Vacation eating tips

mzmikly
mzmikly Posts: 10 Member
edited December 21 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm going on vacation. Any tips on how to stay on track with eating? Thanks!

Replies

  • bjkoziara
    bjkoziara Posts: 158 Member
    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.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,226 Member
    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
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    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.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    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!
  • being_fit_101
    being_fit_101 Posts: 16 Member
    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
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    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
    katiesmom_99 Posts: 87 Member
    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
    lalalacroix Posts: 834 Member
    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
    merryday12 Posts: 8 Member
    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
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
    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
    lindamtuck2018 Posts: 9,836 Member
    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
    LittleLightShine Posts: 123 Member
    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
    grinning_chick Posts: 765 Member
    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.
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