How do you handle vacations and unlimited food?

It’s great question. I have a cruise planned for this summer with the drink package too. I suppose I’ll need to remember that I’m fortunate enough that every day is an unlimited food day. I could choose to eat McDonald’s as much as I want and Dairy Queen for dessert, but I don’t. Maybe another thing is that there are special times that come along maybe once per year and we could choose to focus on fun and out of norm behavior. For me, the vacation will be incredibly active so that should help.

I think it just comes down to your relationship with food. I enjoy food and vacation for me is an opportunity to try local fare and different things from when I'm at home, but it's also not all about food, food, food. Most of my vacations are filled with lots of different activities and site seeing and we're on the go much of the time.

I'd say in general, all inclusives aren't really my bag and a cruise in particular doesn't sound at all fun or interesting except for maybe an Alaskan cruise. I think I'd be bored out of my gourd...and yeah, I might turn to eating copious amounts of food at that point to pass the time I suppose. I've only stayed at one all inclusive years ago in St Maarten for my wife's birthday and I'd wager we were actually off site exploring the island probably 80% of the time at least. We really only took advantage of the all inclusive aspect in the evenings for dinner and drinks, though we never did the buffet as I prefer quality over quantity. I also loath the feeling of being overly full, so I never really go there and shut it down well before I get to that point no matter how good it all tastes.

We'll be going to Botswana in late July/early August this summer and we'll be staying at several different resort camps that are all inclusive but there aren't any buffets, just regular sit down meals that are included in the price as well as an open bar. You can get extra helpings of food if you wish (from the sounds of it), but that's just not something I do in general at home, vacation, or otherwise. Most days we will also be out on safari from pretty much sunrise to just before sunset so we'll be out and doing most of the day. The open bar might be an interesting hiccup as I have substantially cut back on alcohol over the past year and more recently have decided not to drink at all as I see little to no benefit from it and just don't get anything out of it anymore...but once upon a time, an open bar every night would have meant a drunken mess. I don't think I'll have much issue with it as I don't see how drinking could possibly enhance a once in a lifetime African safari...at the very least I will want to be fully present and immersed in the experience and I'll want to remember every second of it...and I won't be wanting to nurse a hangover at sunrise when we depart for the day down bumpy dirt roads.

I would also add that going forward you might have to re-evaluate how you vacation in the future and whether an all inclusive free for all aligns with the lifestyle you're trying to live. Over the past 10 years of this I've had to alter the way I go about a number of things quite a bit in order to align with the kind of life I'm trying to live. I could probably deal with an all you can eat vacation and come out no worse for the wear, but that kind of environment for me where booze is concerned would be highly triggering and I likely wouldn't last long before succumbing

I don't do cruises, but have taken vacations where I ate well over my maintenance calories for a week. I try not to be stupid-crazy, but for me, enjoying special food is part of some types of vacation. On some vacations, I may get in some extra activity, too, so burn a bit more than usual. (I try to stay active in fun ways while vacationing - for me that's part of vacation enjoyment, too.)

Under most circumstances, cruises sound like one of the circles of h*ll to me, lots of people, confined space, over-structured "entertainment", mainstream pseudo-fancy food (I'm vegetarian, BTW), etc. But some vacations with ample food are appealing, and I've done those.

No matter what happens on the vacation, I go back to my regular routine immediately when I get back home. What I do 51 weeks of the year matters a whole lot more than what I do one week of the year.

Travel (plane trips or long drives) and unusual eating (even if it were calorie appropriate) typically add water weight. When I get home, I expect a good-sized scale jump because of that, but keep weighing daily and putting the weight in my weight trending app without freaking out about it, and give it time. Usually, a bunch of that scale weight drops off within a week or two, because it was water.

At that point, if my weight is still up, that's probable fat gain. I know how to lose a few pounds when I need to. Personally, I'm not going to do it with some panicked big calorie cut, but with a smaller cut over a longer time period, because that's nearly painless to me - maybe a 250 calorie daily deficit. If I'm anticipating gain, I'd probably start that deficit when I get home, not wait to see the fat gain sort itself out from the water weight on the scale.

It's not likely to be a giant fat gain from a week. From experience, even if I totally cut loose, I'm unlikely to eat much more than maybe 2-2.5 times maintenance calories in one day, and I usually would burn out on over-eating and not do that much eating every single day the whole time on a multi-day vacation. In round numbers, it could theoretically add up to 5-7 pounds or so, but it usually isn't that much. At a 250 calorie deficit, even that much would be gone in a two or three months or so, pretty painlessly. More commonly, for me, it's going to be zero to 2-3 pounds, so gone in less (or no) time. Obviously, those numbers would be different for different people - different capacity to overeat, different TDEE, etc. There are reasons why a very rare, very unusual bout of overconsumption may not result in as much fat gain as 3500 calories = 1 pound would suggest. (Don't count on it, though.)

That's just me. Some people will want to control calorie intake more closely during the vacation, as described above. It's a personal choice.

ETA context: I'm in year 7+ of maintaining a healthy weight, after around 3 previous decades of continuous overweight/obesity. My weight probably fluctuates more than a lot of people would be comfortable with, because many people truly prefer to keep things on a tighter rein, and that's fine . . . for them. But I've stayed in the same size jeans the whole time, not yo-yoing wildly or quickly in weight. I creep up slowly, creep back down slowly, stay in a reasonable weight range. This works for me.

We had 2 weeks at Aprils start. It has taken 2 weeks to “recover” and get back to the pre-vaca weight. Your self control will need to be tip top shape or you will need to plan on the reckoning afterwards. Ideas to think about: 1-Eat healthfully at breakfast and lunch and eat whatever sounds good at dinner. 2- Only allow yourself adult beverages at evening meal or “out” at night…try limiting to “x” total alcohol units per day. 3-allow yourself whatever the main is and skip the hash browns, fries and bakers in exchange for a second veg or fruit plate. 4- pack nuts, almonds and walnuts, one ounce per day. Eat them 15 minutes prior to your evening meal. The protein will help build satiety before you sit down and you will eat less. 5- drink 8 ounces before you order or go get a plate. Drink another before the food arrives or before you eat. It will help take up stomach space.6- Start each meal with a huge salad.7- stay well hydrated…8 ounces for every waking hour.

I agree that all inclusive weeks are a big challenge. Also, the point is to enjoy yourself and relax, all of which mean loosening your self controls a bit.

I haven't been much interested in cruises for this reason, but I've really enjoyed resorts that offer lots of activities. It helps to plan activities early in the day to give an incentive to get to bed early, not drink too much, and keep breakfast and lunch short and small (e.g., don't hang around the dining room). Eat a bit more and have a drink or two with dinner. The one plate rule (@nossmf) really helps a lot. Selecting only the best food (@elisa123gal) is also a great idea.

Gain it now, lose it later!

Have a blast!

It’s only a few days so won’t make much difference in the grand scheme of things. You gotta live your life right? It’s ok to relax a little. No need to stuff yourself silly each meal. Just eat to a level of being comfortably full. Get back to your normal routine when you get home.

I just relax and enjoy the experience while eschewing painlessly avoidable extra calories in sugary sodas, juices, pasta, bread, cookies and cake. I like to load up first on things that are filling: dense proteins or sushi. Often my first trip through the buffet is an entire large plate of sushi. Not only does it quickly fill me up - but the flavour profile + wasabi and spiced ginger quells my desire for carb-y foods.