Keeping the weight gain down.....

[DianaR]

There's no way I would go into anything resembling weight loss here. It takes the joy out of eating your way through some one in a lifetime experiences.

But...

when you love to eat as much as I do, it is a big feature of great vacations, how do you keep from gaining too much weight?

I like to intersperse eating with lovely walking tours to keep the metabolism cranked up. What do you do?

[zzzjoy]

I don't think that I have to overeat to enjoy the riches of cuisine when I am traveling.
One idea that can be fun: everyone in the group gets something different and then pass them all around so we can all try a taste of something different. That is always fun.
Traveling always needs to include some local exploring for us too so we get some exercise as well as enjoy the good food.

[Meander]

This is the whole point of being a foodie for me. Don't eat a lot - eat the good stuff! I'd rather have one tiny square of fine chocolate than a dozen Snickers bars. I'd rather have a small amount of something wonderful.

Food that is sub par leaves me feeling unsatisfied and I eat too much of it. Lovely food is satisfying in a few bites. The scent, mouth feel, and taste of good food doesn't leave me wanting more volume of food.

[LanasCountry]

I agree with what you ALL have said! Wonderful ideas and thoughts!
Meander, I have heard my dear Mother say what you did many many
times..it is so true IMHO.

I have a health condition that causes me to lose LARGE amounts of
weight at least once EVERY year..so when I am in remission, I eat pretty
much what I like. I am NOT in remission now and eating very little.
I find for me, though during the 'healthy' periods, I gain lots of weight and
I KNOW this is so bad for me.

I find though, if I start my day with something healthful and nutritious
like maybe: Oatmeal with fruit and nuts, or a large (homemade)
smoothie with LOTS of fruit, I eat much more healthy and nutritious
through out the day.

[LanasCountry]

Here is one of the smoothies we make folks.
This will make 2 HUGE smoothies.

We use whatever fruits that we have (in season)

1 CUP non-fat plain yogurt

1 CUP fresh blueberries

1/2 cup strawberries

1 CUP ripe bananas

2 Tbsp. HONEY

1 CUP ice

Blend all and YUMMY!!

Note: on work days, I have my fruit ready and cleaned the
night before.

[skatss]

It's hard for me to keep my weight down as it is but when I travel I want to sample everything that's out there. Eating might be my downfall but to me eating is a part of the traveling experience. I try to watch what I put in my mouth when I'm home but when I travel all bets are off. I'll eat and not feel guilty.

[LanasCountry]

I also meant to say you may use 1 (small packet) artificial sweetener
in that smoothie (in place of honey) if you like..(2 if REAL sweet) .
We rarely get to go away from home very long, Skatss, but we do
when we are able, and we eat just what we want then.

[twocents]

I eat more small meals, that way I am not sitting down to three huge meals that will sit in my stomach. I also make sure that I have enough active activities in my schedule so that I don't put on too much while vacationing. I have yet to come back home with any extra baggage besides the stuff I'm adding to my home or to give to friends.

[Agent Fred]

When I travel, my biggest weight gain habit is snacking on the drive. If my wife brings a bag of cookies or something for the kids, I just can't keep out of it! If I can stop snacking on the road, then eating the meals isn't such a big deal.

[frenchtowner]

It is hard to remember to watch your diet on vacation, but if we truly love ourselves then we do not abuse ourselves with too much food or drink as this weighs us down the next day and keep us dull and slow.

FT