Should i count calories on vacation?

Brisk09
Brisk09 Posts: 7 Member
edited May 31 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello, I am going on a vacation in June and I was wondering if I needed to count calories on vacation. It will be about 10 days long. I have lost 4 lbs these past 3 weeks or so. I hope not because i do not want to be too stressed about eating just like at home.

Edit: I will post an update in the end of July. All of my weight loss questions have been answered. Thanks for the answers and support! I wish yall luck aswell!

Best Answer

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,777 Member
    Answer ✓
    It's up to you. There aren't "diet police", right? ;)

    Think about it this way: You've been counting calories for 3 weeks. Your vacation will be ten days, call it a week and a half. Imagine that instead of starting calorie counting 3 weeks ago, you'd waited and started four and a half weeks later, after your vacation. The results of not counting on vacation won't be more negative than that, and they might be better. In the grand scheme of a whole life, it's not a huge thing, IMO. Just be sure to get back on your recent healthy routine as soon as you get back home. That's important in the big picture.

    Personally, I don't worry excessively about accurate counting during vacations, since eating special things is part of the enjoyment. I just try not to go hog wild. But I've been at this a long time, now in maintenance. If I gain a pound or two, I know how to lose it.

    No matter what you decide, a thing to know: It's common when eating in an unusual-for-us way, even if not excessively much food, to add some water weight. It's absolutely standard to have some water retention after airline flights or long car rides, maybe quite a few pounds. Therefore, you may find that the scale is up quite a few pounds day 1 when you get back to everyday life.

    Don't panic and think you've necessarily gained a whole bunch of fat. It's probably not so. Just get back on your recent healthy routine immediately as I mentioned, no excuses, and give the scale a couple of weeks or so to sort itself out.

    Will you gain a bit of fat back? Maybe, depends on how many calories you eat (whether counting or not) and how much activity you do on vacation. But almost certainly, not all of a scale jump you see on day 1 back home will be fat gain.

    Have a great vacation!

Answers

  • Corina1143
    Corina1143 Posts: 3,488 Member
    Your decision.
    My opinion. Yes. And No.
    You could easily eat everything in sight and come home weighing more than before you started losing.
    Don't do that.
    You could concentrate so hard on losing weight you don't have any fun.
    Don't do that.
    You have learned a lot. Grilled and baked meats, non-starchy veggies, most fruits are healthy, tasty and filling. Eat lots of that. Ice cream, pastries, etc. are fun vacation foods. Enjoy a little of these.
    Before you go, pre-log your meals for the first 2 days after you get home. Make it something easy, and hopefully something you can shop for, possibly prepare and freeze before you go?
    Have a fun vacation!
  • Brisk09
    Brisk09 Posts: 7 Member
    I will post an update in the end of July. All of my weight loss questions have been answered. Thanks for the answers and support! I wish yall luck aswell!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,152 Member
    I normally lose weight when on vacation. If your the type that is on the move all the time, going places and generally making full evenings with other activities, in other words very active then I probably wouldn't, who wants to count calories to begin with but if your a person who get up hits the buffet and then sits around the pool or water all day for the most part, then it might be something needed.
  • FibroHiker
    FibroHiker Posts: 398 Member
    Last year I did an 11 day cruise tour of the Mediterranean followed by a week in France. It was lovely with lots of fabulous food and spirits. Because of where we were I wanted to really enjoy myself with the food and being on vacation. Well, I gained 15 pounds. Not too much, right? It took me almost a year just to get those 15 lb. off again.

    I'm on vacation again and I'm doing it differently this year. I don't want to spend another year recovering from my vacation. I like that I'm a smaller size and I know it's hard for me to lose weight.

    Do you lose weight easily? If you do, 10-15 pounds isn't much. It's not likely that you would gain more than that while on vacation. If it's hard for you to lose, keep track of what you're eating. I found that one of the first things that helped me with this app was documenting what I ate. I found my perceptions of what I ate and the actual calories were very different. Tracking while on vacation could help you keep a better perspective of how you are doing.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,853 Member
    One thing: When you come back don't be disappointed when you get on the scale and am heavier. Travel water weight, especially from air travel but also from longer car, bus or train rides are totally a thing. It's just water and not body fat. And it's super sticky but will eventually leave again. For me, this water sticks around for about 5-6 days after a flight. It's normal, thus don't be shocked.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,152 Member
    edited May 31
    yirara wrote: »
    One thing: When you come back don't be disappointed when you get on the scale and am heavier. Travel water weight, especially from air travel but also from longer car, bus or train rides are totally a thing. It's just water and not body fat. And it's super sticky but will eventually leave again. For me, this water sticks around for about 5-6 days after a flight. It's normal, thus don't be shocked.

    I learned after my first trip to India, been there 3 times, to not take of my shoes on the plane, or bring loose slipper type to wear after you do. I also didn't eat much food on the plane and even drank what I thought was ample water. A couple of hours walking around brought things back to normal.

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