. I'd take the "it's just one day/week" advice with a grain of salt if I were you. Many of the people throwing that around are probably at or close to their goals.

It's math. You'd have to eat 3500 calories over maintenance to gain one pound. So, let's say you do eat 5000 calories in one day (which I can't do anymore, lol, but for me alcohol isn't worth the calories either), and gain one pound of fat (most of the weight you gain from overeating is water weight). If you have a 500 calorie deficit, set to lose one pound a week... You'll lose that pound in a week.

So yes, if it's once in a while, it's really not a huge deal.

For vacations, you are typically more active, so it helps. But even if you gain 2 pounds of fat (from eating 1000 over maintenance for a week), you can still lose that in 2 weeks when you come back. Obviously that's where making good choices matter, to make sure that losing 3 weeks of progress is worth it. I mean, you can indulge without going way overboard.