Help!!! I'm going home this weekend for a family wedding and all I can think of is food, food, food. The regional food, local restaurants, ice cream parlors, and bakery's unique to the mid-west. The food of my wonderful childhood. The food that doesn't exist in Colorado. I don't want to come back with a lot of excess weight, but it is not realistic to think that I will pack my own meals to take to a bachelorette party, wedding rehearsal, and wedding reception. I work three jobs, go to college, and have a pretty stressfull life. Should I just go and enjoy a well deserved break with family, or stay on plan and be frustrated watching everyone else? I know that they say nothing tastes as good as being skinny, but it's one weekend.

Hmm, well I could see this going both ways. I've struggled with similar issues myself. I do great when I'm in my usual routine but add travel to the mix and it gets much more challenging for me. There are always going to be special weekends, right? Figuring out how to deal with them without sabotaging yourself is likely a big key to keeping the weight off long term. I would split the difference if it were me. Stay on plan as much as possible but plan for the off plan time too. I think if you plan an off day or meal or whatever then it's easier to not go completely overboard. For me when traveling I found I could pretty easily stay on plan for breakfasts and lunches and I just gave myself permission to not worry about it so much for supper. But I've gone back and forth with my losses because of this.

bbygrl, have you gone off plan for a weekend before and was able to get right back op come monday?? I think that plays a big part too because like for me if I go off plan once and those cravings and hunger etc come rushing back and it takes 3 days to get it back under control I'm liable to keep eating off plan for weeks before I can get myself back in control. Some are able to have one meal off plan and get right back on plan and keep on losing so if you are one of them then a weekend off probably isn't gonna hurt too much other than the instant water retention which you'll lose the following week. So the decision is yours for sure. Maybe you can meet it half way and instead of having big meals while traveling have a bite of this or that of things you truly love and miss and still eat mostly OP? I hope you have fun!!

I ran into the same problem on our anniversary weekend--because sometimes you get put in a position where there is absolutely nothing you can eat that's anything close to on-plan.

Make sure you plan ahead enough to bring some meal-replacement bars and/or shakes with you (doesn't have to be MRC brand, just similar nutrition stats). That way, if you're in a restaurant that has nothing for you (say, a certain German restaurant in Nebraska), you can just whip out your bar and eat that.

Otherwise, I tried to eat as close to plan as possible, though not completely on-plan. For example, for dinner one night, I ordered the sirloin (even though it came with a mushroom sauce on top), but it came with a potato. I substituted a salad for the potato and skipped the bread that came with dinner, but still had a glass of wine and a few bites of dessert that I shared with hubby.

Also, drink lots of extra water and try to get some walking/exercise in! Eating out and/or eating off-plan requires lots of water to counteract the effects as much as possible.

My center told me to think about one splurge per day when I am traveling or for special occasions. Stay OP as much as possible (you CAN stay OP at restaurants...I eat out 2-3 times per week and have lost great!)...and choose one item to splurge on in a day. That way you are still getting a treat, but you aren't blowing it.

Think about maintaining the weight you have lost instead of going crazy and gaining and regretting it.