I just go back from vacation, and I can honestly say I didn't eat like I had been at home.
We vacationed at a lake house my aunt and uncle rented for a couple weeks. My aunt stocked all food and drinks, snacks, etc. She is a good cook and made about everything we ate on vacation, other than the fair food some of us ate, and the food we ate on the 10 hour trip. I could've asked her to buy a lot of extra food, but I would've been the only one dieting those few days, and it would've made me feel bad to have her go to the extra trouble ad money just for me. Granted, she did do that for my cousin, but that was only because she is very allergic to about all seasonings and spices, a lot of fruits, veggies, and even alcohol. But her reasons were life-threatening, mine wouldn't have been. I also thought it's vacation and just a few days. I didn't do a massive binge - I just ate more like a maintainer, plus a few goodies. I am sure there will be no weight gain. But now I am dreading going back to how I was eating lol.
So tell me about all of your experiences with vacations? Did you still diet? Was it hard to get back on track? Surely it couldn't have just been me
My vacation strategy is usually to treat myself, but keep quantity down. So I won't go out of my way to do all lean meats, steamed veggies, ect, but if I have a cheeseburger, maybe I'd just have a half or no bun. At the boardwalk, I'll have a few bites of a funnel cake or just a "taste" of fudge.
Remembering that I'll have to lose any weight I gain helps me, too. I don't want to come home from a week vacation more than a few lbs up!
I eat what I want on vacation, but I what I want is a lot less nowadays.
Back in the day, on vacation I would overeat throughout the day. Now if I do, it's usually just during one meal a day.
I also share food a lot more now. I used to hate sharing my food . But now I love doing that because I can get a satisfying portion of anything I want and not feel stuffed.
I also genuinely love eating healthy, so I keep doing that on vacation too. When others get fast food for example, I stop someplace else to get something fresh not just bc it's healthier but also because I enjoy that far more.
I generally eat as healthy as possible on vacation, and if possible I bring my own food and prepare my own meals (saves on money too!). At this point I generally know how to be enough of a pain in a restaurant to get something to my specifications
At the very least I DO make my own breakfast; I don't trust continental breakfasts (the only thing I will take is unprepared fruit). Even without a kitchen it's super easy to just make eggs in the microwave and I always bring a jar of roasted red peppers to scramble up with my eggs. It's a nice, filling, and yummy way to start the day and makes it so much easier to stay on track for the rest of the day.
I usually pack myself some good cereal and almond milk for breakfast, and some slimfast powder for lunch. Then I pig out on whatever I want for dinner, and I don't feel that guilty
I usually pack myself some good cereal and almond milk for breakfast, and some slimfast powder for lunch. Then I pig out on whatever I want for dinner, and I don't feel that guilty
We didn't really do a lot for lunch. We were out most of the afternoons doing stuff, so we'd have fruit salad or veggies to snack on in the afternoon, and we had brunch instead of breakfast. One morning was a hash brown, whole foods ham, cheese, egg and roasted pepper breakfast casserole, then one was scones and bagels, etc, etc. All breakfast/brunches also had fresh fruit, so I'd do half a portion of the main food, then get fresh fruit. The dinners all had salads; they did bbq, pulled pork, grilled lean meats, etc. So I'd do a reasonable portion of that, then salad. But I did have some wine, cider and funnel cake, and chocolate cake with glaze (not the whole things though - single portions lol) So I still consumed more calories than normally, but I don't think I did too bad. Bringing cereal and almond or soy milk sounds good for future stays in hotels though - you never know what the breakfasts will be
I don't usually fret too much about planning or weighing at someone else's house, but I do choose healthy options no matter if I'm on vacation or not. If I'm going to be staying at a place with a kitchen, I'll pack a cooler or go to a grocery store to pick up eggs and maybe some grape tomatoes or baby carrots or something else that I enjoy snacking on.
It's easy enough to just throw together some kind of egg or egg white scramble with whatever veggies/lean meats are around. I would have made a quick omelette or scramble with the roasted red peppers and some cheese (and you likely had onions around) and sat to eat with the family.
Your dinners sounded great! I never worry about the calories in the marinades or anything when someone else grills meat. I simply take into account the amount I'm eating and make sure that I remove the skin (if applicable). Yum!
I have never been able to eat sensibly on vacation. As soon as I get to my destination, all heck breaks loose. I end up gaining about 8 lbs. in a week but a lot of it is water weight but it's still not good. I have a trip coming up in August and I'm very concerned that I'll fall off track again....but I will definitely try to succeed. I'm very obsessive with food and I have to eat almost the same things every day with a few variations so if I don't have that routine then it becomes very overwhelming. I know it's not normal and I know that I need to learn but so far, I just haven't. I feel lucky that I'm at least on track and doing everything I can while at home.
If you can go and not gain weight, then I really admire your ability to eat in moderation.
I eat what I want on vacation because I can. Since I live in Korea most of my vacations are to places I'm never going to go back to and therefore I want to experience the local cuisine to it's fullest. I know I'm going to gain during the few weeks I'm gone and I'm ok with that. It's also the only time I let myself have more than 1 or 2 drinks! However since I've started my diet I physically can't eat as much as I used to. So even though I'm allowing myself to eat higher calorie foods I'm still not eating close to what I used to on vacation which is good.
I thought of this thread when I stayed at a lake house this weekend with a bunch of folks. The first night there was pasta and salad (I ended up just drinking champagne) but we made a veggie/egg scramble for breakfast the next day, then for lunch I made a "sandwich" with deli turkey, tomato, spinach, and roasted red peppers wrapped in a lettuce wrap, and for dinner we had burgers, sausage, and corn on the cob. I had the burger wrapped in lettuce and ate the corn. I just make little modifications on my own plate like using lettuce instead of bread and skipping the pasta salad and pork sausage.
when Im on vacation in all honesty I do not adhere to my diet (okay, not completely)....I will have dishes where I eat out that would be more healthy (ie salads, etc) but I will splurge once in a while and have things I cant have at home. When I do get home though I go right back to being on program (or at least the best job I can do being on program).
I am not strict with my diet on vacation, but I will make sure to eat fruit and veggies and drink lots of water. I don't really vacation often enough (maybe once every 9 - 12 months) for it to be much of an issue for me.
I have found that I do not finish off the fries anymore, and I don't get dessert unless it is something that sounds totally fab. Wine & drinks tend to be more tempting to me.
On vacation or traveling to some fabulous place on business, I follow simple rules. I stay away from the breakfast buffet by bringing my own protein shake or bars for breakfast which I eat in my room. I fully enjoy the local cuisines but I wont eat anything that doesn't taste absolutely incredible. No wasting calories cleaning my plate of something mediocre. And I do eat less overall than I used to. I try to limit myself to one really nice big meal, usually dinner, and keep lunch as small and healthy as possible. I'm usually back to pre-travel weight after a week back on plan at home.
The food you ate sounds pretty good to me!!! Its probably not going to have a permanent impact! The options you had sound like pretty healthy choices, ok you cant control marinades and you may eat a bit more of stuff you don't normally but if its around maintenance thats bound to be fine. Also life's going to throw up holidays and family events etc so its probably what maintenance is going to be like, few highs and lows on the scale. As long as the trend over time is downwards its good.
Generally i'm terrible, but going away this weekend and am trying to plan as much as possible plus two trips abroad within the next two months. Feel quite apprehensive about it but will try to make conscious decisions about what i eat and how much. I dont really want to be overly obsessive, holidays aren't just about food and drink but they do make them just that tiny bit more pleasurable!
Vacation food
. But now I love doing that because I can get a satisfying portion of anything I want and not feel stuffed.
