Vacation and diet poll - feedback wanted...........

[Joanne]

I am so happy to be able to go on an educational cruise with my school job - taking my 2 high school kids. As an aside, I haven't been on a vacation since I was married to their Dad. That was a long time ago. And since they were little and their Dad didn't "help" parent, it was just taking my work with me.

 

Our school goes on educational travel once every 6 months, with a "major" event every 18 months. This one is a cruise to Mexico, particulary the Mayan ruins. I was able to use a bonus to make a down payment and the rest will be slowly taking out of my paycheck.

Here is my query. I have been doing very well with my diet. I know from past experience that derailing can lead to carb-creep and a complete lapse for me. OTOH, it is my first vacation in over 12 years! And cruises are known for FOOD. Awesome food.

 

From a weight *loss* standpoint, calorie monitoring and "portion control" doesn't work for me. But I am not thinking of the vacation as a continued weight loss week.

 

Would you stay on your plan? Go off? Modify? Other?

 

[sassenach]

I 'd forget the diet, but with a battle plan in place when I get back. I can get away with diet slips if I get right back to healthy eating when we get home. Where I get in trouble is when we come home to an empty cupboard and I end up making pancakes for 2 days straight before I can get myself to the market. That sends me completely off the rails.

[Jerico]

I personally would stick to my diet, but allow 1 little cheat a day (either a dessert, or pasta, or something.) the beat vacation I had was when I stuck to my diet. I lost weight and felt great. But I have no self control so when I go off my diet I go way off my diet. My stomach has become very sensitive and I would rather eat less exciting foods than spend every evening in my bed with stomach aches.

 

Good luck and have fun!

[Soror]

I'd stick with it for the most part and allow some little indulgences, focusing on those things are a bit closer to your plan.

[Amira]

Will you only be eating on the ship? I'd stick with it on board as much as possible, but if you do get a chance to eat in Mexico, I hope you try something good. I think my main goal would be to not gain weight, or to only set myself back a week.

[jenn-]

I don't know what all restrictions you have but these are a few things I have done on several cruises (I've been eating low carb since 2007).  First off, sub out the potatoes and rice for more veggies.  Depending on which line you are going on, this will either be easy or you will constantly have to remind your waiter.  Then indulge on the fresh fruit and cheese trays for dessert.  Allow just tiny splurges if you really feel like you need to.  The other thing DH and I do when we cruise without the kids (harder to do with tired young ones) is take the stairs EVERYWHERE.  There was one cruise the only time we took the elevator was getting the bags onto the boat and off the boat.  Yes it will be tempting to hop on when you have to go 6 floors up but just start trudging and you will get there eventually.  I've managed to go and not gain using these techniques even with a small splurge here and there.

[Annie G]

I'd be very, very good with diet up to that week and then go off plan and make the most of the trip.  There is very likely a gym on board and you can challenge yourself to workout every day, if that's something that would appeal to you.    Then when you get back, you'll be refreshed and ready to go back on plan. 

 

[Mandylubug]

We are anti diet while on vacay. We like to enjoy local fare etc. The foods we do eat though, we try for quality. Like steak over fried chicken, etc. Rich smaller desserts vs cookies or donuts. I go for satisfaction.

[Susan C.]

If you are low carb, you may not feel too great going overboard with carbs on vacation. One thing that has helped me is that dd is my sharing buddy. We can order great food, indulge, but since we only eat half portions, it isn't a disaster. The only problem might be both people agreeing on what to get. If the cruise is all meals included, then don't feel bad about not eating everything on your plate, sample, enjoy, (let the waiter get the half eaten plate), go back and sample some more. I don't usually waste food, but.... either way, its gone, whether its eaten, or thrown away, and better in the trash, than on my hips... Another option is to see if they do half portions, some restaurants do, and its great.

[AmandaVT]

When I'm dieting (now, ugh) I try to not view every occasion as one to go off my plan. Otherwise, I find myself celebrating 'happy Tuesday' with cupcakes for breakfast or something  :-) So for a cruise, I'd probably stick to my diet most of the time, allowing a few indulgences and maybe 1 day to eat whatever I want. For me, breakfast isn't usually an issue or lunch for that matter, so I'd probably plan out a couple of splurge dinners with drinks and dessert to enjoy and try to stay the course the rest of the time. 

[xixstar]

For myself, totally dropping a healthier eating plan would be dropped there and forever, so I would need to stick with my plan. But to go and feel like I was not feeling limited, I would make up some guidelines that are probably a little looser than usual. So I would make up written rules or a simple card to laminate to have with me at meals for reminds.

 

One option would be something like:

  Eat all I want from x foods like greens, veggies, salads, etc.

  Limit each meal to 0-1 serving of grains, pasta, bread, or potatoes, etc.

  Limit to 1 or 2 a day of desserts or drinks.

 

My card would need to list a reminder of a realistic serving sizes - whole bowl of pasta is not a serving size, instead 1 small roll, or half-cup of rice (or HOW YOU would currently define it - these are totally made up examples right now).

 

If I needed more direction than that, I would include something like:

 breakfast may be: x, y, z and not include anything like pancakes or cinnamon rolls or anything carbs like at all -- basically, don't ruin a diet over breakfast, but that is because I feel indulgences later in the day feel more like treats and by lunch time I've forgotten that "high" from eating a gooey cinnamon roll that I thought was so awesome.

 lunch needs to be a large salad - can vary the toppings and keep dressings limited to vinegarettes or non-cream based dressings.

 dinner - as much vegetable as I want (not potatoes), serving for protein, and just 1 small grain serving.

 dessert or drink allowed

 

I find if I can get enough to the filling foods that are yummy that I don't mind passing on other stuff. I am also at the point that I know heavy grain and dairy dishes make me feel sick now, so that helps a lot. I can see a dish I'd love to have but I also remember that I'll feel terrible later and can skip it.

 

So yeah I would need to keep to the diet, but I've heard great things about cruise foods and it makes me think that you can totally still get great foods that fit within your current diet requirements as well.

 

[Alicia64]

I went on a Disney cruise about five years ago. . . and stayed on my "diet" or eating plan. I allowed myself some treats, but I halved everything and took bites.

 

I found that I could come up with a new excuse every day -- somebody's birthday, my birthday, Monday, Friday, Saturday, vacation, Valentine's Day, Christmas, a neighbor was moving away, a new family was moving in etc. etc. For me, I realized that my eating plan needed to be woven into the fabric of my life -- or I'd always make an excuse.

 

But I'd have bites of something really good and special. I don't waste calories on food that isn't all that great. It has to be "worth it."

 

Alley

[Anne in CA]

I am so happy for you to get to do something like this! Personally, I would just keep in mind that you should really want it to have it, and if you are eating something that doesn't taste good, you don't have to finish it, put it down and walk away. That is a hard one for me because I was trained to clean my plate.

[katilac]

How active will you be? I have never gained weight on a Disney World trip in spite of eating out for every meal, including snacks and desserts every single day for a week. But at Disney, we are walking 10 miles a day, and standing a lot more than usual! A cruise can either be active or sit-by-the-pool. 

 

If I wanted to sit by the pool, I'd probably try to be 'good' for the first day or two, with fairly healthy meals and one not-too-bad dessert. But then I'd take a few days to eat what I wanted, or I'd be cranky and thinking it wasn't much of a vacation. We do make a point of eating salad and fruit every single day, just because we feel so much better when we do. 

[Catwoman]

Forget about the diet and enjoy yourself. :)

[Liz CA]

Would it work for you to allow yourself one or two "forbidden" items per day? That way you get to taste but not overindulge and regret later.

[G5052]

Would it work for you to allow yourself one or two "forbidden" items per day? That way you get to taste but not overindulge and regret later.

 

This is what I did last summer.  I allowed myself two "treats" a day, usually it was one dessert and a side that I normally wouldn't eat. I ate my usual lean proteins and veggies, but didn't stress about portion size.  And I actually lost a few pounds.

[Starr]

How about only eating foods that are *worth* going off your eating program for. At my best I would take a couple of bites of foods that weren't so good for me. Really  what matters most is that you go cold turkey the minute you get home. If we only *cheated* on real vacations and holidays we would all be fine. Enjoy your vacation!

[LibraryLover]

Modify. But think about how much shrimp you can eat!  Skip the bread, but eat the fruit. :) 

[nevergiveup]

How are you going to eventually maintain your goal weight?  Are you going to diet forever?

Perhaps it might be helpful to consider this diet as a new way of eating forever.  One is faced with food decisions every day--the cruise is not any different.

 

Preaching aside:  have a great time!