by Elizabeth » August 15th, 2007, 12:30 pm
I have no advice for you, but was just doing some reading in Jo (Serendipity's) journal. She talks about how she stayed on plan during her cruise last summer and she also talks about her mindset for this decision. Hope it helps you decide and hope Jo doesn't mind me copy and pasting her journal. I find it pretty amazing myself.
Here it is.....
Ok, I'm between laundry loads, so I think I have time to talk about my strategy for eating on plan during vacation.
First off, Silver Fox.....thank you so much for your comments. It means so much.....you can't know how much.....but, yes, you probably can.
Anyway....here goes.
The single biggest factor in my vacation success is that I decided before going that I wanted to be compliant. I thought about what it would be like to go off my plan for over a week. I thought about how I would feel, about the struggle I would be sure to have getting back on plan, about what food has really come to mean to me.
If I had decided to go off plan during my vacation, I wouldn't have gained a ton. I would most likely have been set back a week or two. No big deal. But to me it would have meant so much more. It would have been an admission that all of this work I've done hasn't taught me anything about the importance of food in my life. If I've learned anything, I've learned that food is not the do all and end all of pleasurable experiences. I have had tons of fun while not eating. I've been to dinners, parties, picnics....you name it, and I've had a blast. Why then, couldn't I go on a vacation and have fun without blowing it? These things rolled around in my mind before leaving, but I can't say that I was even tempted to do anything but stay on plan. It just wouldn't have been right for me.
So having decided that, the rest was really quite easy. I packed a suitcase full of RTD shakes (enough for 3/day), 1 bar/day, 1 soup/day, 1 oatmeal/day. That's more than 5 supplements a day, but I wanted a little bit of choice. I came home with all of the oatmeal because it didn't really taste great with just hot water added. Each day started with a shake and room service coffee. Then at mid morning, another shake. For lunch I joined my husband on the Lido deck for lunch. Each day, I walked up to the buffet and looked at the great food, smelled the wonderful smells, talked to my husband about what he was going to pick that had a balance of protein and carbs and not too much fat, grabbed a bowl and spoon and got the heck out of there! I took my bowl and found us a table, then went to the drink bar and picked up a glass of hot water and 2 iced teas. I mixed my soup and waited for hubby to get back. I remarked to him one day, "You know, that food all looks good, but you know what else? This soup is really good, too! I feels all warm and is so tasty.....I would choose my Chicken and wild rice soup over what you're having". I meant it!
Late afternoon, more room service for hot tea or iced tea and my bar. That was great and I looked forward to it every day. I didn't even think about all the people up at the icecream bar or at the pizza bar. I enjoyed my bar just as much as they did....probably more because I had no guilt, lol.
Dinner on a cruise is so much fun. You dress for dinner and have a drink before at one of the lounges. Hubby always ordered a beer, I always ordered water with lime. The bartenders got to know me and just brought my water after a few days. (I tell ya, they treat you like a queen....I could really get used to it).
So dinner could have been a problem. I knew that normally, the portion of veggies was skimpy and that usually they were buttered up or coated with sauce. Same with the meat. Sauces Sauces, potatoes, all the wrong stuff. Soooooooo......
On the first night, I asked to talk to the head waiter. I explained to him that I needed at least 1 1/2 cups of a green vegetable each night and that it should be prepared with no added fat or sauces of any kind. I listed green beans, spinach, zucchini, and asparagus. He said that would not be a problem at all. Then I explained how I needed to have my meat prepared....again, no problem. He said that each night he would bring me tomorrow's menu and I could pick what I wanted and he would see to it that it was prepared to my liking. Dinner worked out so well. The first night and every night after, I was served all four of my vegetable choices! If we had salad, they brought low fat dressing on the side. My meat was perfect. That waiter got a good tip from us at the end of the trip. He made it so easy to stay focused. After a few days, he even started bring my husband the veggies because I had been sharing with him and the waiter saw, lol. I won't lie. There were dishes that I remember from past cruises that I could have scarfed down, but what I chose to do in the end was not a sacrifice. It was just a different choice. Each night our waiters (George and George from Romania) brought the dessert menu and promised me that all of the desserts were calorie free. I ordered coffee, lol.
After dinner, a show, or a stroll, or a drink, some music.....never a lack of things to do. Then back to the room for my last shake and bed.
It was so easy after the decision was made. I made it sound simple because it was. Like showering every day, or dressing, or exercising.....it was just what I did, no more complicated than that.
I had plenty of time to people watch on this trip. I saw so many people that reminded me of me on my last cruise. Huge, miserable, trying to look inconspicuous. My heart broke each time I saw it, because I know how heartbreaking it is. There were several extremely obese people on the ship. I continually ran into one man who didn't fit into any of the chairs so to sit, he chose a bar stool and sort of leaned against it while still standing, balance a huge plate of food all the while. Heartbreaking. I saw so many huge plates of food, it made me wonder about how I would feel if I ate that much.......blah would be my guess. I was continually made aware of how fortunate I have been to find Medifast. I was a normal person on this trip. I was in better shape than most of the people there. Yeah, there were plenty of hard bodies, too, but I was the norm. It felt great to be "NORMAL" for a change.
If I had it to do over, my decision to eat on plan would be the same. It didn't detract one iota from my pleasure. There is so much more to life than a plate full of cakes and cookies. I'm not saying that everyone should do it, but it was so right for me.
_________________
jo
, LOL).
--Diana
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