We are having a nice long holiday weekend here in France (July 14th is the French national holiday, so it’s a 4 day weekend this year).

We are also leaving for our 3 week summer holiday in 2 weeks, so I decided to approach this little vacation as my ‘training wheels’ time for the big vacation.  While I can often go on a weekend away and eat indulgently and get right back on track with nothing worse than a one-week stall in my weight, the same cannot be said for going off plan on a longer vacation.

In addition, my weight gain from 190 to 220 that started 2 years ago was kick-started by our last 3 week vacation in the US - huge portions, Mexican food, all those foods that I don’t have every day here in France…  The excuses are many, but the damage of 3 weeks of unrestrained eating is enormous, and I’ve been fighting like hell to get my weigh back under control for 18 months, and just finally started losing a serious chunk a few months back, so that kind of backslide is simply out of the question.  I will stay on low-carb eating during our 3 week California vacation.  It’s doable, and I’ll still be able to eat a lot of treats (Mexican, most restaurants, etc).

So this weekend has been my test period, and instead of allowing myself a certain number of treats (my usual strategy) I’ve just tried to stick to the carb-restricted plan.  I’ve had a few bites of dessert (3 bites total over 3 days) but otherwise have stuck to the plan.  I won’t describe the beautiful breakfast laid out at our hotel (because they do have ham, eggs and cheese) nor the dessert buffet at lunch (because again they have a nice cheese platter).

Today’s lunch will be the biggest challenge - we are going to a creperie which is supposed to be one of the best in the world (crepes are from the region we are visiting right now).  Ordering a salad should be a possiblity, and maybe just a bite of my husband’s crepe will be enough.