Stressed over a vacation

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  • suziecue20
    suziecue20 Posts: 567 Member
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    Over here in the UK there is the FAT gene and if you haven't got it in your DNA you can eat what you want and not get fat. I have the FAT gene in my DNA :'(
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
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    Do you log at all on vacation? If you log every meal, even if it's estimates, that will give you an idea where you are after each meal and you can adjust accordingly. If you know the restaurants they like to go to, see if they have nutrition info online or call them. Most places have that information, if not online, then they might can give it to you when you're there. That way, you can plan exactly what you're going to order and you won't be as likely to go over.

    Even though they say you can't cook for them because you're the guest, insist on it. Tell them you found this amazing recipe that you know they'll love and you want to cook them at least one meal to thank them for letting you join them on vacation. If you put it like that, they're less likely to object. After all, kinda hard to tell someone no when they're trying to do something nice for them in appreciation!

    Also, at the beach? Swim. I don't know if it's a lake or ocean beach, but if it's ocean beach with waves, that's good exercise to swim against them. See if there's any museums or something nearby you can go visit and walk through. Boardwalks with shops are good to, make sure you visit every store, even if you're not going to buy anything. You can add a LOT of steps for your day by doing that, and even though it's not really cardio since you're not walking fast, it does burn extra calories.

    Vacation doesn't HAVE to mean gaining weight, as long as you just watch your intake. I couldn't log on our cruise a couple months ago, but I did at least write down what I ate during the day and keeping track let me adjust if I felt I needed to. Only gained 2 lb on the cruise, so I consider that a win. Also, consider that if you spend all your time worrying about gaining weight, you won't have fun. Vacations are supposed to be fun, so go have fun!
  • sashayoung72
    sashayoung72 Posts: 441 Member
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    suziecue20 wrote: »
    Over here in the UK there is the FAT gene and if you haven't got it in your DNA you can eat what you want and not get fat. I have the FAT gene in my DNA :'(

    Maybe i got mine from my Irish kin cause I know I have that!!!!!

  • ForestFairy022
    ForestFairy022 Posts: 99 Member
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    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??
  • suziecue20
    suziecue20 Posts: 567 Member
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    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??

    How old is your sister Forest Fairy?
  • ForestFairy022
    ForestFairy022 Posts: 99 Member
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    dubird wrote: »
    Do you log at all on vacation? If you log every meal, even if it's estimates, that will give you an idea where you are after each meal and you can adjust accordingly. If you know the restaurants they like to go to, see if they have nutrition info online or call them. Most places have that information, if not online, then they might can give it to you when you're there. That way, you can plan exactly what you're going to order and you won't be as likely to go over.

    Even though they say you can't cook for them because you're the guest, insist on it. Tell them you found this amazing recipe that you know they'll love and you want to cook them at least one meal to thank them for letting you join them on vacation. If you put it like that, they're less likely to object. After all, kinda hard to tell someone no when they're trying to do something nice for them in appreciation!

    Also, at the beach? Swim. I don't know if it's a lake or ocean beach, but if it's ocean beach with waves, that's good exercise to swim against them. See if there's any museums or something nearby you can go visit and walk through. Boardwalks with shops are good to, make sure you visit every store, even if you're not going to buy anything. You can add a LOT of steps for your day by doing that, and even though it's not really cardio since you're not walking fast, it does burn extra calories.

    Vacation doesn't HAVE to mean gaining weight, as long as you just watch your intake. I couldn't log on our cruise a couple months ago, but I did at least write down what I ate during the day and keeping track let me adjust if I felt I needed to. Only gained 2 lb on the cruise, so I consider that a win. Also, consider that if you spend all your time worrying about gaining weight, you won't have fun. Vacations are supposed to be fun, so go have fun!

    First of all.. I can't swim...haha... but other than that the best I have is a guess anyway. The restaurants we eat at doesn't have info on mfp. They aren't chains. They're local. So I'd still have to estimate on mfp.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??
    Not "could be." Is.

    If she isn't gaining weight, she isn't eating more than she burns. It's possible she's a freaky genetic outlier with an outrageous metabolism. Almost certainly she isn't.

  • sashayoung72
    sashayoung72 Posts: 441 Member
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    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??

    Thin does NOT equal Healthy!!!

    I've never been THIN and my cholesterol is PERFECT. so yes I'm lucky, but somewhere hereditary genes has that under control.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??
    Not "could be." Is.

    If she isn't gaining weight, she isn't eating more than she burns. It's possible she's a freaky genetic outlier with an outrageous metabolism. Almost certainly she isn't.

    OP, you said that you took a 1 year break from dieting. How much did you lose before that and how long were you dieting?
  • ForestFairy022
    ForestFairy022 Posts: 99 Member
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    suziecue20 wrote: »
    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??

    How old is your sister Forest Fairy?

    She's a year older than me. 23
  • ForestFairy022
    ForestFairy022 Posts: 99 Member
    Options
    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??
    Not "could be." Is.

    If she isn't gaining weight, she isn't eating more than she burns. It's possible she's a freaky genetic outlier with an outrageous metabolism. Almost certainly she isn't.

    Well then I can't explain that. She's a programmer she sits around all day doing nothing. And that's the way she eats. I mean you can calculate for yourself how many calories that is if she eats that way each day.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    Options
    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??
    Not "could be." Is.

    If she isn't gaining weight, she isn't eating more than she burns. It's possible she's a freaky genetic outlier with an outrageous metabolism. Almost certainly she isn't.

    Well then I can't explain that. She's a programmer she sits around all day doing nothing. And that's the way she eats. I mean you can calculate for yourself how many calories that is if she eats that way each day.
    She pretty clearly doesn't eat that way every day or she doesn't sit around all day doing nothing. Or both.

  • sashayoung72
    sashayoung72 Posts: 441 Member
    Options
    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??
    Not "could be." Is.

    If she isn't gaining weight, she isn't eating more than she burns. It's possible she's a freaky genetic outlier with an outrageous metabolism. Almost certainly she isn't.

    Well then I can't explain that. She's a programmer she sits around all day doing nothing. And that's the way she eats. I mean you can calculate for yourself how many calories that is if she eats that way each day.
    She pretty clearly doesn't eat that way every day or she doesn't sit around all day doing nothing. Or both.

    Tapeworm!!!!

  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Portion control should work to at least help you maintain, even if the food is super calorific. You have to judge your portions carefully, though. (I know that a walk-in slice of pizza at a chain I like is ~600 calories. One "slice"!) Log, using visual estimations, and select the higher calorie options in the DB, using volume measurements.

    If you're not so great at estimating portions, practice now with measuring cups so you have a better sense of what 1/2 cup looks like.

    If you're offered your typical restaurant "classic" breakfasts - 1.5-2 cups of hashbrowns / potatoes, 2-3 eggs, 4-5 pieces of bacon (sometimes more), toast with butter, coffee with cream and sugar - those are easily 800-1000 calories on their own. You can cut that down, though, using portion control...
  • ForestFairy022
    ForestFairy022 Posts: 99 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??
    Not "could be." Is.

    If she isn't gaining weight, she isn't eating more than she burns. It's possible she's a freaky genetic outlier with an outrageous metabolism. Almost certainly she isn't.

    OP, you said that you took a 1 year break from dieting. How much did you lose before that and how long were you dieting?

    Well I've been dieting on and off since I was 13. The last time I dieted for a year, in which I lost 43lb. And I sort of maintained that (I gained 10lb back), but I developed somewhat of a binging problem, which I seem to have under control now. So now I'm trying to get into a healthy bmi.
  • suziecue20
    suziecue20 Posts: 567 Member
    Options


    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled?? [/quote]

    How old is your sister Forest Fairy? [/quote]

    She's a year older than me. 23[/quote]

    Your sister may be able to eat quite a lot now when she's very young but it might be a different story when she gets into her 40s/50s. Also might it be sibling rivalry and she's telling 'porkies' about how much she can eat and drink without putting on weight?

  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    dubird wrote: »
    Do you log at all on vacation? If you log every meal, even if it's estimates, that will give you an idea where you are after each meal and you can adjust accordingly. If you know the restaurants they like to go to, see if they have nutrition info online or call them. Most places have that information, if not online, then they might can give it to you when you're there. That way, you can plan exactly what you're going to order and you won't be as likely to go over.

    Even though they say you can't cook for them because you're the guest, insist on it. Tell them you found this amazing recipe that you know they'll love and you want to cook them at least one meal to thank them for letting you join them on vacation. If you put it like that, they're less likely to object. After all, kinda hard to tell someone no when they're trying to do something nice for them in appreciation!

    Also, at the beach? Swim. I don't know if it's a lake or ocean beach, but if it's ocean beach with waves, that's good exercise to swim against them. See if there's any museums or something nearby you can go visit and walk through. Boardwalks with shops are good to, make sure you visit every store, even if you're not going to buy anything. You can add a LOT of steps for your day by doing that, and even though it's not really cardio since you're not walking fast, it does burn extra calories.

    Vacation doesn't HAVE to mean gaining weight, as long as you just watch your intake. I couldn't log on our cruise a couple months ago, but I did at least write down what I ate during the day and keeping track let me adjust if I felt I needed to. Only gained 2 lb on the cruise, so I consider that a win. Also, consider that if you spend all your time worrying about gaining weight, you won't have fun. Vacations are supposed to be fun, so go have fun!

    First of all.. I can't swim...haha... but other than that the best I have is a guess anyway. The restaurants we eat at doesn't have info on mfp. They aren't chains. They're local. So I'd still have to estimate on mfp.

    you can probably go for a nice hike though
  • suziecue20
    suziecue20 Posts: 567 Member
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    Sorry I messed up the above post
  • ForestFairy022
    ForestFairy022 Posts: 99 Member
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    Muscle burns very few additional calories. Twenty extra pounds of muscle would be enough passive burn to offset an extra Oreo or two a day.

    Well then I don't know. I've been thinking of trying reverse dieting. But I don't know if it actually works or not. Maybe my metabolism is just in a bit of a slump.
    They eat less relative to how much they burn than you do. Metabolisms don't really slump like that.

    Could be. I don't know how they eat if I'm not there. I only see how they eat when I am there. And my sister says she eats like that all the time. Because (and I quote) "I don't have time to cook for myself." So above all her pizza and burgers she also drinks about 8 cups of coffee with sugar and full fat milk, as well as eat a whole slab of chocolate each day...and maybe half a block of cheese as a snack while working.

    See why my mind is boggled??
    Not "could be." Is.

    If she isn't gaining weight, she isn't eating more than she burns. It's possible she's a freaky genetic outlier with an outrageous metabolism. Almost certainly she isn't.

    Well then I can't explain that. She's a programmer she sits around all day doing nothing. And that's the way she eats. I mean you can calculate for yourself how many calories that is if she eats that way each day.
    She pretty clearly doesn't eat that way every day or she doesn't sit around all day doing nothing. Or both.

    Tapeworm!!!!

    I have considered that!

    But deguello is right. I wouldn't know because I'm not there all the time. I don't eat that way all the time myself. In fact I rarely ever eat out at all when I'm home.
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
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    Why do vacations = overeating? If you burn more calories than you eat, then you'll lose. You're not working, so there is plenty of time to exercise to work those calories off. Go swimming, take a hike, walk around town, depending upon your vacation destination. I love vacations because I almost always end up losing a couple of pounds.

    eat smart, no "bad" snacking, take walks and stay active. Vacations should not be so tough.