Travel--before and after VSG

Two years ago I went on a trip and even though I was eating fattening stuff, I ended up losing weight because we were so active.  I wasn't gorging myself or anything--just eating regular meals, few snacks.  But those meals were fried fish, starch, etc. a lot of the time because we were near the coast.  This isn't unusual for me.  In the past I've lost weight or stayed the same when traveling without staying on a plan.  Probably because my life really is pretty sedentary so the body takes quite a jolt when I'm suddenly out hiking/walking/going nonstop for a week.  Also, I tended to eat on the "it could be worse" plan.  Like, buying a burger but no fries and milkshake, telling myself that even though I ate something fattening, "it could have been worse." 

And believe it or not, this worked for me.

So, now I'm facing a trip to Hawaii that will be very active, and wondering how I'm going to address it.  At the beginning I assumed I'd be very restricted in my eating and would just stick to protein drinks, cheese sticks, etc.  But it turns out I'm not.  I can eat just about anything in small amounts.

How do you handle travel?  Have you traveled and come back with weight gain?  Or has your restriction kept you pretty much in line?  Do you stick to plan religiously?

I'm not looking for an excuse to cheat.  We'll be staying in a place with a kitchen so I will have a lot of control over my food.  I'm just trying to ground myself re: what kinds of mental changes I'll need to make, and planning what I might need to take from home to eat.  I'm not drinking many shakes any more at all.  (And I overbought them--have all these big cannisters.)  So it's really about food choices and portions.

What are your travel experiences, good and bad?  What works for you?  What would you never do again?

I travel extensively at least 10-14 days a month. It is SO hard.  It is almost completely impossible to get enough protein because I'm rarely staying in a place with a fridge to keep shakes and you can find Muscle Milk some places but I cannot stand the stuff.

I find myself eating whatever I can find just in smaller amounts. I order from the hotel bar a lot and take it back to my room so I can pick the meat and cheese out of a club sandwich things like that. Wendys' has a chicken "snack wrap" that is a half chicken breast wrapped in ranch dressing lettuce cheese and tortilla. It's one of my favorite on the road meals as it' s almost the perfect size. I throw away the tortilla to save on carbs and just eat the chicken. It is fried (and you can order it without Ranch) but there are certainly worse food choices.  McDonalds also has them but I don't like them as well as they use chicken strips not breasts and the strips have more breading and less chicken.

For my international long flights I'm usually in Business Class so they have food which is good. Don't know how I could survive in coach with no food for 10-14 hours. I'll eat the beef and chicken etc and pretty much throw everything else out like the potatoes ice cream, snacks and stuff like that they give you.

Travelling with string cheese is good too. But like I said I'd be interested in anyone else that travels on how they get protein.  My protein goes way down and I usually maintain my weight when I travel whereas I lose while I'm at home and make better choices.

We'll be in "steerage" so that will not help!  We have a layover in LA.  I should look and see what restaurants are there and plan ahead.  I am having my doc write me a letter to have with me in case anybody questions any of my snacks.  Not sure what they'll let me take on the plane any more.

It sounds like you do what I have always done--make the best of what's available and move on.  It's not a bad plan.  Thank you!

Last weekend I went out of town, and I did okay one day, but totally missed my protein goal on the other. Of course, we were only gone one night and took hubby's motorcycle, so I didn't have a good way to take protein drinks with me.

Whenever we ate, though, I made a point to stick with the highest protein and lowest carb choices I could find, whatever those happened to be.

Oh! I also learned I had to have packets of flavor for my water with me at all times. I hate paying convenience store prices for my drinks just because I'm on the road... and regular water doesn't sit well on my tummy, even two months out... so the next time I travel I'm buying a bunch of crystal light on the go packets and taking a reusable water bottle or two with me so that I'm not at the mercy of the gas station prices for fluids.

I haven't developed a taste for flavored waters so don't have a problem sticking to plain, but that doesn't help with the protein!  I also look for the highest protein choices, which does help.

Sounds like your short trip helped you identify what you need to do for longer ones!

 I usually travel quite a bit for work (haven't so much lately, but am out of town next week).  When I travel, I stick to my plan.  I plan ahead for meals out at restaurants, look up nutritional info and eat what I fits into my diet.  I journal normally.

I don't do fast food restaurants like McD or BK.  If I go out I go to someplace that has a chicken option thats not processed, like Chipotle (My new stand by fast food). 

When I am travelling at the airport I tend to keep a cheese stick or a meal replacement bar on me for the flight.  If I am going to eat in at the hotel, I will usually have some greek yogurt or cottage cheese cups in my hotel fridge.  I will usually pack some of my Mio with me or get the SoBe Lifewaters to always have on hand.

I do plan to stock the fridge with greek yogurt and cottage cheese and other standbys.  I'm so glad we got the rental house instead of staying in a hotel. It will work better on so many levels!  I don't really have a way to plan ahead on the meals since I have no idea where we'll eat or what the restaurants will be like until we get there, and I don't want to stick to chain places if there is local food to be had, but I'll be doing my best to choose well and not blow off the whole week.

I'm thinking of taking cheese sticks and maybe salmon cups with me, but the fish smell would probably make everybody on the plane hate me, so maybe not!

 You can still plan ahead.  Use Google maps and services like Yelp to scope out the local restaurants around your rental house.  Then you can choose the ones with the best ratings.  Most of them will have websites that have their menus on line.

If you just choose a random place, you can always ask how the foods prepared, and custom order if you need to.  Just tip well.

Theres no need to even consider the unholy places, LOL.

Checking ahead is a good plan anyway, just to have an idea what's there.  Since we'll be part of a large group of family and friends, I can't plan everything around me, but it seems like the kind of place where enough fresh food is available that I should be able to do well most if not all places.

I do tip well.  My son worked in food service for awhile and I'll never forget being at a restaurant and adding the tip to the tab, and him taking it out of my hand and adding more.  (And I hadn't under-tipped to begin with.)  After we left he said, "I guarantee you, she needs that extra two bucks more than you do."

Point made.

Oooo Hawaii, I love it!
I tend to eat out frequently on trips, and generally order stuff I know is "on plan".. I have no shyness asking the server to hold a bun on a sammy or wrap it in a leaf of lettuce, most are very familiar with folks that don't do breads and will oblige happily. Same with subbing fried carbs for something healthier. I have had a couple bites off of my husbands plate of off plan stuff, if it's worthy. In Hawaii you will have no shortage of good fresh meat, produce and fish to keep you happy. To this day, I pick an app that's totally edible for me, DH picks an entree and we share.

Many times, I will lose if not during the trip- then right after.. Some of my trips I've dubbed "stall-breakers" since they always end up leading to a new low a week after we get back. I frequently do gain while on the trip though. The gains are always either carb bloat (that 5lbs gained on a long weekend of off plan treats if your carbs bump up significantly- aka water-weight, just had that this last weekend, it's gone now!) or they are sodium weight (the usual suspect for me.) I know they aren't "real gains" as I track and therefore know I didn't eat enough cals to really put on even an extra lb.. It never fails to fall off very quickly when I drop my salt & carbs again. I do try to be really mindful, and still make the protein first call.. that seems to limit any thoughts of eating too far off track.

I am heading out on a 2 week tropical trip in a month.. I plan on having some local specialties like conch fritters.. likely just 1 with my restriction level, but still.. and will imbibe in some fruity-rummy drinks in moderation (lightweight here), but where I have something off plan, the rest of the time is going to be mostly on-plan, meat & fish. I am packing my Ostrim meat sticks, a few protein bars and maybe a few shake packets.. things I like, that can boost my protein up as needed. 

Things I wouldn't do again, that were common pre-op: using vacation as an excuse to eat copious amounts of brown & crispy fried stuff.. same for desserts, candy etc. Trips aren't food free-for-all's.. they are to see and experience new things, enjoy a new environment and reconnect with whomever I'm with without computers/cellphones etc getting in the way. That's the biggest mental change I had to make.. And you know, eating cleaner on vacation makes me feel so much better physically.. nothing worse than feeling sluggish and overfull and bloated while you're trying to have an active & fun time. You should do fine!