[ValRock]

I think I'm too dependant on Fitday to figure things for me LOL . I think I've decided that I won't count the week we're gone (leaving on Thursday morning for the Big Island) and just try to eat sensibly. I'm hoping all the hiking and walking around we'll be doing will offset any overages I have. We're going to pack some food since the flight is only 45 minutes so we don't have to eat out for every meal... our cabin will have a microwave and a mini fridge (yay for that!). I'm Excited!!!! and just hoping for NO GAIN!!!

Wish me luck!

[HadEnough]

Where are you going on vacation? I would think living in Hawaii, that would be vacation enough!!

Good luck while on vacation, that is pretty much what I do when I am off, just watch it, you know what you are doing!

[hockeyfan7]

Have fun and get in lots of exercise. Then if you do splurge, you will have at least burned off the calories.

If you are really worried, you can get a small notebook and a pocket size calorie counting book to take with you. Log your food and figure out your calories as you can.

[ValRock]

Originally Posted by HadEnough

Where are you going on vacation? I would think living in Hawaii, that would be vacation enough!!

HEHE, that's what everyone says! We've lived here since April 2003 and the only time we've really left was in July 2003 on our honeymoon to Kauai, so a trip is long overdue . We're moving to Maryland in about a month so we wanted to squeeze in a vacation before we had to leave our paradise . We live on Oahu so we're island hopping to The Big Island of Hawaii to see the Volcanos and hiking. My 2 year old has never been to another island so we're excited to show him something new .

[mandalinn82]

I was just there 2 years ago for graduation, and have some "must see" active day outings for you...

First, make sure to do the lava hike out by the ocean, and bring something to carry your little one. It kicked my butt because the surface is somewhat uneven and you go up and down hills and things, plus its a LONG way to get out to the lava. Wear hiking shoes! Try, if you can, to go near sundown so you can see the glow of the lava from the road, but not too dark because it gets hard to see where you are stepping.

Also, the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is on the Big Island - and its a gorgeous walking tour. Not to mention, the garden is a good long ways downhill from the parking lot, so when you're done looking at all of the gorgeous greenery, you have a steep uphill hike (but it has benches along the way if you need a rest). One caution - bring bug spray! The mosquitoes were biting like crazy, and again, something to carry the little one on the hike back up.

We also went sea kayaking - there are a bunch of people who rent Kayaks by the road to go down to the Captain Cook monument. Basically, you rent a kayak about a mile away and then paddle to the monument, where there are tremendously beautiful snorkeling spots. It wasn't too hard of a kayak, and I'd never done it before, so I wasn't an expert or anything. Really fun and gorgeous.

[BlueToBlue]

Have fun on your vacation! I don't count calories when I'm on vacation either and I'm only partway successful with the making good choices (clearly something I still need to work on). I went to Mexico in February and I can tell you that there were a lot of margaritas consumed on that trip! Margaritas don't fit into a diet so well.

But it ended up being a good experience. I knew I was going to go off my calorie plan and I knew it was going to set me back in terms of weight loss, but it was worth it to be able to relax and enjoy my vacation. It's clearly slowed my weightloss, but I think being able to take a week off here and there for a vacation or business trip helps me stick to my diet the rest of the time.

The really positive thing was that, although I sure didn't lose weight and it was a couple of weeks before I was back on track in that regard, I also didn't gain weight. I was really worried about this. I remember stepping on a scale during the middle of the trip and being so relieved to see that the number hadn't gone up. Seeing that I could increase my calories without immediately gaining all the weight I'd lost back has helped me feel more comfortable that I'll be able to increase my calories when I get to the maintenance stage. Hopefully that will be your experience, too.

I did manage to fit some exercise in every day and I've made this a part of all of my trips. I find that exercising helps me relax about the food that I'm eating so I can enjoy the vacation more. But it sounds like you will be getting lots of exercise (esp. chasing a two-year old around). Did you know that, depending on your weight, you can burn upwards of 300 calories an hour by hiking? At least according to a couple of different online calculators I use (http://www.healthstatus.com/cbc.html is one of them).