Dieting & Traveling Do Not Mix
I’ve recently returned home from a visit with family members some 10 or 11 hours away. I flunked this test of my new healthier diet. Scratch that…I crashed and burned.
Not once did I have a salad at any of the fast food places that we stopped at. They were there on the menu but what did I end up getting? Fatty burgers and french fries. Somehow, traveling meant I was able to splurge.
I am shaking my head at myself because what will that splurge get me? More fat on my body and the possibility of gaining weight for the next weigh-in. This journey to a healthier me is much more than eating right. There’s a bigger problem that I have to address. And that is the way I think.
So much of this trip was about me thinking that I deserved something or that I’ll make up for it later. No, it’s not supposed to work like this. This is a lifelong thing I am going for here. Not a quick weight loss to gain it all back like I’ve done before.
Next step is to look at all of the reasons that I overeat (or splurge). That will be an interesting post for me to write because I will have to look deep for the answers. At this point, though, I feel like I have to go there and explore it.
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Ah! I have been fighting this problem for years. I have finally come up with the answer (for me, that is, maybe not for you or anybody else?). I am mostly home during the week and traveling on weekends. It’s the weekends that do me in. I lose 3-5 lbs during the week and put on 3-5 lbs on the weekends! Frustrating. I have decided to relax my at-home diet, and try to step up the strictness on the fun weekends. This ends up with me not splurging during the week (since I have a set routine and it’s easier to eat sensibly), and only splurging a little bit on the weekends. If I give myself free reign on the weekends…I am completely out of control.
You are right about the dangers of the “I deserve it” mentality. That gets us all into so much trouble - both with our finances and our weight. American culture has become terribly over-privileged to the point that most of us have a mental dialog about how we “deserve” fancy vacations, eating at a restaurant, new clothing, toys, etc. I’m trying to work on constantly reminding myself that the only things I “deserve” are the basics of life - basic shelter, food and clothing, education, healthcare, etc. The rest is luxury.
Traveling is one of the most difficult times to remain focused on what you eat. It is hard to find places that have good food on the road.
You might be overeating because you are stressed, you aren’t eating frequently enough (try 5-6 small meals per day), or you are having bad hunger pains.
If you haven’t checked out Hoodia, I would suggest it (you can read more on my site). It kills your appetite.
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I am quite the reverse — I always lose weight when I travel. Though, this is generally due to walking nearly everywhere, and having the time to do so.
Though, I think the real point of what you’re getting at in your post, is that you still feel a tie-in to fast/junk food. The one thing I’ve really noticed is that once you start eating well, eating crap food really makes your body feel like crap. After a couple weeks of eating pretty well, I ate something a bit heavy in butter and grease and I felt ill for hours.
It’s much better to think twice about what you think you “deserve” vs what your body deserves. Do you deserve that Big Mac? Does your body deserve to be treated poorly because you can’t find a healthy(er) substitute to what you want?
Sorry if this sounds harsh — this is just how I approach my unhealthy “I deserve this ice cream because I want it/everyone else is ordering it/I had a rough day” cravings. It works for me, and I feel better and more confident the next day. Then, when I really do want/need to splurge, I get something “special” (e.g. fancy dessert somewhere).
How long will your good eating habits last?…
I notice that whenever I try to better my eating habits and I want to lose weight I become "food crazy". All of a sudden I start thinking about food all the time. It is so important what you……
[…] is “preaching to the choir”. I too struggle to eat healthy foods when I’m traveling. I did notice that the last time I went to Florida, for vacation, a few convenience stores had […]
I was in Nashville last week and I made an exception to the fast food rule. I live in nor. california so white castle and chick-fil-a are not close by. i had two double-doubles at white castle (it was awful) but i wanted to see what it was like compared to the movie. but the chick-fil-a was pretty good and they dont use trans fat peanut oil. i skipped the waffle house and split all the other fried entrees with friends. i also compensated by eating a healthy breakfast and we cooked one night.
if the fast-food joint is unique and different to a certain area i think it’s worth trying once.
I know EXACTLY what you mean. Before I became pregnant with my second daughter, I was 3 lbs from my doctor’s goal weight for me. 3 lbs that I never lost because I was irresponsible on a family vacation. Then, when I returned, I injured myself so I couldn’t work out, then found out I needed another surgery, and then after surgery I became pregnant and had a really rough time with morning sickness. Now I’m trying to lose it all over again. So many things I’d change if I could, but you just have to move on. The good news ended up being that the healthy habits I had cultivated helped me to gain less weight than the 60 I gained with my first pregnancy, so I felt better sooner and recovered faster. I still have plenty of weight to lose, but I’m learning, slowly, that the process is more important than the destination.