What do you do while on vacation?

I guess I'm pretty lucky as I dont drink at all, so that saves me a ton of unwanted calories. I've also learned to really like healthy food, and will pick that over anything greasy or fried whenever I can. I do however definitely splurge on sweets or desserts when I'm on vacation, but it doesnt do much damage in the end.

Vacations are supposed to be fun, and if I spend my entire time worrying about my eating, I won't have fun. Now, I don't pig out and I do watch what I'm eating what I can. I've partially retrained my body to what an acceptable portion is, so I do self-limit to a point. Doesn't mean I don't go over, I do, but I decided a long time ago not to worry about. But then, I also try to be a lot more active on vacation, so it tends to balance out. I figure as long as I don't gain, I've come out ahead!

fitchlets wrote: »

do you go balls to the wall eating whatever you want or stay within calories strictly or maybe just have one cheat meal a day?

"balls to the wall whatever"...no...why does it have to be so extreme? I enjoy myself...I eat and enjoy whatever the local fare is...and I like trying different and new things...part of the fun of vacation for me...but that doesn't mean I have to run completely off the rails and just stuff *kitten* into my pie whole for the hell of it.

I've maintained for over two years and I don't log...that is largely a bi-product of maintaining the healthy eating habits I developed while losing. Yeah, I might have a day here and there where I over do it (i.e. feast holidays, etc)...but I seriously don't see a vacation as a reason to just stuff my face full of *kitten*.

ETA: most of my vacations also include a ton of activity...I'm always going...so I don't worry a whole lot about it...but no, I don't just stuff my face to the point of being so full that I feel like *kitten*. I hate that feeling.

I ate what I wanted, which meant I was over on calories, but I was also very active. Note: I was in maintenance by the time vacation came around, so now I'm back to slight deficit for a week or two to make up for it.

fitchlets wrote: »

do you go balls to the wall eating whatever you want or stay within calories strictly or maybe just have one cheat meal a day?

fitchlets wrote: »

I'm down almost 64 pounds since January 1. I really just want to eat whatever I want for the week, but so worried I would gain a ton of weight.

You didn't lose it all in a week, neither will you gain it in a week. "Diets" per se are a bad idea, better to adopt a balanced, healthy lifestyle. We're only human and some of us don't just see food as fuel, on holiday experiencing local food and culture is a good thing, indeed continental culture revolves around the enjoyment of food with family & friends, why deprive yourself?
I try to make relatively sensible choices but I'm on a break from work and from abstenance for a week or two.
If I fancy a few beers or a tempting dessert, I'll have it. I read on another thread that calorie consumption is a continuum, not a daily thing.

I started here mid-Feb with a goal to lose as much weight as I could on a NET 1250 cal diet by mid-June ... 4 months. I didn't really have a weight number in mind until I got to about mid-May and knew what would be possible.

I stuck firmly to that goal and lost 15 kg.

And then, mid-June ... I went on holidays.

While I was gone, I ate whatever I wanted to eat, and lots of it. But I also exercised a whole lot. In 3 weeks, I cycled about 390 km, including riding a century one day (161 km = 100 miles). I walked about 64 km, including a 9.5 km hike to the top of a mountain. And I went sea kayaking!

Losing the weight prior to going on holiday allowed me to do those things much more easily than I would have if I had not lost the weight.

I hoped I would not gain more than 5 kg, and I estimated that I might gain 2.5 kg, which would be all right.

The day after I arrived home, I had gained 2.5 kg, but the next day I dropped 0.5 kg, and the following day I dropped 0.6 kg ... so I think some of that was water weight. By the end of the first week back, I was only 0.5 kg higher than I had been before the holiday, and by the end of the second week (now), I'm back to where I left off.

I've got a new goal now ... the end of September. I'll reassess the situation then.

But going on holiday and taking a break from calorie counting was OK. It did probably help that I was very active ... and that I got right back into it when I returned.


BTW ... I made a few interesting discoveries when I was on holiday ...

1) We don't have good donuts in Australia, so one of the things I enjoy when I go to Canada is eating donuts. The first one I had was a Krispy Kreme donut, and WOW was it ever sweet!! Like sickly sweet. I know on other occasions, I've packed away a whole pile of them and thought nothing of it ... this time I could only manage 2.

2) There are no dill pickle potato chips in Australia, so that's another thing I go for when I get to Canada. But this time, I could barely finish the bag because while I like the flavour, they were so incredibly salty. Normally, I might go through 2 or 3 bags, this time I ate the one bag and that was it.


In the 4 months prior to this trip, I have faithfully stuck to CI<CO, and in order to do that, I cut out most (but definitely not all) sweet treats. I also did not touch potato chips in all that time because they tend to be a trigger food for me. Generally speaking, I ate a reasonably healthy diet ....... and it seems to have changed my taste palate. While on holiday, I found myself craving veggies of all things!!

fitchlets wrote: »

Just to update you all, I went on vacation for 6 days and ate everything and anything I wanted. I was up 8 pounds when I came back, lost those 8 pounds in 2 days and down another 3 from my lowest weight. I don't know if it got my metabolism in full swing or what, but I'm super excited about it. I did workout 4 of those 6 days, but I was eating a ton of calories too.

If you flew, much of what you gained (and then lost quite quickly) was flight-induced water weight.


But good job! Taking a short break from it all isn't the end of the world.