Total vacation failure - but the cloud has a silver lining
I was on vacation for two weeks and while I started out sort of ok, I reverted to some of my bad eating habits. I don't know why I can be so good at home but totally lose all sense of control on vacation...I feel like a failure.
I definitely gained weight; I can tell by the tightness of my pants. I look bloated. I know I couldn't possibly have gained 20 lbs, but my mind is playing tricks on me, making me feel worse about the damage I have done.
In spite of my failure, I have some reasons to be positive and am going to try to focus on them:
First, I know that some of the gain is water weight. It is close to that time of the month, and I ate a lot of sodium-filled foods, so I think some of the bloated look will go away.
Second, I did succeed big-time in exercise. There were some days of 6.5 mile hikes that were very hilly and not simple walking. I had to have burned off a ton of calories.
And finally, I am very proud to say that I have jumped right back into my regular routine. Due to jet lag, I woke up at 3:30 and was at the gym by 4:15. I exercised and stayed within my calorie limits. In previous weight loss attempts, if I failed once, that was it. I would lose all faith and gain all the weight back. Not this time though...I am committed to making lasting changes even if I fall off the straight and narrow.
While I wish I could figure out why vacation is such a trigger for me, I am happy to see that I am totally committed to a long-run lifestyle change.
I wouldn't even call it a failure, just a small lapse. I'm pretty sure vacations are hard for most of us -- they certainly are for me. And there's something to be said for relaxing our vigilance to sample the local fare. As you noted, by far the most important thing is that you've hopped back on the wagon. Congratulations!
Vacations are meant to be enjoyed and as long as you didn't go completely overboard, it's nice to have a little bit of a break. The best bit is you're back on track now and all that water weight will probably drop off in the next week or two.
I did the same thing a few weeks ago when going to Disneyworld/Universal for a week. I was pretty decent most of the time, but there was some pasta and a french fry or 12. But I knew if I was going to indulge, it was better to be on days when I was walking 10 or 12 miles around an amusement park carrying a 10 pound backpack then back at home when I was just sitting at my desk.
I, too, went right back to the healthy way of eating when I got home, and the couple of pounds of water weight came off within a week.
Sounds like a real vacation, both from work and the diet. Vacation is over, and back to work - at the job and the diet. Sounds like you did a good job and enjoying your break, and realizing that it's over. Enjoy the memories, work hard, and look forward to the next vacation.
I guess I should view it as just a vacation, but the crazy eating bothers me. I didn't try just one or two custard tarts, I had to eat half a dozen. I ate foods that I could get in the States. I don't normally eat croissants, even in my pre-weight loss days, but I couldn't eat enough of them while I was gone. It was simple binging a few times. Thank goodness for exercise.
Mentally I know that I couldn't possibly have gained 15 pounds in two weeks, particularly given the amount of exercise I did. If I burned 2500 calories per day, which is a low estimate, i would have had to eat 6,000 calories a day to gain ten pounds while I was gone, and I don't think I did that. At least not every day
Oh well, what's done is done. I am back on plan for the second day in a row, getting up at four to exercise. Mentally I am feeling better. Funny how your mind plays tricks on you. When I am doing poorly, I feel like I have gained back all 100+ pounds and look like the Stay-Puft marshmallow man, but when I Have a couple of good days, I can suddenly feel my collarbone again...
Total vacation failure - but the cloud has a silver lining
