Vacation Weight Gain: what's your number?

5 pounds (minimum) in a week's vacation... that's my answer:o...

See, here's what happens to me... the vacation police show up and put a loaded gun to my head, "eat MORE ice cream, or else...":rolleyes:.

Tonight's scale step on was umm, about 8-9-ish, so the usual early morning nekkid weigh in routine will be the minimal 5 pounds for sure. I just got part of that off too:mad:, shame on me.

I guess it's like I was reading in one of Selene Yeager's (Bicycling mag's FitChick) books "Every Woman's Guide To Cycling" (while eating my yummy vacation mint chocolate chip ice cream) you can rationalize and it gets you. Selene was writing about how she actually gained weight when she first started riding "well, I rode 2 hours today, so I can have another treat, and another... and so forth". Kinda like my vacation treats.

Gheez, one day maybe a trip will come when I can actually maintain, or lose a pound. New saddles to try came in the vacation mail at least, good reason to ride extra I guess, eh?

So far, our vacations for past few years have involved some sort of daily sport. Now of course, there's cycling...and in winter we go to the mountains for snowshoeing. :)

And I eat fabulously well during vacation because we have no choice most of time but to eat at restaurants, cafes and family/friend's homes. Last year I visited family and friends for 12 days. So I had to pace myself...cycling everyday (only 25 kms. daily with 1-2 little hills), and only 1 gourmet/restaurant meal per day while other meals/food on same day had to be reduced alot. I had incredible meals....and did not gain...which was truly unbelievable to me.

However there might have been odd occasion of overeating for other vacations maybe 2-3 times in past 10 years... make it 3 lbs.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. My problem is that we've had relatives visiting almost non-stop since summer started. They have been staying at Grandma's, and we've had endless family functions... I think I've put on 9 lbs in the past two months. The last relative went home this past weekend, so it is time to get back off the junk food.

It is hard because I am normally good about self-discipline for 1-2 day temptations. But 2 months worth really did me in... So I get the lovely job of getting back off sugar and cheap carbs.

My problem was not food...it was beer and margaritas. I actually ate healthily because there was no "junk" food where we vacationed, really (lots of fresh fish and chicken). But I drank more beer in 10 days than I probably have in the last year.

Paying for it now... :rolleyes:

I don't weigh myself.

Bypass a lot of stress that way.... ;)

Won't be positive until tomorrow morning but it looks like 2 lbs in one week. :p

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Originally Posted by kelownagirl

Won't be positive until tomorrow morning but it looks like 2 lbs in one week. :p

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Uhh, yeah... but you had extenuating circumstances, my dear! :eek:

I'm still blaming this extra 15 pounds from my vacations over 2 years ago!:eek: At the end of my junior year of high school, we spent 2 weeks in Greece and Italy, which meant eating the equivalent of a small whale in gelato. Additionally, when you can legally drink at 16 helps too. Not even two months later, I took a trip to Canada where I over used the "I need carbs for energy" excuse. Hey, this girl loves her carbs! :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Uhh, yeah... but you had extenuating circumstances, my dear! :eek:

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That's a 2 lb gain Knot. LOL. The loss didn't last more than a day.

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

I don't weigh myself.

Bypass a lot of stress that way.... ;)

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*snork*...

Thanks, Knott, that clears it up for me:D.

btw, you do realize that you are dearly loved on here, right? :cool:


Miranda :)

The official morning after weigh in has taken place. Yep, 5 pounds:(.

After these comments about the vacation company contributing to the weigh, that helps. Unfortunately, I'm the only healthy eating and exercising one in the house. So, there's no encouragement to control myself as I should.

I was thinking next time maybe I should post a cry for support help before the trip and convince DH I need his Blackberry to read my TE posts of "behave" while on the trip to help. It's a desperate fleeting after thought now that my jeans aren't zipping right:o.

Dang... the other awful thing is purging one's self of the "eat junk" urge/routine when you get back home. My body thinks it needs junk sugar to live now (wrong). Gheez...

Now, here's where the beauty of not weighing yourself comes into play:

Can't get jeans zipped?
Well, jeans must've shrunk!
Buy bigger jeans, so they won't shrink so small.

all better!

(except when Dr. weighs you and says "Knot, you gotta lose 20 lbs and get your cholesterol below 200 by September." Curses, foiled again!):D

ETA: Seriously, though, once I cut out the goodies (chocolate and cheese and chips) they kind of lost their appeal. I had a bag of chips a couple days ago, and they just didn't taste as good as I remembered them. (Plus they bump my cholesterol up!) Cheap chocolate bars just don't taste as good anymore. Expensive ones are still yummy, but they are more satisfying and I eat a lot less. Instead of thinking of junk food as a treat, can you make yourself think of it as junk? Instead of deprivation "I can't have that," maybe get your hungers to switch gears to "I could have that, but it wouldn't be very satisfying and it's not the best food available, and the way it's concocted will just make me want more of it."

And keep some really good, no high-fructose-corn-syrup, no fillers, no artificial flavors treat on hand for when you actually want a treat and aren't just craving junk. Lindt 82% cacao bars are great for that!

A small amount of something really good is much more satisfying than a large amount of something cheap and tawdry.

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

A small amount of something really good is much more satisfying than a large amount of something cheap and tawdry.

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You have me laughing! There it is, the meaning of life :D

I am heading out for vacation on Thursday or Friday for about 5 days and was contemplating the eating/weight gain situation before I logged on to TE. I MUST be good this trip. I just shed 5#'s!!

+1 for other people vacationing with me here on the Cape. I have every excuse to eat fried clams and homemade ice cream. My willpower this summer has been non-existent.

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Originally Posted by yellow

My problem was not food...it was beer and margaritas. :

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I second that, but for me it's the beer and wine (or is it whine?)

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Cheap chocolate bars just don't taste as good anymore. Expensive ones are still yummy, but they are more satisfying and I eat a lot less. Instead of thinking of junk food as a treat, can you make yourself think of it as junk? Instead of deprivation "I can't have that," maybe get your hungers to switch gears to "I could have that, but it wouldn't be very satisfying and it's not the best food available, and the way it's concocted will just make me want more of it."

And keep some really good, no high-fructose-corn-syrup, no fillers, no artificial flavors treat on hand for when you actually want a treat and aren't just craving junk. Lindt 82% cacao bars are great for that!

A small amount of something really good is much more satisfying than a large amount of something cheap and tawdry.

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Part of the problem of vacationing for us, is that usually we do eat at a good restaurant every 2 days or so. So the dessert is genuinely higher quality...and still not calorie-deprived. :D

I have a slight allergy to alcohol so I truly can't imbibe more than half glass of wine either at home or outside of home before I start turning pink. Beer has zero appeal to me. So it's easy to keep myself in check here.

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Originally Posted by hermitclub

+1 for other people vacationing with me here on the Cape. I have every excuse to eat fried clams and homemade ice cream. My willpower this summer has been non-existent.



I second that, but for me it's the beer and wine (or is it whine?)

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Sangria. Lots of Sangria.

And pistachios. And chips.

Oh and my weight is back to normal this morning. Whew. Must have been water (sangria) weight. :rolleyes:

If anything, I lose weight on vacation, which is not a good thing. I chalk it up to not sitting on my rear in front of the computer for 10 or so hours per day, lots more activity (we are definitely active vacationers!), and no 24 hour access to food. If I get hungry before bed or first thing in the morning, too bad. If I want a snack in the middle of the day, too bad. Having to limit myself to only eating when we find a grocery store or restaurant and not having a refrigerator to keep things for in between times sure limits intake. Plus I have limited choices at restaurants due to stuff I'm allergic to or refuse to eat for other reasons (dairy, sugar, sauces, dressings, breadings, etc.). Oh, and I don't drink alcohol . . .

Ok, so this is weird. After training for a race early in July, and then going hiking for a week, I was sick for a few days and then sat on my butt in a sailboat doing nothing but lift cups of coffee and cookies to my mouth for 10 days. Add in a couple of days being pampered at my in-laws' cabin, and a wedding with lots and lots of good food with a days driving each way... and yes, I'm in crappy biking shape, I feel heavy and my clothes do not fit right. Nothing that a week or three of commuting can't fix - but I just weighed myself this morning and I weigh exactly the same as before the summer.

What gives :confused: I guess it's muscle loss, but still.

I gained 2.5 pounds from my active vacation in the Berkshires. All of my vacations involve lots of cycling, walking, or x country skiing, but they also involve eating out at good restaurants every night. I eat a very healthy diet normally, but every year as I get older, I have to be more and more restrictive with how much and what I eat.
I can imagine what would happen if I didn't exercise.

I lose weight on my vacations.

In May I went to France with the bikes and rode alot (and ate and drank alot, but still lost a couple of lbs.).

In June I rode in Bike Virginia--5 days 250 miles, great food, and alot of it, and I lost a few more.

In September I'm planning on riding across North Carolina, and I expect to lose a few then, too.

Vacations are for losing. It's the rest of the time I have to worry about gaining!

Well, this is good to know... both not alone, and the key is if you have your bike on vacation, your golden.

Knott is right about a little goes a long way. I was in the good routine when I first lost a ton of weight I carried for many years post kids (roughly 40#s). The food must "be worthy" of the mouth before it enters. Like Knott's reaaaallly good piece of chocolate. Opposed to just eating on the fly like the vacation.

Labor Day will be our last short trip to wrap up the summer. This will be just a long camping weekend. Both of my bikes will be going. My kids are only old enough to do a spin that only gets me a moderate coast:rolleyes:. I will venture out alone to burn off some camp fire smores.

Good Lord, I just read the back of the Kraft package... did you know that just ONE of those weenie little marshmellos has 25 calories :eek: ? Daaaannng... that's a lot of calories for the multiple fire treats:o.

Maybe I will pack some of Knott's :cool: exotic expensive chocolate for just ONE Team Estrogen special smore. Problem solved:D.