Success logging while on vacation?

Graciecny
Graciecny Posts: 302 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For those of you who have done an extended vacation and logged while away, how did things work out? I'm a bit anxious about our trip which starts next month. It's a driving vacation, so I'll have the ability to bring food and keep it reasonable to some extent, but there will also probably be one meal out each day for a good portion of the trip. That's the part that is weighing on my mind (and possibly my backside!). Suggestions, comments, experiences would be much appreciated!

Replies

  • Graciecny
    Graciecny Posts: 302 Member
    My one shot at bumping to see if anyone has experience logging while on vacation. Apparently I am not only the thread killer, I can't get responses if I start one. :laugh: :drinker:

    I see lots of posts about "don't worry, just eat small portions" etc but I'm concerned because we'll be gone for a while. I would hate to come home to the scale going a long ways in the wrong direction!
  • Discoveri
    Discoveri Posts: 435 Member
    Go into your vacation with a game plan. Plan ahead by using google maps to check out the area you will be visiting, maybe you can find a route to go walking/jogging when you stop in an area. Since you said it was a driving vacation, will you be staying in any hotels? Maybe they will have a gym. Try to put in some form of exercise each day. If you have been good all day snacking in the car, a meal out won't hurt you.
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
    you have been on holiday before, what did you eat?
    look it up in the food database before you leave and see how to fit it into your calories.

    stop in towns and at scenic spots and walk for half an hour or an hour.

    check the calories of your car snacks in advance too

    I have checked the calories of meat pies which is my usual lunch on a road trip. I can fit this in. Swapping the sodas I used to drink for water will do the trick for me, and better car snacks. make your coffees skinny coffees. etc

    If you can't get access to the internets, log on a paper diary.
    have your calories of most eaten food and your goal in written form.
  • Graciecny
    Graciecny Posts: 302 Member
    Thank you for the replies!
    you have been on holiday before, what did you eat?
    look it up in the food database before you leave and see how to fit it into your calories.

    stop in towns and at scenic spots and walk for half an hour or an hour.

    check the calories of your car snacks in advance too

    I have checked the calories of meat pies which is my usual lunch on a road trip. I can fit this in. Swapping the sodas I used to drink for water will do the trick for me, and better car snacks. make your coffees skinny coffees. etc

    If you can't get access to the internets, log on a paper diary.
    have your calories of most eaten food and your goal in written form.
    Honestly, the last time we went on vacation was Christmas and I ate and drank junk. Lots and lots of it. I ate fried stuff and stuff slathered in cream sauce and dessert with almost every meal and Mountain Dew every time I was out and about. I came home heavier than I had ever been and started MFP about three weeks later, the last day of January. I know I won't eat like that on this vacation, or at least would do it rarely. For some reason, I'm still a little nervous even though it has been going well so far. There are so few calories difference in a day between losing and gaining weight! And we'll be gone for weeks, so a slip up here and there could really add up. I keep pondering taking my scale along, but I just can't see doing it.

    Thankfully as both of you mentioned, walking is exercise and I think we may have that part of it covered as we'll be visiting some national parks and state parks where we should be doing some walking/hiking (weather and kids allowing!). DH and I may switch off days with getting short runs in, if possible, and any hotel with a fitness center will be a bonus (I know one place we will stay has one, but other than that they're pretty slim with the type of establishments we'll be visiting). I'll do what I can activity-wise, and I'll definitely bring my HRM along for the ride.

    As far as logging, I'm hoping and praying to have access at least once daily to log stuff, but I am pretty certain there will be days where that won't happen. Not that being without internet access is necessarily a bad thing. :wink: It's just that I have little feel for restaurant meal calories, so hopefully for those meals I'll be able to get online and search to see what would be reasonable.

    ETA: The days we will likely be without internet may actually be easier, as those will be days I plan to cook for us in an RV we are renting. I can plan those days out when I buy food and pre-log those dinners just to see the calories. I think I will be bringing the kitchen scale and a measuring cup or two. :noway:
  • elevatorguy925
    elevatorguy925 Posts: 45
    I just got back from a vacation and I actually lost weight, if you have a capable phone get the mobile MFP app and look up foods as you go.
    I eat out at times and know what I can eat at some fast food places. I know it probably has been said, but moderation is key, and you can ask for your food to be prepared without butter or sauces along with asking how it is prepared. Vegan choices work as well to reduce animal fats etc.

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