Tips for a Special Event?

gwyneth1770 · May 15

I am just shy of one month in and down 7 lbs. I track every bite of food and most days I am under my calories by just a little (I set my calories pretty high at 1700 - I love to eat!).

Next week I will be traveling to my niece's destination wedding, and while I doubt I can stay in a calorie deficit I would prefer not to gain it all back in four days. What are your tips for staying on track while traveling and celebrating? I don't drink alcohol, so that helps

About me - age 52, starting weight 192, current weight 185, goal weight 160 (but I'm in no rush - slow and steady...)

nikko_quinto · May 15

I agree with what the other posts. Enjoy the special event and food, as it’s a time for connection with loved ones.

I agree with what everyone said- enjoy the special event and food. You’re with loved ones and it’s a time to celebrate.

With that said, there are some strategies you can put into play to prepare for this without getting too off track.

Here’s what I do when I have a vacation or special event while traveling. These are just general things I do and depending on how disciplined I feel, I will change or modify these to fit my needs and make it more realistic.

1. Up your physical activity. This can mean hitting the gym harder and adding extra sessions before and after the event. It can also simply mean upping your steps, tacking on additional 5-10k steps. Remember the calorie in calorie out equation.

2. Intermittent fasting- you can try a fasting period on the day of. For example, having a 16 hour fasting period, then having the 8 hour eating period during the wedding dinner. I typically don’t respond well to IF, but for a special day like this it’s something I can muster up the discipline to do.

If that’s not manageable, than sticking to high protein and fat throughout the day, then allowing yourself to enjoy all group eating events could be another option.

3. Before meals, consume a salad with a light dressing before having the main meal. This can help you feel fuller by filling you up with fibrous non starchy carbs.

4. Eating your protein first in the meal. Since protein has the most satiating effects, this will also help you eat less while still enjoying the event.

5. Place your fork down between bites. Chew and eat slowly.

6. Never skip the dessert. Well this is probably the most important. Strategy. Gotta enjoy yourself!

For all the hard work, you deserve it. You can get back to business once you’re done. Tracking every bite of food is crazy hard and requires a lot of discipline and focus. This could be an opportunity to restore that discipline and help you come back strong with that regimen.

Hope this helps, enjoy yourself.

xbowhunter · May 15

Best advice I was given is live in the moment and enjoy yourself. Life is very short, and you won't regret having a good time or that last piece of cake.

To gain your 7lbs back you would have to eat more food than your body can physically handle... lol

Have a wonderful time and when you get back to reality you can work on you again...

pony4us · May 15

If you lost 7 lbs in a month you are doing great. My tip is to enjoy this special time with your family and get right back to what you are doing when you get home knowing that with travel you will see a bump up on the scale. This is four days not four weeks. You can try to make choices and choose treats that are "calorie worthy" and walk a bit more...but do enjoy yourself and don't overthink it.

AnnPT77 · May 15

gwyneth1770 wrote: »

I am just shy of one month in and down 7 lbs. I track every bite of food and most days I am under my calories by just a little (I set my calories pretty high at 1700 - I love to eat!).

Next week I will be traveling to my niece's destination wedding, and while I doubt I can stay in a calorie deficit I would prefer not to gain it all back in four days. What are your tips for staying on track while traveling and celebrating? I don't drink alcohol, so that helps

About me - age 52, starting weight 192, current weight 185, goal weight 160 (but I'm in no rush - slow and steady...)

Just as a point of perspective: To gain back 7 pounds of fat over the course of 4 days, you'd have to eat roughly 24,500 calories above your current weight-maintenance calories during that time, or an average of 6,125 calories above maintenance each day.

Realistically, if you've lost 7 pounds in a month, some part of that (not the majority of it) is probably reduced water retention rather than all fat loss. If you've been eating 1700 consistently (or close to 1700 mostly, with a bit of overage here and there), and the entire 7 pounds was fat, and that took about a month (30 days), we'd estimate your maintenance calories to be around 2500 calories per day.

If that 2500 is a reasonable estimate (though it's probably a little high because of the water weight thing), then in total you'd need to average 8625 calories eaten per day for those 4 days to gain back the whole seven pounds. (That's the 6125 calories over maintenance plus the 2500 maintenance estimate).

That's all very rough math. But you're not going to eat anything remotely like 8625 calories on average for each of the 4 days, right? I'm not saying it's impossible, but unless you really set your mind to eating every high-calorie thing at hand, it's just not likely to happen.

Inescapable conclusion: You're not going to "gain it all back in 4 days".

I agree with others: Relax, have a good time, eat some special things at the special events, don't go crazy. You'll be fine.

Anticipate up to several pounds of water retention showing up on the scale when you get home (that might actually be 7 pounds, hard to say), but it won't be fat. Just go back to your healthy routine you've followed for the past month. The water weight will gradually drop away, and your fat loss progress will eventually start showing up on the scale again.

For me, water retention from unusual eating patterns tends to dissipate over one to two weeks, but it can seem a little slower for women who have monthly hormonal cycles that also cause weight fluctuations. (I'm in menopause, so I don't have that.)

Best wishes!

kshama2001 · May 16

Since it's a destination wedding, I assume you're flying?

Resume your habits as soon as you get back, but don't weigh yourself for a week - give the likely water retention time to dissipate.

AnnPT77 · May 16

kshama2001 wrote: »

Since it's a destination wedding, I assume you're flying?

Resume your habits as soon as you get back, but don't weigh yourself for a week - give the likely water retention time to dissipate.

If OP can muster up steely nerves about scale weight, I personally think weighing daily for a while to see what happens is a really good learning experience about how one's personal body handles water fluctuations in these circumstances.

If that's extremely stressful to the person, though, I agree with you about skipping weigh-ins.

springlering62 · May 17

Cabin pressure on flights can cause a temporary water weight gain. For me, typically 5 or so pounds for an international flight.

Long drives can do the same.

Just wanted to clarify what they meant.

Tips for a Special Event?

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