I'll be traveling to Tampa, FL this weekend with my family to help my sister find a house to buy as she's relocating there from England (yay!). Does anyone have any good suggestions for staying on track when away. Thanks

If its only an occasional thing as this trip is, I wouldnt stress too much.

Try to make good choices and try if possible to get a jog or walk in the mornings. But chances are you'll be eating out and striving to stay at your "loss" calories may not be doable.

This might be a good time to practice maintenance. In many ways I think maintenance is harder. Learning to always make the best choice you can even when none of the choices are great. Renewing the commitment to yourself when everything around you screams to let it go.

Tell your sister WELCOME to AMERICA! My partner is an English gent who emmigrated about 12 years ago and loves it! He has permanent residency, so I don't have to worry about him being deported! LOL

Mami, I agree with ennay. It's not like you can travel with your veggies and stuff. Where ever you will be eating there will be better choices and worse ones. Just try to make the choices the better ones. These things are going to happen in our lives. We can't always stick to our safe haven. We've got to venture out sometime and just make the best of it.

I'm really happy your sister will be stateside. That's great!! Has she seen you since you lost your weight?

Even though it's hard to travel with your favorite veggies and yogurt, etc., there are still a couple things you can do.

If you have prepackaged lowfat snacks that you normally keep on hand, take them with you. Things like the lowfat granola bars that are 2 points on WW can be eaten right before you leave for a restaurant. You're more likely to make good choices when looking at the menu if you're not starving. You could also take a couple pieces of fresh fruit that do not need refrigerating like bananas or apples.

Check out the hotel where you will be staying to see if they have a work-out room. I'm not a big fan of heading out for a 3 mile morning walk, etc., if I'm in an area that I'm not real familiar with. This way you can still get a good workout in.

Have fun on your weekend!

traveling can definately be tricky, like boaterswife said, I try and bring some healthy snacks and bottles of water. That at least cuts down on gas station snacks and stuff, plus, when you do get to a restraunt, you wont be ravenous.

I am one of the unusual ones in that I always tend to lose weight when I travel. I would recommend trying to get some exercise in, either walking or what not. I was in FL last february and dying from the heat BUT walking earlier and later in the day was bearable.

Also, buy some healthy snacks for yourself while you are there. I've one on trips and headed to the grocery store for veggies, fruits and cottage cheese/yogurt. Watch your portions when eating out, etc.

Well, it's gonna be chilly here in Fla. this weekend. For us, anyway--you northerners would call it spring. LOL.

I like to eat out at Applebees because they have Weight Watchers choices on the menu. I don't follow the WW plan, but those choices list the calories and fat grams, so I know where I'm at.

At other restaurants--well, I can tell that eating a whole meal at any restaurant is going to be way too much. So, I only eat a portion of the food, unless it's vegetables. Get dressing on the side if I get a salad. And, if I can't take the rest with me, I just leave it. That's hard, but better that than wear it on my hips.

Breakfasts, I usually order sides. I don't want to get the BIG EIGHT or the Farmer's Breakfast or any of those huge things. I often get 2 eggs scrambled with toast and perhaps some ham (and watch how much I eat of that). No potatoes. No pancakes. Or, if I'm craving pancakes, I'll forego the toast and order a short stack and only eat half. These are all strategies to limit the intake!

I agree with others about snacks--take snacks you can trust with you. Think before you order food.

I spent the last week on vacation and didn't gain any weight--I was up a pound and a half when I got back, but that's gone now, plus another pound.

Realize that any fast food item is going to be loaded. I got a small french fries at a fast food place. That was ALL I ordered except a diet drink. Turns out that small ff had 230 calories ALL BY ITSELF, and that's often as much as I eat for lunch total. And, 110 cals were fat. Yikes.

I also can take my computer with me so I can use my FitDay and keep track.

And those are some things to try, or not, as you see fit.

Jay

Why not? When I drive, I always travel with a large cooler filled with my food. When I fly and rent a car, my first stop is a Target, Kmart or other such store where I buy a cheap cooler, then stop at a grocery store. We always stay at suite hotels which offer kitchens or mini kitchens. Extended Stay Hotels all have small kitchens and fridges and are clean and usually well located. Not luxurious, but I'd rather have the option of being able to eat at least my own breakfast food (and feeding my family that way) rather than trying to eat 5 meals a day from restaraunts. When traveling, we generally do dinners out, but fix most of our other meals from the cooler and fridge at the hotel. Most hotels will provide you with a minifridge for an extra $5-10 if you ask. The amount you'll save by making at least your own breakfasts more than pays for it.

Mel

Am I the only person that eating a snack before going to a restaurant/party has absolutely no benefit? I dont order any better and rarely eat any less.

For me the veggies part would not be as hard, you can purchase them there. It's everything else that I would not enjoy. For a quick weekend trip, I wouldn't want to bother with a cooler. Or stopping in Target. I HATE, HATE, HATE cooking in a microwave. I'd need my steamer, my stovetop grill, knives, plates, utensils, my spices and so on and so on. For me, I'd have ZERO problem enjoying my weekend, packing lightly and eating out a few meals. Something I don't think I've done more then 2 or 3 times in the last 5 months. I would just make sure I'd choose healthy stuff. It's only a weekend, it shouldn't be all that difficult.

The fridge is a good idea though, we've done it many times in the past for longer trips, when I wasn't eating healthy. We bought milk and some cereal and some plasticware.

I wouldn't mind finding a place that sold fat free yogurt. It would be nice to have those around.

We posted at the same time.

ennay, for me I find I don't want to eat before I attend an event, like a party or something. I know lots and lots of people do it. For me, it doesn't work. I'm always afraid I'd eat at home and then AGAIN at the party. There's almost always some healthy choice there and I'd rather be part of the action and feel involved and eat there. If I get burned and there's nothing healthy, maybe I'd rethink it.

There are a lot of healthy choices when eating out if you are careful. When I eat breakfast out, I order the oatmeal. Pretty much every breakfast place will have that. For lunches/dinners, I look for grilled fish or chicken and replace potatoes with extra veggies. My last dinner out I had grilled balsamic chicken breasts with roasted veggies. I sometimes specifically ask them to cook the veggies without butter. I always ask for salad dressing on the side and no cheese on the salad. If I order a sandwich, I always make sure the dressing (mayo, special sauce, or other) is put on the side so I can determine the amount, if any, that I want on the sandwich.

I agree with TaraD. I think if you order the simplest things, you'll be able to stay on track. There's hardly anyplace now where you can't get grilled fish or grilled chicken, lots of veggies instead of rice or potatoes, etc. If you're willing to ask for what you want, you should be able to get it. Just remember, simple, simple, simple!

Thanks so much for your tips. We dont have Denneys here and I rarely eat at chain restaurants because there aren't many in NYC, so the hash browns are a rare treat. I know its crappy food but to me its a novelty so I tend to go there a lot when in FL. I just printed out the nutritional info and will just count the calories there. Other restaurants I'll have to guess. Robin, my sister always think I look slim, even when I really truly do NOT. But this weight is fairly new and she's lived in England during most of it so she probably doesnt think of me this size. Talk to you guys next week!