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.