Maintaining on 2 week beach holiday

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Needhelp

1:44 pm
29 Jun 18
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Hi

I’ve reached my target weight and I’m still fasting 2 days a week because I don’t think doing 6/1 would work for me. I’m managing to maintain this way as I think I’ve natrually started eating more on my nfd’s than when I was actively losing and I’m fine with that. I exercise hard 6 days a week too.

I have a family holiday in August and I’m scared to gain lots of weight and don’t want to feel bloated/demoralised etc in my bikini! I’ve noticed that I can fast very very easily now but some (not all!) of my nfds im really hungry and it’s like my mind tells me I can indulge a bit. Without the discipline of a fast I’m scared I’ll go off the rails. I know holidays only come round once a year but my question is has anyone still done 2 fast days each week while away and not felt like a killjoy?

I know I will drink wine each night and have extra treats so I know I’ll still gain weight overall but I want to mitigate the gain and feel like when I do indulge it’s not going to result in too nasty a shock on the scales when I return. I can obviously shift any weight when Home again but I just want to make sure it’s not too bad.

My plan is to skip breakfast and lunch, order a chicken salad say when we eat out and have water or Diet Coke that eve. Then the other 10 days/nights mix it up a bit with some days/nights being quite indulgent and some
more moderate. Anyone done this? Did your partner hate you for it? Mine does 5/2 too but he won’t do it on holiday. TIA x

Penz

1:57 pm
29 Jun 18
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Hi @needhelp.

I think your plan sounds great, but I would also give yourself permission to stray from that plan. It’s a holiday after all, where you want to relax and enjoy yourself. You’ve reached your goal weight so you KNOW 5:2 works for you. And it will work again even if you do temporarily gain a little extra.

I’ve had two one-week holidays this year where every single day I ate two large meals with lots of wine. (I never do breakfasts.) I didn’t bother trying to be conscious over what I was eating or drinking! Over both weeks, I gained 2 kilos, but by going back to normal 5:2 on my return, I very quickly lost those 2 kg.

Good luck!

Needhelp

2:28 pm
29 Jun 18
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Thanks for your reply and it’s reassuring to know you were able to enjoy yourself then lose again when back to normal routines. There’s every chance I will just eat and drink what I want without trying to follow any fast days but I think popping a couple in might be a good way to minimise the gain and reign me in a bit generally.

For example. This week on one of my fast days I had 100 calories for lunch w soup after doing a spin class then didn’t eat again til after 9pm and felt fine. Conversely yesterday I had a 3 course meal prepared by my daughter at her school (she’s in year 6 and it’s part of her leavers activities) at 5.30. By 9pm I was starving! I find fast days I just switch off to hunger pangs and cues but on non fast days (not all, but some) it’s like once I eat in the morning I’m peckish all day. Like there’s only an on/off instead of a volume button inside my stomach!. I intend to eat, drink and be merry on holiday but I’d love to come back only say 3-4lba heavier. In the past it’s been as much as 7lbs!!!! Not good!

fasting_me

4:35 pm
29 Jun 18
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Hi, Needhelp. Congrats on your weight losses.
We’ve been Fasting for 5 years, on and off vacation. We too continue to Fast 2 days/week and we drink wine [5 oz for me, 1/5 bottle between the 2 of us] every night.
Having been on package tours as well as staying in self-catering locales as well as in hotels, I have worked out strategies for Fasting while on holiday.
Sounds as if you will be in a hotel setting [not self-catering]. It is simple to have the eggs at breakfast + fruit without the toast and bacon if there is a hotel buffet. If not, and you feel like skipping breakfast then go ahead: perhaps coffee and fruit? If everyone goes out for lunch, look for steamed mussels. Same goes for dinner — looks like a lot, very few calories. Another thing I do when I go out to dinner is to order two appetizers — one as a starter, one as a ‘main’ along with a glass of sparkling wine which has fewer calories. Servers don’t bat an eye and I’m content. Oysters make a good starter, or any simple seafood like shrimp, if you are into seafood.
Of course how much you walk it off makes a difference too. We often find that when we visit a city or the countryside and do lots of walking, we don’t gain weight even if we went to Paris! We tend to eat 2 meals a day. If you can have a large lunch instead of a dinner, and then not eat until breakfast, it keeps a smaller eating/longer ‘fasting’ window. Similar to 16:8

Hope this gives you food for thought. Have a good trip!

Amazon

5:00 pm
29 Jun 18
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I’ve had several holidays while doing 5:2 and I don’t fast but only eat lunch and dinner which is normal for me, but if there are local specialities on offer for breakfast that I wouldn’t get to sample otherwise I’ll have something and not eat lunch.
I can no longer eat 3 courses so usually have a main course and choose between entrée and dessert. I try not to succumb to snacking because once I start I don’t want to stop but if I do indulge then I have one course at dinner.
I always have a beer at lunchtime and a cocktail or G&T and a glass or 2 of wine every evening.

It doesn’t always go according to plan and I do overeat occasionally, but so what, I’m on holiday.

The most weight I’ve gained is 4lbs and it always comes off quickly as soon as I’m home and back into my routine.

Another option is to try to lose a few lbs before you go away. I have a skinny friend who always diets for a month before she goes away as she says that needing to diet on her return is such a spoiler!

The most important thing is to enjoy your holiday and not feel you’ve missed out, but there is no reason why you can’t make a few sensible choices here and there in the interest of damage limitation.