Dreading my vacation

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  • LauraInTheWater
    LauraInTheWater Posts: 477 Member
    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!

    Laura
  • tofiggy
    tofiggy Posts: 44 Member
    Order a lot of salads, buy fruits at the grocery store, try to order low cal menu items
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    edited July 2017
    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.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    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...
  • kyubeans
    kyubeans Posts: 135 Member
    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.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    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!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    edited July 2017
    gothchiq wrote: »
    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.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited July 2017
    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.
  • RachelElser
    RachelElser Posts: 1,049 Member
    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.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    edited July 2017
    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.
  • ZhivagosGirl
    ZhivagosGirl Posts: 161 Member
    Hello all,

    It's been a week since I've been back from my vacation, or rather a week since I weighed after my vacation. I gained 4 lbs over the 4 days I was gone. Throughout the course of this week I managed to lose the weight (water) that I gained so overall not a bad experience and I had a really good time on my vacation. Thanks again for all the tips and encouragement.

    Lara
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