Recovering from Vacations

Community Talks: Recovering From Vacations
By Amanda Genge www.weightwatchers.com

Did you use your summer vacation as an excuse to indulge? Maybe you couldn't resist the cruise ship's all-you-can-eat buffet, or loaded up on too many pieces of boardwalk fudge or taffy. No matter how you strayed, don't wait to return to your healthy eating plan, say our Community Users – every day you put if off makes it harder to get back on track. Here are their best tips for making the transition a successful one:
Don't Avoid the Scale
Go straight back to weighing in, say our Community Users – even go to a meeting earlier in the week than normal to get right back in the groove.
"I think it's much better to know what the damage is and acknowledge it than to assume the worst," says PLAID11. "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think!"

"In the past, I avoided the scale whenever I knew it would go up because that, to me, meant I failed," says LEANJEAN50. "I wanted my weigh-in card to be PERFECT. Ironically, my avoiding the scale and the meeting ALWAYS led to me quitting! So I decided to weigh in each week and accept whatever the scale says."

Commit, Plan and Track
Make the promise to yourself before you even take the first steps. Then make grocery lists, prepare healthy snacks and meals, and write down every bite of food that passes through your lips.

"In the past, when I found the scale numbers creeping up, I'd get out my Week One book and read it as if I were new to Weight Watchers," says BLESSEDMOM99. "It's pretty motivational and inspiring."

"I think planning the meals for the day I will get back helps me a lot," says JODEAJOHNSON. "I post them on the fridge so that when I'm traveling, I can get right back on plan when I hit home base."

"Try to get back on track by doing one thing you stopped, like weighing and measuring food or journaling," suggests REGINAARTS. "Most importantly, plan your meals every morning before you even think about eating."

"I find bringing my lunch to work instead of buying is crucial," reports BRIDEOFCHUCKY2006. "If I already have my lunch with me, I'm not really tempted to eat anything else."

Get Up and Move
Exercise is not only a way to speed up weight loss of pounds put back on, but it will improve your mental outlook as well.

"The thing that helped me the most was exercise," says AMYLIZA. "The more I got out of the house to run, the better I felt – mentally and physically – about being back on plan."

"I find that after a day (or, let's be honest, a week or more!) of being out of control, it's important to try and exercise first thing in the morning," suggests LNELLW. "If I just make myself get out and take a 20, or even a 15-minute walk up and down the hills around my home, I am more motivated almost instantly. Early morning exercise heightens my awareness of my body and makes me feel like being healthier all day."

Think About the Big Picture
Weight gain over a vacation will not undo every bit of success you've had, so look at the grand scheme of things and move forward.

"My focus has shifted from losing the weight to learning how to maintain," says LEANJEAN50. "And that means accepting the various ups and downs along the way. There will always be vacations and paries and holidays. We all need to learn how to enjoy these (without the guilt) and to get right back on plan ASAP to prevent the inevitable downward spiral that happens when we give up on ourselves and our goals."

"A gain over one week is not going to set you back," says LORBUS2. "Learn from it and move on. That's the biggest lesson I'm learning on Weight Watchers. There will always be these setbacks but it's nipping the behavior in the bud sooner than later that will make all the difference."

Prepare for Next Time
The best advice, many posters agree, is to not stray in the first place.

"Next vacation, plan ahead," says RPERTHEL. "I love to go on vacations that include a lot of exercise and good eating. Now vacations are not an excuse to overeat and stop exercising – in fact, they're quite the opposite."

"Exercise works on vacation, too!" says LJSMITH2004. "You can add exercise by renting bicycles, attending local Pilates or yoga classes, and walking, walking, walking – I tried this for teh first time on a recent beach trip to California and it made me feel so much more in control while on the trip. I made healthier food choices and when I wanted to splurge, I didn't feel out of control, because I was still earning activity POINTS® values."