Marilyn

I just read a comment in the newspaper that seems relevant to this thread: Life is too short to wear pants that have an opinion about how much you just ate.

crazymina, it's great that you have adapted some of your healthier travel ways to life at home. Keep it off now, honey, because you have NO idea how much more difficult it gets as you get older!

gualalalisa

Statia: You are on to something with the losing 10 or 12 pounds before you go - something DH and I always try to do, starting about four months before a European trip. While we are on the near-starvation rations and working out two hours a day, we fantasize about all the gourmet food we will eat on our vacation!

But, as mentioned in a previous thread, we have never gained weight (we stay about the same) because of all the walking, stair-climbing and all-day exercise involved. The portions in Europe tend to be smaller and this helps, too.

On our last trip to Ireland and Scotland, we ate well at the big breakfasts but mostly skipped lunch and then had medium-sized dinners. Don't worry - if you visit the same places of interest we did, such as the William Wallace monument, you'll get in plenty of good aerobic exercise!

capo

I always *lose* some weight while traveling in Europe. As with StCirq, it's due to healthier eating and, even more so, to all the walking, lots and lots and lots of walking.

vagabond65

Usually lose weight due to all the reasons mentioned above. Last year in Russia I lost 10.lbs in just over 2 weeks thanks to an abundance of walking, even by taking the metro in Moscow you're constantly changing trains in very large stations. The change of diet is probably a factor, however I never watch what I eat overseas; if it looks good, I'll eat it(try leaving a Georgian Restuarant not completely stuffed!). This year, 17 days again, in Russia I only lost 5 .lbs. I attribute the smaller loss to the fact that my friends mother was visiting her in St. Petersburg at the same time I was, cooking for the both of us, and whose answer to every question or problem I might have was to put more food in me! 'Stuff him with potatos, cutleta and pelmeni will help him'!I do like that lady!

SusanInToronto

Marilyn, I totally agree with your comments. I always gain weight when I'm on vacation. I think I lead a fairly healthy lifestyle (MOST of the time) when I'm at home. I tend to eat well and I also walk a fair amount. My niece was visiting recently and commented that she was surprised by how much people seem to walk in the city. She lives in a smaller community where people drive everywhere. I have a car, but I live and work in the city, so I take public transit or walk to work. I honestly don't think I walk all that much more when I'm away - and I know I eat more! But that's ok - part of the fun on a holiday is eating!

This summer has been a killer. I've done a lot of business travel - the worst! That usually means long days sitting in meetings or work sessions and much less exercise. I'm now working on getting those extra pounds off before I go home to see my family in 6 weeks time - another time I know I'll gain weight!

uhoh_busted

Having lost 40 lbs (over a year and a half) before our vacation in May, I have to say that these were the first vacation pictures of myself that I don't mind seeing. I find that portions are far more realistic in Europe than they are in the States, so that helps. Taking your time eating those smaller portions of multiple courses and drinking water as well as wine turns your major meal into a wonderful vacation experience! If you maximize the vegetables and fruits you eat daily, you can handle fois gras, once in a while. Eat a good meal at breakfast, have lunch (don't skip it you'll pig out at dinner if you do) If you drink water all day (I haven't had a soft drink in about 2 years now) you can split a bottle of wonderful wine with dinner. Especially if you're walking back to the hotel after dinner, along with some night-time sightseeing. If your trip is longer than a week, be sure to have at least one or two days when you eat lighter. You can't change your genes --or the fact that as you get older your metabolism wimps out on you. You gotta change your habits. It is MORE than worth it!

crazymina

that's funny you say that, uhoh, about the soda. I didn't have it much in Europe because I needed the water. I stopped drinking soda completely about 5 months ago (Europe seemed to get it out of my system), and my body can tell the difference. I'm not retaining water like I used to!

dln

I don't gain weight when we travel because I'm always walking and walking and walking! In Paris I thought I had wrenched my hip out of its socket! We walked one night from the Left Bank, to the Eiffel Tower, to the Arche de Triomphe back to the Left Bank. It makes me ache to think of it.

I also try to lose at least five pounds before we go. On Thursday we go to Italy and I am slim and trim. Well, let me qualify that. I WAS slim, until Saturday when my parents arrived! Since then my mother is doing the cooking while I am doing last minute packing & planning.

I swear that woman has done more damage to my figure in 48 hours than two weeks in Italy WILL do!

uhoh_busted

Mina, not only do you retain less water, but your digestion improves. We get hooked on those sodas too easily when we're kids. On a related note, there was a story last week in the news that people who live in cities weigh about 6lbs less on average than suburbanites, because they walk more places than they drive. (Of course, I don't think that includes LA -- my friends in LA seem to chose destinations on whether or not they have valet parking Only tourists seem to walk in LA. They thought I was nuts when I met them at a restaurant that I walked to from my hotel.)

jason888

Lost 9 lbs on this year's trip to Europe.

It's the way St. Cirq has said: walking, walking, and more walking and eating healthy foods and drinking lots of water.

In Europe, my wife and I tend to eat a good breakfast, then have a light/no lunch - sometimes I'll even have ice cream for lunch! , then a good dinner with wine.

We did a lot of walking and climbing, even thought we drove around for three weeks. Parking in Europe is not as convenient as here and we tended to have to walk quite a distance to and from the parked car.

The way to lose weight at home is to eat less. If you have one banana, eat 1/2 or 2/3. Just cut down on the amount. Americans eat too much. Also no junk foods or sweetened up sodas.

My wife says to tell the ladies to go to Curves (apparently this is a ladies only exercise place?)!

Marilyn

jason, I go to the sweaty, jock gym that is the closest to my house. I figure the farther I have to go, the less I'll get there.

Every time this thread pops up on my list with a new post I chuckle. Does anyone else read the headline like it's an ad? "Gain weight while traveling! Only $29.95 a month AND we'll throw in these Ginsu knives!"

crazymina

Uhoh, true...I think there is something addictive in those sodas. Once I start drinking it with any regularity, I find myself actually craving it. I have never felt that way with anything else!

I didn't know about the digestion part. But I see that makes sense too.

Hey, I live in L.A.! I guess I'll admit that not many people walk in L.A., but where I live (near the beach) people definitely make time for exercise. I find doing little things help too...I always find a far-off parking space now. Every little bit helps.

Marilyn, I'll take those Ginsu knives...I need them for all the healthy salad chopping I've been doing lately!

jason888

Marilyn: me, too! I go to our local gym - but the showers are terribly yucky! so it's home to shower. My car smells like a gym!

My wife says she likes Curves - apparently some lady there lost over 70 pounds. Hey! how come we men can't go??!!! Sexist, I'd say!

Yes, and please send TWO sets of those Ginsu knives!

Erin

This is a great thread! Personally, I gain weight while on vacation- thankfully, its only a few pounds! I exercise regularly and eat very healthy at home. When I am on vacation I do not care- I eat what I please! I never eat anything fried at home, but in London I eat fish and chips and drink pints like its going out of style!

There was an article online just last week on msnbc.com (I think) that discussed a recently completed study that measured portions of food in the U.S. vs. portions in France. It basically said that it isn't what you eat that makes you gain weight- its how much you eat.

lillehavfrue

I usually lose weight or stay the same. I usually do situps, pushups, and squats wherever I'm staying to sleep.

I've heard from a lot of reliable sources (women in bodybuilding/fitness) that Curves is OK for novices but otherwise sucks. We don't have that kind of thing in Norway; I go to a pretty hardcore place. I bike or walk to/from the gym.

capo

Re: <i>The way to lose weight at home is to eat less.</i>

True Jason, but one can also eat healthier as well as, of course, get more exercise.

While our body types do fundamentally differ, diet and exercise are elements we all can control.

Christina

I think I read that article but what it says isn't true for me. At least not the way they imply. I do not eat huge portions in the US, either, no larger than in Europe or even smaller. However, it is, as others have said, the fact that you are eating different kinds of food and more of it (not larger portions) -- such as more drinks, desserts, full three-course meals, breakfast pastries, cream or whole milk in coffee, etc., or even eating more meals than at home. I found that an interesting comment someone made on the fois gras, which I really like and had 3-4 times when I was in Paris recently for a couple weeks, but never have at home. I assumed French eat this frequently, also.

They have a Curves near me, which is just a cheaper and less equipped gym, as I understand it. I think you wouldn't lose weight through Curves itself (although maybe I misunderstood) but your own activity as to how often you go. I do some weight training, actually, for my upper body, but do that at my home with my own weights, and I take ballet classes which are really rigorous activity.

Marilyn

Jason, I will match the showers in our gym against yours any day. Since it is mostly guys, the women's side gets very little attention. There are 2 showers in the women's changing room and for about a year only 1 worked.

Gaining and losing weight is basically a very simple equation. Calories taken in versus calories expended. The complications are a result of how we react to the type of calories we take in. For example, 300 calories of sugar will cause your hunger to recur more quickly than 300 calories of protein.

So if you eat the same AMOUNT of food when you are on vacation, but the caloric content is higher (richer food), you will gain weight. I would guess most people do eat more on vacation, whether they realize it or not. Some of that may be offset by increased activity, especially if you are sedentary at home.

Bottom line (no pun intended!) is that increased activity is pretty much a necessity as you get older if you want to maintain your weight. Most people gain a pound a year, which doesn't sound like much, but that's 10 lbs a decade and by the time you are 60 it's easy to be 20 lbs overweight.

Christina, you've got the right idea! Ballet will BURN those calories!!