Vacation eating tips

mzmikly · June 2019

I'm going on vacation. Any tips on how to stay on track with eating? Thanks!

MikePTY · June 2019

1. Enjoy. I don't believe we should be so obsessed with weight loss that we don't enjoy a vacation, a big part of which includes eating. So give yourself some leeway to eat more than normal.
2. Stay active. Usually on vacations, we are a lot more active than normal. That helps cover for some of the increased eating. If the hotel has a gym, make use of it.
3. Make smart choices where they make sense. Save your calories for things you will actually enjoy, not that will just fill you. For instance, if you go out to a nice dinner, get that meal that you want, even if it has more calories. But pass on having the dinner bread and butter that will add calories but don't really contribute to a good eating experience. Maybe switch out a side for a salad or vegetables.

bjkoziara · June 2019

Just replying to see the thoughts and responses. Going on a west coast road trip this fall and I'm already worried I'm gonna gain weight. There's one day we're going to The French Laundry and I plan on saving most of my cals for dinner and working out that day but not sure what to do the rest of the days.

Teabythesea_ · June 2019

Remember that progress and results come from what you do continuously, not what you do occasionally. In other words, taking a few days off to enjoy your vacation is not going to derail your progress. Do your best to make choices that will help reach your goals but don't stress too much about it. You dont want your memories of vacation to be of you worrying about food most of the time.

NovusDies · June 2019

My rules for vacation travel:

1) Always eat something low calorie to dampen hunger before eating anything higher calorie.
2) Be picky and make food earn its calories or don't eat it.
3) Move more
4) Relax and have fun

NovusDies · June 2019

bjkoziara wrote: »

Just replying to see the thoughts and responses. Going on a west coast road trip this fall and I'm already worried I'm gonna gain weight. There's one day we're going to The French Laundry and I plan on saving most of my cals for dinner and working out that day but not sure what to do the rest of the days.

Embrace that you may gain a little. What you do a very small percentage of the time doesn't matter it only matters what you do the overwhelming majority of your time. In my first year of weight loss I was only actually in a calorie deficit about 10.5 months. The other 6 weeks were diet breaks, travel, holidays, special occasions, bad days, just for fun days, etc. I don't deal well with feeling deprived or resentful towards myself for being strict so I credit that time off with helping me the other 10 1/2 months which translated to losing over 150 pounds.

pierinifitness · June 2019

Eat however you choose being mindful of your goals and willing to accept total responsibility for your behavior and how it contributes to or dalays achieving your goals.

In other words, your vacation days are no different than any other day.

kristen8000 · June 2019

I'm typically pretty relaxed on vacation. The key is to get back to normal as soon as the vacation is over. If you hate to see the scale go up, when you get back before you get back in gear, don't get on the scale. Most weight will be water, due to changes in diet, and will go away in a few weeks.

tinkerbellang83 · June 2019

aes1219 wrote: »

bjkoziara wrote: »

Just replying to see the thoughts and responses. Going on a west coast road trip this fall and I'm already worried I'm gonna gain weight. There's one day we're going to The French Laundry and I plan on saving most of my cals for dinner and working out that day but not sure what to do the rest of the days.

If a couple pounds up with bother you, consider not weighing yourself for a few days after you get back home to allow any extra food/water weight to go back to normal.

Further to this bear in mind even if you ate relatively light, because you're eating out, you're going to be taking in more sodium than normal and might be indulging in more carbs or alcohol than normal that can also contribute to water weight, so it's pretty much guaranteed the scale is going to rise, what's not guaranteed is that any of it will be fat.

You are going to have to deal with situations like this in the future so it's good practice to reduce anxiety around loosening the discipline a little without going off the rails.

NovusDies · June 2019

My scale really shot up last time because I can retain a crazy amount of water. Well more than the 5 pounds that I see many people here report. I don't like it but logging my food while gone, even if mostly guesses, told me that it was mostly water and food waste and I was right. Within about 10 days I was back down to normal.

The rule of thumb is that we are not supposed to do anything that we don't think we will do for the rest of our lives. I don't know about the rest of my life but I can't imagine spending every vacation worried about a little gain from some extra calories for even the next 5 years once I get to goal. I figure my weight will probably always be up and down some and I should just embrace it. I don't mind being in a deficit now so the thought doesn't scare me if I need to do it after I reach whatever my goal is to do small corrections.

seltzermint555 · June 2019

I agree with all of the other tips so far. I use pretty much the same methods. One thing I find very helpful on my calorie budget and financial budget is taking advantage of hotel breakfast offerings. The stuff that most mid-range places offer is remarkably similar to my own normal at-home breakfast (coffee, a cinnamon oatmeal packet with PB mixed in or boiled egg & fruit). My husband used to insist on going out to breakfast every morning of vacation and that usually started our day with huge omelets and biscuits and crepes...while that's fine once in awhile, or once per trip...not every morning. It leaves me much more wiggle room.

I also don't like road snacks except when we've spent hours hiking and need something in between meals.

Probably sounds like I don't have fun on vacation but I do! I'd just rather "save" my calories for unique & sometimes decadent lunch and/or dinner!

MileMarker641 · July 2019

bjkoziara wrote: »

Just replying to see the thoughts and responses. Going on a west coast road trip this fall and I'm already worried I'm gonna gain weight. There's one day we're going to The French Laundry and I plan on saving most of my cals for dinner and working out that day but not sure what to do the rest of the days.

bjkoziara, if you are really concerned I could come with you and eat your meal at The French Laundry and just describe it for you :-). I'm really good at describing, I promise! It's tough I know but I would be willing to do that for you.

Seriously though - enjoy!!!

being_fit_101 · July 2019

You should enjoy food but do little portion control. I went to 3 weeks vacation recently. before heading i lost about 4lbs thinking that i will gain about 4lbs on vacation and will balance out (my goal is not losing weight but maintaining). During the vacation I ate what ever is available (portion control obviously) and did a lot of walking (sightseeing). Ultimately i ended up losing 3lbs..

cwolfman13 · July 2019

In my experience, most weight gain from vacation is water from eating out more (higher sodium) and air travel (airplane bloat).

I've never gained actual weight (fat) on a vacation that I can recall. I'm relaxed on vacation. In the big picture my vacation or other occasions are pretty immaterial to the whole. We don't get fat because of a vacation or special occasion. We get fat when we're over-consuming on a consistent basis.

Part of what makes vacations special for me is trying the food from that area and enjoying it. I don't go crazy, but I enjoy myself. I'm also way more active on a vacation than I am at home where I spend 5 days per week sitting behind a desk. I'm typically on the go most of the day while on vacation.

In a nutshell...I don't really worry about it. It's not material to the big picture.

katiesmom_99 · July 2019

I'm leaving in 9 days for my first beach trip in 3 years. The trip before that was 15 years ago. Taken as 2 weeks out of roughly 780? I plan to eat and drink my way through vacation and calories or macros be damned. I'll deal with it after I get home.

lalalacroix · July 2019

I just finished a 9 day vacation. I decided not to weigh foods and not to log, mainly because I did not have internet access.

I generally ate whatever I wanted. I still ate a normal breakfast and added a lot of veggies to my day. Otherwise I drank much more alcohol, ate a good bit of chips and salsa daily, desserts and trail mix (added it to my morning oats - that was so good!). I enjoyed it.

First day back from vacation I was up 2 pounds on the scale, 5 days later that 2 pounds dropped off along with 3 extra pounds. Overall I lost 3 pounds.

My tip would be to enjoy vacation and get back on plan when you return.

merryday12 · July 2019

All great tips! I travel a lot for work as well as vacation and have found the following helpful. Watch out for breakfast! It’s very easy to consume a tremendous number of calories eating breakfast out. Hotel buffets offer good choices but it’s up to us to make them. I also often get breakfast at Starbucks (oatmeal or egg white bites or a protein box). Don’t order french fries. Just don’t do it. Steal from children if necessary. Watch your alcohol consumption. Get the child-size ice cream cone. Walk as much as possible. These are my only five rules when traveling and I usually return home without much weight gain after enjoying a lot of good food.

texasredreb · July 2019

I plan on taking a diet break during my vacation that is coming up. I hope to eat mindfully but still enjoy myself. I have winery and brewery tours on my list of things to do, so those tastings will certainly add to my calorie count.

I figure to stay under 2000 calories/day and I should be okay. Either way, I'll be back to the grind when I return and I'll except the pounds to come off eventually.

Enjoy!

lindamtuck2018 · July 2019

I just came back from a 4 week vacation at the end of June. I set my calories to a loss of .5 pounds a week instead of 2 pounds. I do have a lot of weight to lose. I didn’t weigh or measure my food like I did at home but I judged best I could. I logged best I could. But the most important part of it was I had fun. So watch your portions and enjoy your vacation. Also, wait a few days after you get home to weigh yourself. I had a lot of water retention from flying.

LittleLightShine · July 2019

It's perfectly fine to take a break from your plan and enjoy food on vacation. I've had several vacations during my weightloss journey over the past seven months and I've still continued to lose weight over the long run. My vacation strategy was to still get in my 10,000 steps, be very aware of drinking a TON of water and sometimes to just take a bite or two of something I really wanted instead of eating the whole thing. I might order fish and my husband pasta and I'll have a few bites of his instead of having an entire order myself. Just being a little mindful makes a difference. Have a fantastic vacation, enjoy yourself and be sure to take advantage of every moment. Remember that you know how to lose weight and when you're home and back in your regular routine you will lose more weight then.

grinning_chick · July 2019

Recognize and make peace now with the fact it can take up to two weeks (in my experience) to get back on track calorie-wise 100% and be where you were at before the event as far as satiety/fullness/etc on that amount of calories. This time delay also applies to the weight scale normalizing again post vacation/holiday/event. It's not like just one - or seven - days of high(er) calories and then BAM, back to whatever caloric deficit you were at prior to with ease or dropping all the retained water in one giant "whoosh".

There will very likely be a bit of struggle to get back on track - stick with it and you will get through it. If I can, anyone can lol

I gained four pounds on the 2-3 days surrounding my birthday this year. As of today ~ two weeks later, applying the above hard earned knowledge, and I am back on track 100% and at a lower body weight than before the big day. I am okay with the fact I ate an entire week's worth of calories in three days, in addition to the week's planned total calories (i.e., I did no harmful-to-me restriction behaviors), plus about 1K additional calories total for the two weeks.

If you are using a weight tracker app, don't take it personally that it is going to freak the eff out for nearly the entire time it takes to get back on track/losing for several days again. They are calculations and just can't correctly account and adjust for things like temporary water weight retention weight increases/decreases.

Vacation eating tips

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