I'll be traveling internationally from October 9th to October 21st and plan to continue keeping track of my points via the tracker, however it will all pretty much be guestimations. I'm a little weary about eating out at least two meals a day for 11 days as typically eating out isn't as healthy in most cases as cooking at home. I hope to do a fair amount of walking during this trip to keep myself in check as I'm really not sure what types of foods to expect while in Ireland. I have a feeling we will be mainly eating at Pub's which from what I can tell are not known for healthy foods. I hope to not gain any weight staying even, and would love to come back having lost a pound.

Any Advice, suggestions or thoughts on food choices to make while in Ireland to stay on track would be greatly appreciated.

Pubs! Are you going to the United Kingdom?

First -- you do have some lead time -- and while this may sound wacky, you can certainly check recipes for common foods of the countries you're visiting to get an estimate as to the ingredients. (if you're doodle around at all in the www.weightwatchers.com website, you can even look up internation foods for an idea as to their points.)

Next thing you can do is eat something "good for you" before going out -- there's always a piece of fruit or a serving of yogurt or milk before you go (a glass of milk 1/2 hr or so before a meal is really filling -- I don't know why -- but it is, and no, I don't work for the dairy council!)

You can also ask the server for the daily vegetable as a substitute for other accompanying items on the dish. They may not be accustomed to it, but they'll do it.

You'll do fine -- either way -- with your guesstimations. I can understand you being leery of the foods overseas, but we all were, of our own "home grown" menu items too, at the beginning.

OH! And one other thing -- if you have a chance -- stop off at your local WW center and pick up a copy of the "Complete Food Companion" that has a pretty good list of international selections.

Good luck, safe travels, have a great time, and SAFE HOME.

Ellen

Wow, it sounds to me that you have your plan in place, which is 1/2 the battle. I have a friend that went to Ireland last year, and she found that most places include healthy choices on the menu. For those that don't, such as pubs, you can try to keep your portions small. Including lots and lots of veggies with your lunch and dinner, doing a lot of walking, and drinking your water will help.

Have a great time!

I'm going to Ireland.

Thanks all great suggestions. I do own the Complete food guide so I plan on taking that with to help with my guestimations.

I'm so jealous Lifetime! Are you going to be in the Republic or venturing over to Northern Ireland at all?

Have a fantastic time!

The first half of the trip will be the republic and the second half will be northern Ireland.

when I'm on vacation I tend to alternate between grilled chicken or grilled fish (salmon and halibut are my favourites) on green salad with no dressing or a dressing on the side. Most restaurants (and even pubs) will be able to prepare the chicken or fish without any oils so you're getting a healthy meal for low points.

For breakfast I stick to fiber cereal, low fat yogurt and fresh fruit.

Lunches I have veggie burgers with no bun and salad, or a salad with lean meats, a sandwich with no butter or mayo and lean mean (usually turkey).

One strategy that always works for me is knowing what I'm going to order before I arrive at the restaurant - that way I'm not tempted to order something high fat on the menu.

Yeah I'll mostly try to stick with chicken. I'm not a real big fish fan. Can't wait We leave tomorrow evening for the trip. And because it is a trip to a different country where I'm not sure the menu and every place will be new I'm not sure how to go in knowing what I want to order other then trying to stick to grilled chicken and salad's with dressing on the side.

This may be too late since you're leaving tonight but did you check with the UK Fat Chicks Forum ?