Staying focused while on vacation - help!

betsyreynolds54 · June 2016

I'm new on the forums and am starting my healthy journey today. However, we have camping trips coming up. Do you know how hard it is to eat healthy while camping? I'm scared I'm going to give up AGAIN all because of a variety of trips over the next 3 months. HOW do you stay on track while camping????

AnneElise · June 2016

Typically on vacation I am a lot more active which allows me extra calories that come from not being at home to cook/prepare food. Can you plan extra exercise into your trips? Also I think you will just need to plan ahead healthy foods than can be on the go!

dolliesdaughter · June 2016

If you are camping, you are 100% in control of your food. Only take healthy food, stick to 3 meals a day, no snacks, dessert or alcohol. That is a start. You should be getting lots of exercise by default.

janjunie · June 2016

To me camping means lots of hiking and exploring. If food is the issue, veggie dogs are 80 calories each, don't make smores, just roast the marshmallow. Normal size marshmallows are 25 calories each. Camping is a good way to stay on track in my opinion, but we're all different.

French_Peasant · June 2016

Are you going to be hiking, biking, fishing, canoeing and swimming? Or are you going to be sitting on your butt in a lawn chair? That makes the difference. If you are getting in hours of basic exercise, even walking, you will be earning your food and will need to refuel. Campsite classics like hamburgers (with some jack cheese, bacon and avocado...yum!!), baked beans, hobo stew, chili and beans, fire pit potatoes, etc. are perfect after an active day, and you might even earn a couple of s'mores.

If you are not planning on being active, then the saddest thing in the world is a camp salad. I can see the wilty iceburg lettuce sitting forlornly in the cooler right now.

Regardless of activity level, one of the best things you can do is pack some lean meats (deli meats and chicken breasts, etc) and lots of vegetables that you can throw on the grill with the tiniest amount of olive oil. Even a half-head of romaine lettuce is amazing grilled and then drizzled with a small amount of vinaigrette; the smoke gives it a kind of "meaty" umami flavor. You can also pre-cook and freeze your own dinners (such as beef stew, pot roast, pork tenderloin, all with a generous side of veggies, etc.) and warm them in foil packets on the camp stove or fire. That way you can have the portions weighed/measured out beforehand so you can still be rigorous with your calorie counts while fueling your activity appropriately.

This Harvard site lists some common camping activities and the calories burned for three different weights:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/calories-burned-in-30-minutes-of-leisure-and-routine-activities

Remember MFP is designed so that you eat back additional exercise activities above and beyond your normal burn.

Have an awesome time camping!

maxit · June 2016

betsyreynolds54 wrote: »

I'm new on the forums and am starting my healthy journey today. However, we have camping trips coming up. Do you know how hard it is to eat healthy while camping? I'm scared I'm going to give up AGAIN all because of a variety of trips over the next 3 months. HOW do you stay on track while camping????

This is going to be great! You'll have the opportunity to figure out how to work healthier food choices into an experience that you are looking forward to! My own camping trips have been the sleep-on-the-ground-and-hike-alot variety without the ability to use food that requires coolers past the first day so I am imagining of a more luxurious kind of camping where there will be lots of yummy stuff to eat and maybe more sitting around activity ... perhaps you can take some responsibility for the "provisions" so that you have delicious alternatives to the stuff you consider "unhealthy." If alcohol is a part of the camping experience, you'll need to make some choices there, too. But in general, my plan for vacation generally is to keep active and try to eat at or a little under maintenance.

SparklySarah412 · June 2016

What works for me when I go away is this:

First and foremost, I continue to log everything.

I don't snack, just stick to 3 meals a day, I tend to have a light breakfast and lunch so that I can spend most of my daily calories having something really nice and/or an alcoholic drink for dinner, but that's just me! ;-)

You could maybe even consider going into maintenance calories just for the duration of your holiday so that you don't feel so deprived while you're away. Then go straight back into deficit on your return.

koslowkj · June 2016

I wouldn't actively try to stay under your calorie goal, but I would still pay attention to what you're eating, especially if camping for you is a lot of sitting around a campfire drinking beer. Control how many drinks you have. Stick to one s'more if you have any at all. Still log (and I personally still try to stay under maintenance while on vacation) but enjoy your vacation first. If you come back with a few extra pounds, you can look back at your logging to see how much of that, if any, is actual gain and how much is just water weight.

Enjoy your camping trip, I'm jealous!

wtliftchick · June 2016

I want to go camping! Sounds like a fun challenge. Know your weak spots and plan accordingly. If you like to kill a few glasses of wine by the fire at night, log it first thing so you can try to stay in range. Or if you are a munchy person, bring the dips but pack yourself some pre cut veggies. You will be fine! Enjoy!

betsyreynolds54 · June 2016

Thank you for the advice! There are some things I haven't thought about. Was just thinking, "Oh no, here I go down again!" I don't sit that's for sure. Well, at night.... otherwise I'm always on the go. We're caving for the first trip, so there will be lots of hiking. The second is to the beach, so there will be fighting of the waves. The problem is that my husband likes to eat like a king along with lots of junk food. Very sabotaging. So I'm taking the advice of preparing in advance. Never thought about prepackaging things. Going tomorrow to get snack baggies and such. Thank you all for the encouragement! You have put a brighter outlook on things :0)

amyepdx · June 2016

And then, even if you do go over your plan and come home up a pound or 2, don't let that keep you from going right back to your plan. This is the key that has kept me going for 17 months and 80 lbs. I've had vacations, business trips, holidays and long weekends. I've haven't been great at staying on plan (although much more conscious than in the past) during these events and an usually up 1-4 lbs when they're over. BUT, I have started right back tracking and weighing when I get home and didn't let it derail me. Have fun - you've got this!!

betsyreynolds54 · June 2016

So glad I joined this group!

Citycat2015 · June 2016

Log everything. Stay active. Eat at sedentary maintenance but don't eat back your exercise/ activity calories. On a recent camping trip I ate a light breakfast and lunch then had a great dinner, a smore, wine.. It's life. Enjoy then jump back on your deficit as soon as you get home.

smile_saurus · June 2016

I'm the weirdo who camps with 40 people every year and brings healthy, portioned out breakfasts & lunches for myself. Then I eat whatever the group eats for dinner and I enjoy some wine by the fire each night.

But I'm also that person who initiates hiking, kayaking, swimming, kickball, bike riding...I basically try to stay as active as possible from the time I wake up until dinner time. Plus daily stuff takes much longer at camp...carrying dishes to a washing station, lugging all my stuff to a shower, having to walk to another building to use the bathroom a zillion times a day...that stuff adds up, too!

Staying focused while on vacation - help!

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