weight loss and vacations

I have covered this topic before but feeel that I need to address this again as recently I have seen a number of patients who took vacations that challenged their weight loss efforts.

Clearly "vacation" means relaxing, enjoying yourself and having a good time. Counting every calroie coming is NOT a "fun" activity. Part of the fun of every vacation is partaking of food sources that are different than the "norm".

However, certain vacation choices will derail your weight loss efforts more than others: the "all inclusive" resort which provides as much alcohol as you want for no added charges....a cruise ship where the food is bountiful and you pay nothing extra to attend that glorious midnite buffet....honkey tonk beach trips which place you right on the boardwalk with the wonderful choice for lunch of either a large pizza or cheese fries.

There are so many wonderful places to vacation that would be more compatible with your quest to lose weight or at least maintain while you are gone. Always choose places where you are paying per meal or per drink, NOT included with your price. Choose places where it is less known for its food but more known for the qulaity of the hotel/beach etc.

When you are in a weight losing mode, you can still choose great vacation spots, but not set yourself up for failure on the scale.

weight loss and vacation choices

Good Monday Morning.....

I was up in Atlantic City for an overnight on Saturday and one of the things I noticed very prominently at the Taj Mahal Hotel was that the number of overweight/obese people at the casino was amazingly high. We all know that the percentage of Americans overweight is 67% but my estimate was that the number was closer to 85% at the hotel.

I went to the gym upon arrival and I was the only person in the gym right smack in the middle of the day.

Activities at the hotel? gambling and eating and drinking.....clearly, if someone is in a mode to lose weight, this would NOT be a good choice of vacation venues.

As you are pondering your winter getaways AND if you are in a weight losing mode, try to avoid "All -Inclusive" resorts, cruise ships, Las Vegas or any other place which focuses on "all you can eat" and lots of drinking...Perhaps vacations that inolve lots of hiking/touring/walking Perhaps food venues that focus on quality..not quantity...

Set yourself up for success in your weight loss efforts and choose your vacation venues wisely.

Weight loss...The War vs the Battles

During this time of year, many of us take vacations and upon return, are dismayed by what we see on the scale. I try very hard to keep the patient upbeat, explaining that a vacation week is very challenging, and certainly, the fun of any vacation includes the food/restaurants associated with the trip. If some weight gain occurs, it is NO BIG DEAL. The example I provide is this: Your weight loss goals are the "War" and every week will be somewhat of a "Battle". There will be times in which we may lose that week, but if we have more "wins" than losses, the weight will keep coming down. Internal issues, external saboteurs, etc. will make vacation weeks quite difficult to lose weight. The point here is to make the weeks before the vacation and after the vacation "win" weeks. Take note of what happens on the scale and that have the fortitude to aggressively counteract what happened on the scale the week before.

As I tell everyone entering our program, for some reason we have been built, as humans, to be a weight gaining specie. Least we doubt that, please tell me how many of you crave broccoli as opposed to chocolate. Losing weight is a war to some extent, but it is a great war to win..your life can depend on it.

Walking vacations

Top of the morning to you...

I know I have covered this subject before but I am now living it, so let me discuss this again. If you are in a weight losing mode and choosing vacation ideas, pick a place where the food is not the main attraction and walking lots is part of the trip. Face it...lots of us pick cruises because of the spector of a great eating experience...or "all inclusive resorts" because of the incredible amount of booze and food you can consume for the same price.

Here in England, the food kind of sucks (sorry for being such a stuck up American) and we must have walked miles and miles yesterday seeing such fun places as the Tower of London and the place where the Queen lives.

Last night we took a walking tour following the famed Jack the Ripper's murder spree learning lots of hypotheses and facts I never knew. They think he may have been a doctor because of the precise nature in which he removed organs of his victims. (He clearly could not have been an internal medicine physician because we suck at surgery.)

Anyway, the point here is that there is no way this type of vacation will cause weight gain. (Unless you drink all the beer that I see being consummed in the middle of the day outside the pubs by working people...how do they return to work???)

If you have a choice of vacation spots, pick the ones where the sights and history are more abundant than the food and pina coladas!

weight loss on vacation

I would like to relate a good story I heard from one of our patients yesterday. She came back from a vacation having LOST almost 4 pounds, and of course, this is not the ususal result after a vacation. I asked her how she did it.

First, she went to a resort spot which was NOT an "All-Inclusive" meaning that the family would pay for each meal. Second, she brought with her a collapsable cooler and went to a market and bought low caloric yogurt. cheeses, and some other easy protein choices. She further explained that she would fix her own breakfast and lunch following very carefully the dietary plan, but then allow herself and to enjoy a dinner at one of the resort restaurants. In this way, she did not feel deprived in that her dinner meal was at a restaurant, yet she did not need to succumb to the higher-caloric meal sources for breakfast and lunch. She also explained that this actually saved her lots of money as well.

Of course, bringing coolers, shopping for food, etc. is "work" and when on vacation, we are trying hard not to work. However, this is just one way of doing it. I have had another patient tell me that before the trip he made a list of all the food/drink sources that would harm his plan to lose weight that he would usually do on a vacation, and he scratched through 50% of them. He allowed himself to do "1/2" of the usual, and he returnmed having gained no weight. Usually, vacations would mean 4 pounds of weight gain for him previously\.

The point here is to THINK about it before you go on vacation. Check out the resort's restaurants' menus online, and plot which restaurants would be best to go to. Avoid buffets as best as possible. You can have a great vacation and not derail your plans to be healthier and happier.

weight loss and vacation

Spring is here and I am sure most of you are formulating your vacation plans for the summer. When you are in a weight losing mode, vacations may throw a bit of a roadblock into your progress. When most of us think "vacation", we picture tall Pina Coladas on the beach, great desserts, fun restaurants etc. Often, people can put on 4 or mor epounds in one week.

Some vacations are more conducive to actually help your weight loss efforts Let me provide some examples of vacations that will "help" and those that won't:

All inclusive resort in Jamaica: WILL NOT help...why??? all inclusive means all the food and booze you can ingest, and price remains the same...human nature? we will not feel that we got our money's worth if we do not eat and drink alot.

European Trip with sight-seeing: WILL help....why??? lots of walkign to activities and the trip is focused on the sightseeing as opposed to sitting lots and eating/drinking

Cruise ship to the Carribean: WILL NOT help...why??? see above for the all-inclusive resort trip...once again..pay one price whether you eat lots or eat little..human nature will take over

Spa resort in Arizona: WILL help....spas are focused on massages, treatments, working out, etc....lots of healthier food choice restaurants there

These are some examples...make your own list and as you plan your vacation, choose the type that will not damage your weight loss efforts..you are working way too hard on your weight loss to backslide lots in one week.

weight loss and vacations

Many of us are planning our summer vacations and if you are in a weight losing mode (if you are not, why are you reading this blog???) then take a step back and think about the type of vacation that may be more conducive for your efforts. For instance , the "All Inclusive Resorts" encourage a drink-a-thon and eat-a-thon mentality....you are paying one price whether you abstain from alcohol or drink until you are dancing the conga line with people who would otherwise scare the daylights out of you. The buffet meals include a dessert bar....you paid for all of this and to not partake would be throwing your money away. Crusie ships are sort of the same concept.

A vacation at a nice resort that offers spa amenities, fine dining (paying ala carte ), swimming, etc may be a better choice. Or perhaps a "touring" vacation where you will need to walk lots to see the sights. Pick a destination or type of vacation that is not based around eating. And if you go to one of my favorite spots, Las Vegas, NO MIRAGE BUFFET!!!

Vacations and weight loss

I had a patient visit yesterday with a gentleman who was in Hawaii for over a week, had not been to the office in 2 weeks, and before he stepped on the sclae, i was expecting a weight gain. He is a very good and fun guy and previously informed me that on vacations he liked to have some good drinks and fun food. To my surprise he lost 4 pounds since his last visit. I asked him to advise anyone going on vacation how to lose weight and still have a great time and this was his advice:
1- Drink alcohol perhaps heavily the first day or 2, then stop or signficantly reduce the alcohol consumption you normally would have done

2-keep portions underr control

3- step up your exercise...most places have great gyms or spas...use it!

4- Limit the high caloric desserts, fruits etc...do not eliminate them..just watch the portions.

Vacations are challenging..no doubt, but if we do not go into it with the mindset that you are "being let out of jail", right choices wil be made to maintain steadfast in ytour weight loss progression,

Travel and Weight Control

Okay, your Doc is leaving for Las Vegas this morning for some business meetings and some fun. What is the guy's strategy for not putting weight on??? Here goes:

1- NO AIRPORT FOOD! I will eat breakfast before i go
2- NO MIRAGE BUFFET! Buffets test the very fabric of the human condition.."All You Can Eat" is how they advertise any buffet and the Vegas buffets compete with each other in terms of how opulent their food spreads are. I have never been to a buffet when I persoanlly have not gone up at least three times for different foods or desserts. If I do not go to a Buffet, I can't stuff it in, right???
3- Limit the Carnegie Deli trip to once! Okay, as an ex-Nuu Yooorker I LOVE corned beef, knishes, etc, and with the offense intended, any place in Northern VA that calls itslef a "New York Deli" is blatantly lying. The Mirage hotel houses a real Carnegie Deli...like the one in New York. I will allow myself that indulgence once.
4-LIMIT ALCOHOL! When you stroll the streets in Vegas you see lots of people walking around with these huge Pina Coladas in glasses that resemble the Eiffel Tower. These high-caoric drinks can really damage weight control so at the most, I may be good for 1 or 2 light beers during the 5 days.
5- NO EATING IN BETWEEN MEALS! Every hotel has food courts, snack shops etc...I will not be tempted by the Gelato bar
6- EXERCISE DAILY! I will go to the gym first thing every morning to run

Anyway, these are my strategies to limit the weight gain from a trip such as this. Also, when I get back on Monday, I will check my weight and if it does go up, then next week I wil be that much more vigilant.

I bought a new laptop so I will be posting blogs from Sin City! If I hit a major jackpot, then we are moving our second office from Bethesda to Las Vegas Blvd. Nah teasing...I would miss all of you too much!