[faiora]

So, the SO and I said we can eat what we like on our vacation as long as we log everything. I guess it went okay since I didn't gain any weight, but... whew.

2000 calories over on Sunday, even after accounting for over an hour of uphill walking. We also hadn't slept the night before because we had to leave at 4am for the train. Do you guys eat more when you haven't slept enough? I'm wondering if that has something to do with it.

After Sunday, we were a little bit under for calories on Monday and Tuesday, then over again yesterday, mostly because my feet hurt from all the walking so I didn't get any exercise, just sat around and "recovered" (and ate).

Do you guys have vacation strategies for eating? We had a kitchenette but it was only a 3-day vacation so we didn't end up cooking after all. I mean, there were so many restaurants in the area that looked amazing. We didn't even make it to the places we PLANNED to go to because we got so excited about the places around us. And my SO had chicken fried steak the first night, which was apparently the highlight of the trip for him, aside from the concert we went to.

Anyway, I'm finding myself a bit hungrier than usual after our trip. It's tough to go back to normal home food.

[Palestrina]

Lack of sleep has a known correlation with weight gain. Your body craves energy. Sleep provides replenishment and energy. If you don't give it the sleep it needs it will crave the energy elsewhere. Specifically, lack of sleep can lead to a lot of cravings for carbohydrates.

I don't do anything differently while on vacation, I don't diet and so I don't deprive myself from day to day anyway. On vacation I especially like to enjoy and savor my food, but that never means eating too much.

[faiora]

Hmm, that makes sense about needing energy. I didn't think about it that way.

I don't deprive myself for the most part; I don't have to because the foods I'm eating at home keep me feeling satisfied most of the time. But eating out, it's way too easy to go a couple thousand calories over (we do track our calories). It's not like we were eating extra meals or more than one meal at a sitting, but I guess the portion sizes were bigger than they needed to be, and there was more sauce than there needed to be, and so on...

I don't think I'm quite at your level yet where enjoying and savouring food might mean taking the time to really enjoy it instead of inhaling it. Haha.

[Palestrina]

I practice mindful eating and it really changed my relationship with food. Before, food was something that was either good for me or bad for me. It was either a lot of calories or few calories. It was either healthy or not. But focusing on mindfulness made me realize that the act of eating is an act if self love and nourishment. If I sit with a peach and dacoit every bite paying close attention to the utter juiciness, the sweet tart burst of flavors, the creamy fuzzy texture and really enjoy it it becomes an experience that is both pleasant and satisfying. By doing this my portion sizes have reduce significantly, because I allow myself to feel satisfaction.

Eating out a lot can be very caloric. But I find that when I do treat myself that later or the next day my appetite is gone or crave something lighter.