(Hi, everyone. I'm new but have been lurking for awhile.)

I'm going on vacation in a few weeks, and I'm sure a lot of you will be doing the same. Despite my best intentions, I have never managed to be healthy on vacations. I always end up overeating (and over-drinking) and tend to feel bloated and terrible almost the entire time. And on the next vacation, even when I try to remember that horrible feeling, I still overeat.

Has anyone successfully managed to maintain their diet while vacationing? How did you help yourself to stay on track?

Exercise, keep moving, exercise, keep moving, and exercise...

Diets are not fun on vacation. The best thing I can advise is to eat mindfully, but don't ruin your trip because you're dieting.. If you keep moving - it will keep the damage to a minimum.

ENJOY!

I'm not good at maintaining my diet on a vacation so I always try to up my exercise to help balance it out. I'm actually going to San Diego for a week next thursday. I'm staying with my sister and she already knows that I'll be taking an hour out for myself each morning to go out for a walk/run. As far as the food and the drinking I just try to by mindful of my portions and make healthier choices where I can and that's going to have to be good enough. I know I probably won't lose that week, might even gain but it will doubtfully be a gain of actual fat. Just don't go into it with an "all or nothing" attitude because that's basically setting yourself up for failure. Any day or any meal that you make a healthier choice even if it's not an all out healthy one is better than the alternative of giving up all together and binging.

I went to orlando for 5 days about a month ago. We ate at buffets, we ate at restaurants. The secret is to remember, all the swimming, walking and site seeing is not going to be pleasant if you have overeaten before the activities. When I first arrived, I noticed my hotel room had a mini fridge. I went to a nearby grocery store and got some cut up fruit and some yogurt just to keep around in case I was hungry thus when I finally did eat at a restaurant I had already had a snack and was not DYING of starvation. Also too, when you go to a buffet or look at items on a menu, honestly, take the time to look at what the food looks like. You'll notice greasy, salty, fried stuff might not seem so appealing especially when it's 98 degrees out. I lost 2 pounds while I was out in orlando, I just tried not to pig out and I stayed busy. You can do it!!

I've gone on 7 trips since January (wow I just realized that was more then one a month :/ ) which means I've lost and gained the same 10 pounds over and over again. Baiscially I'll gain close to 5 pounds of water weight on each trip and sometimes I'll gain a pound or two of real weight. A couple of times I've had success I've made sure to eat a healthy breakfast like oatmeal and banana, I've brought my own snacks such as 100 calorie packs, tried to avoid deserts and drinking. Also if you can get to the gym that is always a big help!

Good luck and have fun.

Luckily the place I'm staying in does have a gym. I know that if I'm too restrictive, I will fail. So, I'm thinking about just making 3 or 4 weekly goals:

1) Exercise 4 out of 7 days
2) Eat a nutritious breakfast & lunch each day
3) Erm. . . something about limiting drinking (No drinking before noon? )

I guess I have to sit down and carefully think about my goals. Thanks for all of the advice everyone.

As we get closer to the beginning of my first vacation (July 4th), I'm scared about how my workout/diet will be effected. From reading this thread, I have a new attitude. Along with the fun of July 4th weekend, I'm going to get some exercise in each day (4,5,6) and eat salads, small portions, etc. I think I will MCheyenne6's lead and bring some yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola for our breakfast during the trip. I will update here after July 4th weekend!