[side salad]

okay, so, i fly to Mexico in 4 days for a fortnights holiday (eeeek! i'm so excited) it's my first time out of Europe an i really can't wait.
The hotel is all inclusive which my inner binge demon thinks is awesome because i know i'll want to try EVERYTHING and this is what concerns me. There is a gym, spa and a sizable pool which i sincerely believe i will make a good effort to gain use from - but . . . if this holiday is turns into a noticeable blip how can i rein it in to being a misdemeanor rather than a major catastrophe? the last thing i want is post holiday blues + comfort eating via regret.
Any advise chicks on how to stay in control without being a holiday party-pooper? x

[Madame Souza]

oooh how fun! I am so excited for you. Vacations can be tough. I messed up on my last vacation by not staying on plan. I just threw the plan out the window and ate not so great.
The advice I have for you is watch your portion sizes. If you order food, when it comes, look at the plate and decide how much you should eat and stick with that. They usually give more food then you should eat. If you are doing buffets, fill your plate with veggies first and then a little of everything else. Maybe you should look at the buffet and plan before you get your plate so you are not just heaping everything on it.
Keep up with the exercise. It sounds like you will do that.
If you do badly one day, start fresh the next day. Don't just throw your diet out because of one bad day or one bad meal.
If you come back and have gained weight, don't beat yourself up over it. Just get back up and get back on the diet and start fresh.
We all are challenged by vacations diet wise. Don't worry the whole vacation about it. Just do what you can and do your best.
Have a great time!

[linJber]

Hi. Congratulations on getting to go on a great vacation! Souza said it all. Just do the best you can and make the best choice you can - one at a time. You've already stated you don't want to have regrets - remember that at each opportunity to choose. If there is a scale available in the gym, why not weigh yourself on the first morning there. Even if it's off from your scale at home, you will have a starting point. (Side note: I weigh naked at home. If you do, too - wear clothes in the gym!) Then weigh in every day - no matter what. If you're up a bit, try to analyze why. If you're holding steady or losing, fantastic. I'd call holding steady a victory on a 2 week vacation.

If you don't have great luck in keeping things under control, just move on. Get home and get back on plan. think about this the way a thin person would. If they gained 10 pounds on a 2 week all-inclusive holiday, they'd just work on taking it off when they got home. You can do the same without beating yourself up over it.

Best plan - enjoy yourself but be mindful of your long term goals. The food won't go away - you can pass one day and try it the next. Stay positive and focused and you'll do well. Have fun!

Lin

[carter]

I use a "not today" approach to dealing with tempting eating opportunities, which works really well for eating opportunities that are not extremely rare - someone's homemade cookies at work, for example, or visiting a nice restaurant. These things are nice, but saying "not today" doesn't mean I'll never have another chance to experience something like them.

A vacation, especially a vacation in a foreign country, is a little bit different - some of the opportunities you face really could be once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you don't want to pass up. For that, the "not today" tactic is obviously flawed.

I have been thinking about this a lot myself, because I am going on vacation to India early next year - for nearly three weeks - and I want to have a plan in place for how I am going to approach food on that trip.

What I am thinking is this: evaluate eating opportunities critically to decide if they really rise to the once-in-a-lifetime level that I don't want to pass on. For example, if a hotel has a really superb breakfast buffet filled with local treats, and I am going to be in that hotel for 3 days, I don't need to dive head-first into the buffet every day that I am there. Or, if I am served a dinner that, when I sample it, actually doesn't taste all that different from the Indian food at my favorite restaurant at home, I'll know that I don't have to gorge myself on it just because it happens to be served to me in India. I can save that for the dinners that truly are different from what I get at home.

Maybe you can adapt some of those ideas for your Mexico trip. And, I will read the other ideas in this thread with great interest as I prepare for my own trip!

Finally, linjber is spot on as always - the most important thing is that whatever you do while you are there, it's finite and short. The most important thing is to get right back on plan when you get home, regardless.

[April Snow]

fwiw, I have lost weight on vacations from being relatively careful with food but more importantly, being so much more active than I normally have time to be.

I love Carter's advice of deciding whether something is truly a limited opportunity to experience vs. an excuse to eat too much and would combine that with making sure to enjoy lots of activity. Not just the gym and pool but all the sightseeing and walking around.

And then just have a plan to get right back on track as soon as you get home - make sure to have on plan foods ready for you at home (maybe cook ahead and leave something in the freezer for the first couple of meals when you get back?).

Whatever happens on the trip, own your choices and enjoy them thoroughly because feeling guilty doesn't lower the calories of what you eat! lol!

[side salad]

Ta Chicks!
things make so much more sense/seem more do-able when someone else is saying it (well, typing it lol) so you're advise has been very helpful - i'm glad i asked x

Lin- your 'if you weigh naked . . .' comment really made me chuckle

i might post back here after the holiday to note the outcome- what helped most/where i stumbled etc