Have Diet…Will Travel

Kenneth Schwarz, Ph.D.
Julie Schwarz

Are you looking forward to a mid-winter cruise? Will you be taking a long weekend in the country? Do you have a spring getaway planned? Are you going to a beach somewhere?

There are things you can do so you don’t totally blow your diet when you go on vacation. It all has to do with deciding, preparing, and keeping the idea of sticking with it in mind.

Of course, you can always decide to suspend the diet during the course of the vacation. That’s up to you―it’s your diet and your vacation. This can be a good alternative decision, as long as you’re willing to slow down your progress, maybe even slip back a little by gaining a few pounds. You may decide it’s worth it to you.

But if you decide you really want to keep to it, not interfere with your diet momentum, here is a list of things that will preserve the process. These things will help you protect the advances you’ve made toward your goal so far.

The most important thing is that it is your decision, your preparation, your mindset that count most. Once these things are in place, they will influence how and what you eat. Before you leave on vacation, do the following things.

1. Envision your goal. Write a description of all the ways your life will be better once you lose the weight.
2. Make a list of 10 strategies you’ve been using. Think of all the things you’ve been doing successfully at home to help you stay on your diet. Determine which of these strategies are portable, which ones you can take with you easily. Also, see how you can adapt some of the others to be good travelers as well.
3. Don’t try to be perfect. Think about having at least two meals while you’re away where you don’t concern yourself with sticking to your diet. Allowing for a couple of non-restrictive meals will help you not feel deprived. The key is to decide how many free meals you will have, and then count them as you go so you don’t exceed the number you’ve prescribed for yourself.
4. Be sure to bring any aids with you. Bring any little helpers that can contribute to your continued diet efforts. For example, bring your notebook or your journal. If you have any motivating visuals, like a picture of yourself thinner, bring it. Bring with you any positive self-statements you have written, any inspirational CDs, and any inspirational books or articles that have been helping you along. These little supports you have been counting on can be just as effective when you’re away.
5. When you have no choice, go with the flow. You may not be totally in charge of what food will be available and in what portion sizes. If you have the decision to stick to it firmly in mind, you can approximate diet meals as much as possible. For instance, you can estimate portion size or how much fat is in a dish. Use any little tricks to keep the meals as close to your eating plan as possible. You will find that when you have the desire to do this, it won’t be hard at all.
6. Keep exercising. If you have been exercising regularly as part of your weight-loss plan, see if you can keep it up to some degree while you’re on vacation. Find a place to run or to walk. You probably won’t be bringing free weights with you, but you can certainly do things like pushups, sit-ups, squats, leg raises, and calf-raises. You’ll find that keeping up at least a minimum level of exercise will help you have an even better time.
7. Ask for help. If you are traveling with your husband, boyfriend, partner, friend, or any significant other, tell this person what you plan to do and how important it is to you. Enlisting the support of someone who cares about you is a very positive factor in diet adherence.

It is your decision whether to diet on vacation or not. If you decide to keep dieting, these 7 tools will help you do it.

© Maria's Last Diet
Kenneth Schwarz, Ph.D. is a psychologist specializing in personal change and goal achievement. Julie North Schwarz is a writer in the field of women’s weight-loss issues. They are authors of the online weight-loss solution, “Diet Tuffy: The Fun Way to Seriously Make Your Diet Work”. For Diet Tuffy and more about how to conquer the psychological side of dieting, go to their website, www.mariaslastdiet.com.