Do you count calories / log MFP on vacations?

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  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    When I am on vacation I log but it is guesstimated only and I don't use food scales. Just enough to give a rough idea of how much I am burning and eating. I am a bit OCD with my logging though so this is vacation made as it helps prevent additional stress.
    Only you can determine what will work best for you when on vacation and if that means being stringent with logging then do it. If that means eating what you want, when you want, and picking up the pieces when you get back then do it. If it means something between these two extremes then do it. The most important thing is to enjoy your vacation!
  • sbrooks0387
    sbrooks0387 Posts: 167 Member
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    No, BUT I set limites/guidelines.

    ~Eat out no more than once a day.
    ~ Limit sweets to once a day.
    ~pre measure and bag snacks
    ~ prepare simple meals (like crockpot chicken, or eggs for breakfast) when I can

    I found that following a few guidelines, knowing how much and what you should eat (you should be familiar With a serving size if you track and kinda eye ball it), and the increased exercise I can maintain my weight (after a few days home to let sodium and increased carbs work their way out)
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
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    dbanks80 wrote: »
    I went on an 11 day trip in August. I did not log anything. But we did a ton of walking. I ended maintaining my weight. I ate and drank what i wanted. It was Italy and I wanted to enjoy everything Italy had to offer.

    I also was a little worried about keeping up with my goals during my recent business trip to Italy.

    But a combo of lots of walking plus mindfulness about portion sizes made the week easy and enjoyable, without missing out in any of the yummy foods.

    Such as : big green olives stuffed with sausage meat then battered and deep fried.
  • Lolinloggen
    Lolinloggen Posts: 463 Member
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    I have always logged.
    I just add a note that it a guesstimate as I was on a holiday, but logging I will
    When I was on my weight loss journey I allowed myself to go into maintenance so I could eat a little bit more and enjoy a little more . Currently that is no longer an issue as I am in maintenance anyway
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
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    Loosely log. Weight? Not always. I will often stay at a place I can prep some.
  • FlyingMolly
    FlyingMolly Posts: 490 Member
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    I don’t track my food, but I do log in every day to see the activity adjustment from my Fitbit, and also to keep the habit.

    As soon as I get back to where I have my food scale and access to nutrition labels I can pick right up where I left off.
  • takemetosingapore2019
    takemetosingapore2019 Posts: 52 Member
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    NO! To be honest I saw a lady at my job logging a holiday party on myfitness and I felt so sorry for her. I could never do that to myself. I take breaks when needed.
  • happytree923
    happytree923 Posts: 463 Member
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    No. Way too much hassle. When I go on vacation I avoid going to chain restaurants at all costs so logging would be an exercise in completely random guessing (since independent restaurants don't have to give calorie info). If I travelled a lot for work I might.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,140 Member
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    No, I don't weigh or log (too much hassle and inaccuracies, and no worthy for me), but I mentally count calories and I chose mindfully. I don't eat fast food, and I try to limit eating out to once a day. Since I don't drink and I am not a foodie, it works for me. Walking a lot also helps.

    What I do and has helped me a lot, is to go into a deficit the month before vacation, either by eating less, exercising more or a combination of both. Dropping a couple of lbs before the trip really helps to balance things out.
  • gallicinvasion
    gallicinvasion Posts: 1,015 Member
    edited December 2018
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    I haven't tried a vacation yet with my new eating habits. But I think if I were to plan a trip, I would set my goal to maintenance and estimate my food at the end of the day. My number one goal would be to practice seeing some red in the final calorie tally and being okay with that. I think estimating would help my choices stay more responsible, but setting to maintenance would make sure that I have much more leeway to enjoy new and exciting foods without guilt.

    I definitely wouldn't weigh myself, though. Probably wouldn't weigh myself until like two weeks after returning from the trip, so I don't have to see any sodium/water-weight fluctuations. I'm working on making the number on the scale matter less to me, and trying to pay more attention to how fit, energetic, and content I feel.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    I don't log on vacation and I've lost weight on my last 5 trips (once the flight weight came off). I tend to be really active and just try to not overindulge.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    I didn't log on my most recent vacation. Logging is a tool. It has its benefits but in and of itself its not a means and an ends of everything. You body accurately logs for you whether you put in your diary or not. I would just try to be cognizant of what you are eating and make better choices while you are able to while still enjoying yourself.
  • Live_life_well
    Live_life_well Posts: 86 Member
    edited December 2018
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    When I travel I tend to do 30k steps per day and only tend to eat 2-3 meals per day. Difficult for me to go over calories when I am so active for the entire day. The problem is when I am working and sitting at a desk for 12 hours a day :(

    I wear my Fitbit and on my last vacation I was burning 5k calories per day. This was with me going to the gym daily and then walking 30k steps or so going around the city for 12 hours.
  • trinati2001
    trinati2001 Posts: 262 Member
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    I don't log when on vacation (a trip away from home. I still log for a staycation). But what I do is prelose the weight. I'm really strick and controlled a week or a month before the trip to lose as much as possible. My goal is that I'm ok not allowed to gain what I've already lost. It works really well because I don't really want to gain the weight that I just really worked really hard to lose. So I splurge when it is really worth it.

    This worked great in Paris and Budapest!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    I go on vacation every June and don't have cell reception or internet access. But then I have to carry all my food a rough mile to the cabin, which keeps me from going overboard.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
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    I haven't had a holiday of any reasonable length since starting to manage my weight but I can't see myself bothering when I do.

    When I decided to get my weight under control I made a few promises to myself. Promises which ensured that what I was doing would be lasting, permanent and not require any effort to continue. One was that I wasn't going to make any changes that I couldn't commit to forever and another was that I was going to be the 'real me' (ie the 'normal weight' me) from the outset, living my 'normal life'. Logging while on holidays goes against both of those promises.

    There's no way I could honestly commit to logging while on holidays for the rest of my life so it's not something I'm going to do while I'm losing weight. It's not forever, so it's not on now.

    For me (the real me) holidays, vacations and celebrations are times when I want to enjoy myself, and treat myself. I want to order the indulgent food when I go to a restaurant, I want to knock back the calorie laden cocktails by the pool, I want to take the kids out for ice cream and have a sundae with them. And quite frankly, if I get back from that holiday temporarily 5kg heavier than I was when I left I'd count that as well worth it.

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