People who struggle with weight, how do you not gain on vacation?

[Anonymous]

Don't eat. Just like alcoholics and drug addicts shouldn't do it one time

[Anonymous]

OP back with an update. I stepped on the scale this morning after getting back from a two week vacation on Sunday with much trepidation, but I was down 1.5 lbs! I couldn't believe it because it felt like things had gone off the rails a little bit toward the end of our trip with too much airport junk food and not enough exercise.

Things that helped: I got a ton of exercise, i.e., strenuous hikes or bike rides almost every day of the trip. I didn't eat breakfast since I don't normally eat it at home, so no big pancake or omelet meals. I didn't drink that much. I had wine or a beer with dinner a few times, but no day drinking and no sugary margaritas. I had ice cream on a couple of occasions and an amazing piece of cake one night, but I mostly avoided desserts since there were no particular specialties that I couldn't get at home. I found a fantastic grocery store with an amazing selection of prepared foods, so on nights when the family ordered pizza or got fast food, I picked up a fresh salad or burrito bowl and cut fruit.

Mostly, I was just mindful about eating, which I'm usually not while on vacation. If there was something I really wanted, I ate it without guilt, but I avoided eating sub-par junk like take-out pizza or chips just because it was easy and available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last summer, I gained 12 pounds on a 5 day beach trip. This March, I came back from another 5 day trip to the same beach weighing exactly the same as when I left.

Here’s what I did:
-one meal per day at the house, usually breakfast or lunch
-vegetables at lunch and dinner, every single time (fiber keeps things regular, helps regulate insulin levels)
-one fried food per day meaning somedays I had French fries, some days I had fried shrimp
-one treat per day but nothing extravagant. A kid sized ice cream, popsicles from the street bender, etc.

Other than the 2 meals out and frequency of fried foods, this is exactly the same as what I do at home. I usually have cucumbers at breakfast too.

How is this even possible?

I am someone who has always struggled with my weight and while I sometimes weigh more when I return from vacation, it is never more than 5 lbs and at lest 3 lbs of that is typically just bloat that goes away within 1-2 day of returning and getting back to my more typical diet.

Overall I agree with a lot of what others have suggested:
move every day
watch the alcohol
choose where and when to indulge
stick to your normal diet when you can- breakfast and lunch seem to be the easiest times for this
healthy nacks
don't treat vacation as a free for all and your last chance to ever indulge

[Anonymous]

Drink very little, consume bigger meals earlier in the day, and walk a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last summer, I gained 12 pounds on a 5 day beach trip.

It takes roughly 3500 calories to gain a pound. To gain 12 pounds in 5 days would mean you consumed approximately 42,000 calories in excess of your normal metabolic rate, or an extra 8,400 calories per day. That was quite a vacation you had.

[Anonymous]

I bought a travel size blender and carry it to the hotel with me. I make myself a fruit- protein smoothie every morning to get the needed nutrients and to keep my stomach entertained for most part of the day.

[Anonymous]

I'm petite, but I have the genes to gain a lot of weight if I'm not careful. I try as much as possible to stick to what I would eat at home when I travel. Instead of ordering the egg and bacon plate for breakfast, I order the oatmeal with a piece of toast and black coffee. Same for lunch (a basic sandwich) and dinner. What would I eat at home? What is similar on the menu?

I keep an afternoon snack on hand (a handful of peanuts are filling), and aim to put in more than 10,000 steps on my Fitbit, which usually isn't too hard when travelling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm petite, but I have the genes to gain a lot of weight if I'm not careful. I try as much as possible to stick to what I would eat at home when I travel. Instead of ordering the egg and bacon plate for breakfast, I order the oatmeal with a piece of toast and black coffee. Same for lunch (a basic sandwich) and dinner. What would I eat at home? What is similar on the menu?

I keep an afternoon snack on hand (a handful of peanuts are filling), and aim to put in more than 10,000 steps on my Fitbit, which usually isn't too hard when travelling.

I hate to break it to you but eggs and bacon is probably better for you than oatmeal and toast. You're basically consuming a lot of carbs and not any protein. Eggs and bacon are not bad for you. Especially if you substitute for turkey bacon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last summer, I gained 12 pounds on a 5 day beach trip.

It takes roughly 3500 calories to gain a pound. To gain 12 pounds in 5 days would mean you consumed approximately 42,000 calories in excess of your normal metabolic rate, or an extra 8,400 calories per day. That was quite a vacation you had.

I ate about 2000cal more than my TDEE each day, so that’s about 3 pounds of it. The rest was water from the sodium and extra carbs. My skin literally hurt to touch the first 2 days back. By the 6th day I was down to the real weight gain. So, scale said 12 pounds, which isn’t necessarily 12 pounds of “real” weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last summer, I gained 12 pounds on a 5 day beach trip.

It takes roughly 3500 calories to gain a pound. To gain 12 pounds in 5 days would mean you consumed approximately 42,000 calories in excess of your normal metabolic rate, or an extra 8,400 calories per day. That was quite a vacation you had.

I ate about 2000cal more than my TDEE each day, so that’s about 3 pounds of it. The rest was water from the sodium and extra carbs. My skin literally hurt to touch the first 2 days back. By the 6th day I was down to the real weight gain. So, scale said 12 pounds, which isn’t necessarily 12 pounds of “real” weight.

Why would you start a thread with an incredibly misleading statement about gaining 12 lbs? By the way , I lost 4 lbs exercising one morning and gained it all back by the end of the day. I should start a thread saying I gained 4 lbs in 12 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm petite, but I have the genes to gain a lot of weight if I'm not careful. I try as much as possible to stick to what I would eat at home when I travel. Instead of ordering the egg and bacon plate for breakfast, I order the oatmeal with a piece of toast and black coffee. Same for lunch (a basic sandwich) and dinner. What would I eat at home? What is similar on the menu?

I keep an afternoon snack on hand (a handful of peanuts are filling), and aim to put in more than 10,000 steps on my Fitbit, which usually isn't too hard when travelling.

I hate to break it to you but eggs and bacon is probably better for you than oatmeal and toast. You're basically consuming a lot of carbs and not any protein. Eggs and bacon are not bad for you. Especially if you substitute for turkey bacon.

NP. Hate to break it you, but if she finds oatmeal and toast filling, then there is nothing wrong with it. Whole grains are very good for you, and protein is not across-the-board the better option for everybody.

Especially bacon and eggs from a restaurant that are usually friwd/cooked in god-knows-what with tons of added calories. You can control calories way more with toast and oatmeal than you can with someone else frying up your eggs and bacon.

But stick to your low carb manttra. I guess.

[Anonymous]

I try to move around a lot. Also, and this sounds crazy, but I bought a cheap scale that I take when we go to the beach. It helps to be able to weigh in. I try, too, to only indulge in things that I really love rather than at every meal or most meals. I usually do gain a little weight, but then can get back on track. It's hard, though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm petite, but I have the genes to gain a lot of weight if I'm not careful. I try as much as possible to stick to what I would eat at home when I travel. Instead of ordering the egg and bacon plate for breakfast, I order the oatmeal with a piece of toast and black coffee. Same for lunch (a basic sandwich) and dinner. What would I eat at home? What is similar on the menu?

I keep an afternoon snack on hand (a handful of peanuts are filling), and aim to put in more than 10,000 steps on my Fitbit, which usually isn't too hard when travelling.

I hate to break it to you but eggs and bacon is probably better for you than oatmeal and toast. You're basically consuming a lot of carbs and not any protein. Eggs and bacon are not bad for you. Especially if you substitute for turkey bacon.

NP. Hate to break it you, but if she finds oatmeal and toast filling, then there is nothing wrong with it. Whole grains are very good for you, and protein is not across-the-board the better option for everybody.

Especially bacon and eggs from a restaurant that are usually friwd/cooked in god-knows-what with tons of added calories. You can control calories way more with toast and oatmeal than you can with someone else frying up your eggs and bacon.

But stick to your low carb manttra. I guess.

A bowl of oatmeal has ~5g of protein and a piece of whole grain toast has ~3-4g of protein. Whereas an egg has 6g protein and a piece of bacon has about 4g protein. Since most people consume a couple eggs, it does work out to more protein, but it’s not as dramatic as this board would make you think. Definitely not all carbs no protein. Most of the difference in macros is carbs vs fat. Fat has a satiety effect, but so does fiber, which oatmeal has plenty of. IDK this all seems like a matter of personal preference to me whether you want to eat an egg or a bowl of oatmeal.

[Anonymous]

Oatmeal and egg and bacon are nutritious in their own ways. pP was just saying that the other acted like she made a very virtuous choice jotnwating the eggs and bacon when eggs andd bacon actually aren't bad for you. Choosing oatmeal over eggs and bacon is nutritionally a wash depending on whether you do better with higher fats or highet carbs. Choosing oatmeal over a 3000 calorie French toast platter might make a difference but not over egg and bacon.

[Anonymous]

Intermittent fasting whenever possible! Your body goes into fat burning mode 10 hours after you eat. So if you finish eating at 7pm and dont eat until noon, you have been in fat-burning mode for seven hours! Any amointxof time in fat-burning mode is good though.

You don’t have to be obsessive about it. Just do the best you can. I try to skip breakfast but if I am really hungry or we are setting out for something I need fuel to do, I will just put off breakfast until we are about to walk out the door of our hotel rather than skipping it altogether.

That said, it’s vacation and sometimes you can’t eat dinner until 9pm or you need a big breakfast to get you through morning activities. Don’t beat yourself up over it.