How to maintain weight in Punta Cana?

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joowelz
joowelz Posts: 170 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm off to an all inclusive resort for a week and dreading the inevitable weight gain that comes with it. I have already put on 6lbs over the holidays (because I let myself gorge on all kinds of chocolates and desserts!) How can i avoid gaining more weight while I'm away? Just skip dessert? It will be so hard with the glorious dessert buffets! Please give me tips.

Thank you

Replies

  • sofchak
    sofchak Posts: 862 Member
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    I will be at an all inclusive for 10 days, starting Saturday. My strategy will be to enjoy myself and eat whatever I want to eat - I plan to eat slowly and listen to my body, then stop eating when full. At the buffets, I will grab veggies first and won’t overload my plate, which will encourage me to think before going back for more. At the restaurants, I will evaluate a plate of food to mentally determine a proper serving before digging in - and will execute willpower to leave food on the plate when appropriate.

    I fully intend to enjoy all the local cuisine and to not think about the impact on my weight. I plan to just leverage the good habits I’ve established as part of a sustainable way of living a healthier life.

    I 100% expect to come back with 5 lbs or more to lose. I am also 100% okay with this as I would rather fully enjoy this vacation than stress about what I’m eating. I have 355 other days in the year to think about my food choices!

    TL:DR - Enjoy the vacation. Come back energized and ready to use MFP right away.
  • karahm78
    karahm78 Posts: 505 Member
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    Be active and enjoy yourself, just don’t go hog wild. Start back on counting as soon as you get home so your week doesn’t become a month. Have fun!
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    If you ate 100 calories per day over maintenance, you would gain 2 lbs. That would be a huge amount of food. I can't see why this would be a concern.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    mmapags wrote: »
    If you ate 100 calories per day over maintenance, you would gain 2 lbs. That would be a huge amount of food. I can't see why this would be a concern.

    Didn't you mean 1000?

    I am seconding enjoy yourself and follow @sofchak's advice. It is similar to what I do.

    Cheers, h.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,144 Member
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    mmapags wrote: »
    If you ate 100 calories per day over maintenance, you would gain 2 lbs. That would be a huge amount of food. I can't see why this would be a concern.

    I think that you need to review your math. 3,500 extra calories per week may lead to a 1 lb fat increase; so 100 extra calories per day = 700 extra calories per week; not even .2lbs of fat increase.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    middlehaitch wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    If you ate 100 calories per day over maintenance, you would gain 2 lbs. That would be a huge amount of food. I can't see why this would be a concern.

    Didn't you mean 1000?

    I am seconding enjoy yourself and follow @sofchak's advice. It is similar to what I do.

    Cheers, h.

    Yes! Thanks for catching my typo.
  • positivepowers
    positivepowers Posts: 902 Member
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    OP, I'm leaving for a cruise next week. I was kinda wondering the same thing.
  • positivepowers
    positivepowers Posts: 902 Member
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    sofchak wrote: »
    I will be at an all inclusive for 10 days, starting Saturday. My strategy will be to enjoy myself and eat whatever I want to eat - I plan to eat slowly and listen to my body, then stop eating when full. At the buffets, I will grab veggies first and won’t overload my plate, which will encourage me to think before going back for more. At the restaurants, I will evaluate a plate of food to mentally determine a proper serving before digging in - and will execute willpower to leave food on the plate when appropriate.

    I fully intend to enjoy all the local cuisine and to not think about the impact on my weight. I plan to just leverage the good habits I’ve established as part of a sustainable way of living a healthier life.

    I 100% expect to come back with 5 lbs or more to lose. I am also 100% okay with this as I would rather fully enjoy this vacation than stress about what I’m eating. I have 355 other days in the year to think about my food choices!

    TL:DR - Enjoy the vacation. Come back energized and ready to use MFP right away.

    Love this advice.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    positivepowers wrote: »
    OP, I'm leaving for a cruise next week. I was kinda wondering the same thing.

    I cruise quite a bit and the above advice is just about bang on- taste everything, don't over load your plate, know your portion sizes. Oh and those cocktails
    are deadly, about 500cal, I save them for the evening.

    You will come home with about 5-10 lbs water weight, and there will be extra inside that will get flushed down the toilet too. :) I give myself 2 weeks before I start taking my weight seriously.

    Cheers, h.
  • mrsloganlife
    mrsloganlife Posts: 158 Member
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    I went to an all inclusive in Punta Cana in September and was able to maintain. Also should add I was there when Irma hit, so...grain of salt.

    I did make it a point to walk around the resort or go to the gym. My resort was awesome in that they offered Zumba classes and aquabike classes right by the pool, so I would do Zuma, yoga, or aquabike while my husband laid around the pool. I ended up hitting my Fitbit step goal 4 of the 7 days we were there which was awesome. But I didn't stress too much over the food I ate. I just ate slowly, tried to avoid any of the fruity cocktails that are calorie killers, and enjoyed myself. I did gain some weight, but after I discovered that the resort I was evacuated to for a bit was refilling the 'sanitized filtered' water bottles with tap water, I lost that weight pretty quickly after I got back. So...try to not drink the tap water.

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