Dreading my vacation
Options
Replies
-
Remain optimistic. Made the best choices you can make, enjoy your vacation, and move on with life.
And make sure to eat some good St Louis BBQ while you are there. It's worth it, and eaten in moderation won't hurt your progress.
You've lost somewhere near 60lbs. If that doesn't inspire confidence in your abilities to lose weight, ask yourself why? If you said you were going on a 10 day tour of the greatest buffets in the state with the intentions of eating as much as you could at each, there might be cause for concern. But you obviously have your health and weight loss goals in mind, and have proven the ability to eat sensibly. Otherwise you wouldn't have lost the weight you have.
When eating out at places with nothing more than super calorie dense stuff that just isn't "worth it" to me, I often opt for a salad and an app or something. These days there are almost always options.2 -
just booze heavily and eat a ton then deal with it when you get back
problem solved3 -
My husband and I often split meals when we are on vacation. The servings are so much larger than we eat at home.
We will order a salad, burger and (heaven forbid!) fries and share. Or I'll get soup or salad and he will get a pasta. Pasta dinners are humongous! Or, if we have a fridge and microwave, today's dinner is tomorrows lunch/breakfast.
We don't usually have more than one meal out a day. Local groceries provide fruit, beverages, oatmeal, sandwich fixings, snackie things, etc.. Keep a cooler in your room and take it in the car. Then we don't have to dress to go out or worry about stopping to eat if we are out and about. If you fly buy yourself a one shot cooler locally.
3 -
Visit the St. Louis Zoo if you want to see animals.ZhivagosGirl wrote: »@JeromeBarry1 we're going to St. Louis and have so far planned for Grants Farm, Purina Farm, the Endangered Wolf Center, the American Kennel Club Dog Museum (our kids love animals), the Science Museum/Planetarium. No meals are planned, we are staying at a hotel, eating out at restaurants.
One of the highest-rated free attractions in the country and one of the top Zoos.
1 -
When eating, be aware about if it's natural nutritient rich food or a treat (ice cream)..
Notice how your precious body feels (notice eated enough but not stuffed?), could not eat as much? eating a smaller portion..
Try let go on the counting on vacation & enjoy, be aware about portion sizes & how you feel.
Have Fun3 -
robertw486 wrote: »Remain optimistic. Made the best choices you can make, enjoy your vacation, and move on with life.
And make sure to eat some good St Louis BBQ while you are there. It's worth it, and eaten in moderation won't hurt your progress.
You've lost somewhere near 60lbs. If that doesn't inspire confidence in your abilities to lose weight, ask yourself why? If you said you were going on a 10 day tour of the greatest buffets in the state with the intentions of eating as much as you could at each, there might be cause for concern. But you obviously have your health and weight loss goals in mind, and have proven the ability to eat sensibly. Otherwise you wouldn't have lost the weight you have.
When eating out at places with nothing more than super calorie dense stuff that just isn't "worth it" to me, I often opt for a salad and an app or something. These days there are almost always options.
To the bolded... it depends. St. Louis isn't actually known for their barbecue traditionally (I'm from Kansas City and spent a lot of time for work in Memphis). That said, in recent years there has been an uptick in good bbq restaurants in St. Louis (Pappy's, Salt and Smoke, Bogarts, Adam's Smokehouse, and Sugarfire being a few popular choices) but there are still a lot of average and sub par choices out there, but that could be said of just about any cuisine in any city.
Agree with the rest of your post...0 -
ZhivagosGirl wrote: »@JeromeBarry1 we're going to St. Louis and have so far planned for Grants Farm, Purina Farm, the Endangered Wolf Center, the American Kennel Club Dog Museum (our kids love animals), the Science Museum/Planetarium. No meals are planned, we are staying at a hotel, eating out at restaurants.
Maybe purchase something light for breakfast in the morning and keep it in the hotel mini-fridge. Yogurt and fruit or something? Then you may worry less about lunch and dinner.
When eating out I tend to cut my meal in half and bring the rest home. Since I can't do that when out of town I try to order from the appetizer menu, get a salad, or eat a meat/veg meal.0 -
Visit the St. Louis Zoo if you want to see animals.ZhivagosGirl wrote: »@JeromeBarry1 we're going to St. Louis and have so far planned for Grants Farm, Purina Farm, the Endangered Wolf Center, the American Kennel Club Dog Museum (our kids love animals), the Science Museum/Planetarium. No meals are planned, we are staying at a hotel, eating out at restaurants.
One of the highest-rated free attractions in the country and one of the top Zoos.
And lots of steps walking around the zoo!1 -
Probably stated already, but a lot of places now have a low-calorie section on the menu, or list calories on their menu (typical in chains more so than mom & pop places). I'd just eat something from that section. I know someone mentioned kids menu, that's not a bad idea, but not always safe. My biggest problem is the sides...Fries are soo good but soo bad. Steer towards veggies. You can do this
. Also, pack a cooler w/ ice for snacks and bottles of water/0 cal drinks. Can always get more ice at the hotel. That's what my family does...Carrot Sticks, Yogurts, String Cheese, ect. Don't have to worry about them spoiling then since ice is typically free in the hotel. 0 -
Start the day with high protein: eggs or egg whites. And fiber: fruit. Bring protein shakes.
Choose one meal or dessert to splurge on per day. You won't gain fat but you don't want to feel bad. I usually struggle with eating out after being really precise on my diet. I don't eat low fat but something about the fattiness of meals out kills my digestive system.3 -
Hey, Lara! I will be going on vacation with my family (most of them are overweight besides my husband and I). I am leaving tomorrow and coming back Saturday! Best of luck to both of us!
Laura0 -
Order a lot of salads, buy fruits at the grocery store, try to order low cal menu items0
-
I feel ya, OP. I've had that trepidation about vacation more times than l'd like to admit. It's always been a secret dread for me, though because... vacations, you're supposed to be looking forward to them and relaxing and enjoying yourself. So I played along with pretending to feel what you're "supposed " to feel and hiding my actual feelings. So you're waaay ahead of me on that one!
The thing is, though, I never gain on vacation. All these years I've had needless angst. The evidence is plain. Even when we eat out every meal and have wine with every lunch and go to really special restaurants, somehow it balances out.
So I say have faith that it will balance out and let go of the fear, OP. You have lots planned and will be on the move. If you keep it reasonable at restaurants, as you said, my guess is you will be happily surprised. Also, if you have time, you might yelp restaurants and pick ones that really appeal to you before you go. Enjoying someone else's culinary creativity is part of the experience!
ETA: Congrats on losing 60#! You know what you're doing.0 -
Also wanted to add that after coming back from vacation and already being back within my maintenance range after only a couple of days of temp water weight, I'm actually kind of disappointed in myself that I didn't indulge MORE. There were times when I chose to eat yogurt for breakfast instead of pancakes, suggested we eat sandwiches at the condo instead of going to the dive bar for fried clams and beer, and passed up the ice cream because I hadn't gotten my steps in that day. Last week those seemed like smart choices but I'm already kicking myself. I eat yogurt, sandwiches, and get my steps in ALL THE TIME. Vacation is a time to indulge, and even though I have been at this long enough to know better, I still made some choices that I wish I could have done differently.
So OP - don't miss out on Gooey Butter Cake, and Toasted Ravioli, and Ted Drewes Custard while you are in town. You may or may not want to try the STL style pizza, it's an acquired taste and not for everyone...1 -
I know how you feel, sort of. I have relatives coming into town for two weeks and it's their first time in the US. They want to hit all the places they've heard about but never tried. Five Guys, barbecue places, mexican food, everything.
I want to enjoy their visit with them but it's too early into my efforts to really let loose. I am planning ahead by choosing the meals where I want to splurge carefully, and then for all other places I will stick as close as possible to the salad with chicken breast option. I'm also doing menu and nutrition info research for those restaurants that have it.0 -
Grilled chicken salads, no cheese, no croutons, light dressing on the side. 2 eggs and a piece of toast for breakfast. It may sound boring, but it beats getting fat again!1
-
Grilled chicken salads, no cheese, no croutons, light dressing on the side. 2 eggs and a piece of toast for breakfast. It may sound boring, but it beats getting fat again!
You think the OP can "get fat again" in a long weekend?
ETA the quotes to emphasize these are your words about Getting Fat Again, not mine.0 -
My last vacation, half the time my only option for a side that wasn't fried was a side salad. I was so sick of side salads after 2 days, I was getting really frustrated and it partly ruined my vacation. Doesn't help when a big part of relaxing for me is having a good meal. So I just gave up trying to stay under maintenance. Gained 2 lbs in 10 days. Took a month to lose them (was at maintenance at the time, and getting back on a deficit has been difficult to say the least).
I really don't know where people find 'light options' everywhere but most places we stopped by (it was partly a road trip) didn't even have veggies on the menu, and even in towns I was always wasting 30 minutes finding THE restaurant that had them (typically at over $12 for a meat and two sides too, vs $6 for burger and fries).
The main issue for me was breakfast, as it was hard to find low calorie, filling options in most places, so I was eating too much at breakfast in order not to be starving at noon.
The good news I guess is that you won't gain 5 lbs of fat from a meal. It takes 3500 calories over maintenance to gain 1 lb of fat. Try to stay active (we were road tripping with two little kids, that wasn't going to happen for me). Make the best choice you can. Obviously how much you gain or not will depend on how much you still have to lose though.
0 -
you says they gained 5 lbs from a meal? lol, sure if they weighed themselves right after while all the food was still in their stomach!
Do what WW suggests- when you order ask for a box right up front, and put half the meal in the box so it's out of sight. Or some places have half portions- like half and sandwich and a bowl of soup or a half salad. When you get back to the hotel, tell the other people that you are not planning on eating the other half so if someone want's it, they can have it.0 -
Make sure to pick up some fruit and easy snacks you enjoy so that you don't get too hungry. I really have found that's my weak spot - well developed hunger, that feeling of urgency and the distracted feeling of low reserves always equals "screw it all, fried chicken and fries and dessert!" kinda choices for me. Have a couple apples on hand and some string cheese if you have somewhere for it, maybe those little 100 cal packs of nuts. When you sit down to eat, hopefully your choices will be easier.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.7K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 394 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 941 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions