I get an e-newsletter from Linda Spangle (she wrote Life is Hard, Food is Easy and 100 Days of Weight Loss. This is from today's newsletter.


Great idea: Minimize the damage when you're traveling

Vacations, reunions and summer heat can all make it seem
impossible to stay on your diet or exercise program. But
'getting away from it all' doesn't mean you have to give up on
managing your weight.

Start by labeling any trip or vacation as a time for taking care
of yourself. Instead of doing 'nothing,' and coming home
feeling like a slug, include activities that will make you
stronger and healthier. And whether you're dancing at your
high-school reunion, or standing in lines at theme parks, remind
yourself you don't need lots of food to appreciate the good
times in life.

Here are a few tips that will help you manage your weight during
any vacations, family gatherings or long weekends when the heat
is wearing you down.

1. Start with water

Drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up. The minute you
finish it, label your day as being a healthy one. After all, by
meeting part of your water requirements, you've already been
taking care of yourself.

2. Exercise daily

When you're on vacation, begin each day with a walk or some type
of exercise. Use this activity to set the tone for the day. Once
you've exercised, you certainly don't want to eat or drink in
ways that will undo your efforts.

3. Half-off special

When you're faced with a lot of food, use the concept of the
'half-off special.' Simply eat half as much as you normally
would or take half of the amount you actually want. This helps
you control portions at restaurants or family dinners where
other people put food in front of you. Whenever possible, split
meals with someone, such as your spouse or one of your children.
If you can't split meals, be willing to eat only half and throw
the rest away.

4. Do a tasting diet

Feel free to experiment with trying out new foods or enjoying
desserts. But with anything that isn't part of your fuel needs
for the day, have just a taste or limit yourself to two bites.
Savor the food, appreciate all the flavors, then walk away from
the table and do something else.

One of my clients used this concept on a cruise, and instead of
gaining weight on her trip, she came home two pounds lighter!

5. Minimize the damage

Rather than dropping your good intentions once you arrive at
your destination, look for ways minimize the damage. Consider
eating a healthy snack before showing up at the reunion. Or keep
refilling your wine glass with water, and pretending it's a
cocktail. If you do slip up and overeat, minimize the damage by
stopping yourself quickly, then getting right back on track with
your plan.

Thanks for sharing this - these are great tips. I wish I actually had a chance to go on vacation and use them!

Thanks Meemo. I am going on a cruise in two weeks and I am going to do this!

Lucky you - I'd love to go on another cruise! Where will you be going?

A friend of mine just came back from a cruise, they sailed from Miami to Cozumel, Mexico - Carnival Cruise Lines, but I can't remember the name of the boat. She showed me the pictures and I was so jealous! The only bad thing is that she went with 2 girlfriends who ended up going to bed at 9 or 10 every night, and then would sleep in past breakfast, so she ended up having to go do stuff by herself!

Well anyway, I told her that if I got to my goal weight and if she wanted I would go with her on another one. It only cost her, total, about $1,000, that included tips and port fees and drinks and spending money and the flight -- and here I always thought cruises cost at least 5x that much!

WOW great price! I though it cost much more myself! Something to think about, I have always wanted to go on a cruise!

You can find some really good deals on cruises - we're lucky to live near Mobile so the one cruise we went on we left from there, just drove over the day we left & drove back the day we returned. Well, except that we were on the "Katrina" cruise, followed her up into the Gulf (way behind her, of course) & ended up having to go into Tampa because the port was closed for awhile at Mobile. We contacted our daughter & had her go online & rent a car for us to pick up at Tampa & drove home. We actually had a "free" extra day, not everyone enjoyed it tho because that ship was rockin' & rollin' that last day or two. Anyway, we do want to cruise again, but it probably won't be during hurricane season!

Alot of her savings came from splitting everything 3 ways, they all stayed in the same room on the boat so the actual cruise cost them around $400 each (they didn't have the greatest room on the boat mind you but it was enough to sleep and shower). All your food and drink is payed for, they only charged them around $60 for tips. Her flight was around $300, and then they stayed in a hotel in Miami two nights, one on the way there and one on the way back. They didn't stay in a fancy hotel so that cost her less then $100. Other then that they did this 'swim with the dolphins' thing in Cozumel, not sure how much that was, but in the end she was around $1,000 for the whole trip.

Cruises are wonderful. I've been wanting to plan one forever now (it's been 7 years since our last one and we had about 5 before that). I miss it so much. It's just so relaxing and calming and oh, so much fun. However, I am NOT, I repeat, NOT taking my children. I know my 5yr old would LOVE the kids club stuff they have, but I just can't see myself relaxing AT ALL with her on the trip with us.

As far as hurricane season goes, that's the cheapest time to go. Obviously there is a reason for that. Pretty much all of my cruising has been done in late summer, early fall (hurricane season) and MANY of them had diversions b/c of storms that were either on their way or just passing. We never got an extra day, but we did have lots of rockin' and rollin'

And about the pricing..You can still find LOTS of them out there for about $1000 per person for a week even and those are still good rooms. I recommend a balcony (so enjoyable) or at least an outside cabin so you don't feel like it's nighttime all day long and you won't feel as closed in. That's my opinion on that.

I have to work on hubby for this fall but I'm going to Vegas for Labor Day and he doesn't want to take a 3-4 day, he only wants to do a full week. I don't really want to leave the girls for that long, but I don't want them with us either! UGH!

Thanks for posting this Meemo! I need to order that book!!!

I will be going on a vacation so to speak (Pampered Chef National Conference) the middle of July. They have breakfasts served for us on Day 2 and Day 3 (Day 1 is on our own for all eating), and they have lunch and a banquet for us on Day 2. The conference is over around 1pm (CST) on Day 3 and then it is back to the airport. I will def bring my HNS with me but not sure about everything else. I will def eat as OP as I can.

My family and I will be going to North Dakota the end of July for my family's family reunion. That should be pretty easy to eat OP as most of our meals will be at the mother in laws house and maybe one or 2 eating out.

Sharisse

Hello all...I'm on pause right now as you can see from my ticker at the bottom, but last summer, Hubby and I went on a vacation to DC and I lost 11lbs in two weeks, on vacation. It is VERY possible to lose weight on vacation.

One thing you have to remember is to DRINK YOUR WATER. You will likely be moving around more (touristy things usually involve lots of walking) and it will force your body to use more of its resources...that means water. Don't get dehydrated.
We stayed in DC for two weeks...so we rented a hotel room with a kitchenette. We went grocery shoping and used the hotel kitchenette to cook our breakfast and dinner every day. We only ate out for one meal a day. We took a lined bag with us in our backpacks to keep some snacks cool (cheese usually). We had some freezer packs (things with frozen gel in them) to keep the cheese cool, otherwise it melted and we couldn't/wouldn't eat it. We allowed ourselves one meal out per day. Usually we split meals, ordering an extra side of veggies. It was cheaper and met the meal plan rules normally.

Don't be afraid to be creative. We've been on cruises as well, but in my experience summer vacations are usually more along the lines of family things where people run around new cities doing crazy things. Plan ahead and you'll be just fine

Thanx for posting this. I am going on vacation soon and my last vacation was my downfall of my diet last year. Great tips!

I am a cruise junkie and know how to do it cheap , plus they have great spa menu choices which keep the weight down - throw in exercise on the deck or in the fablous gym and you could come away with a great loss. Feel free to pick my mind. I go on one at least once a year and sometimes more. I try to keep my costs to under $100 per day per person for everything.