Advice from Vets Please

This summer I am planning a trip to Ireland. I know I will not be eating on plan and I will certainly be sampling the various brews well known in Ireland. I have been planning this trip for some time and I want to experience it all including the food and drink. I will certainly keep it in check and not over eat but I will be tasting everything. I plan to stay away from sweets (pastries, cakes, etc.) but Irish food is wraught with potatoes and other high carb stuff.

I am not looking for the "don't be an idiot" response. What I would like to know or perhaps some helps strategizing what I can do the weeks before and the weeks after to prepare for this trip. I think the weeks before just go back to complete basics and probably after too. Just want to see if there are any advanced strategies.

My plan would be to lose as much weight as possible before the trip.  I would also have a clear idea of what I will and will not do when I am there.  For example, I will taste all the meat products but I will not fill up on potatoes and bread.  I am not saying that I would not taste them, but it would not be my meal or even most of my meal.  I would not drink on an empty stomach and I would limit my drinking to a certain amount per day.  I would most likely not eat most sweets, although I might taste them.  I would also have a great plan to be implemented right after I return, like the very first meal, that involves detoxing from the alcohol and the carbs. How long are you going to be there?  It is possible that you will actually lose some weight as Ireland is not known for being the culinary center of the world.  Now if this was Italy or France..... all bets would be off.  :)

I knew I would get great advice from you. I am not too worried about the potatoes or the sweets. I am a sweets person but Ireland is not known for sweets. I am nota big potato guy so that should not be a problem, but they are in a lot of irish dishes so you know some of it is going through. But you are right, not known for food but they are my people so who knows.

I am only going to be there for a week so I think I will fare pretty well just want to have some sort of plan.

 

k

The only issue I really see is the after plan.  I would make sure you have a tight one and that it starts the very moment you get home.  The issues start when you begin to tell yourself that you will go right back on plan, starting on Monday.  :)

It may not be known for food or sweets, in that it does not have it's own cuisine but I'm here to tell you, I've been all over the world and had some of the best food there.  Butter is big, cheese is big, seafood is big, really good meat and produce that taste amazing.  I don't know how you stretch your budget for food, but there are several Michelin rated restaurants there, lots of sauces.  Bread may be an acquired taste as soda and Brown unleavened is big.  but every morning Irish brown bread with butter and smoked salmon was breakfast. Desserts I'll just let you sort of for yourself but pretty spectacular.  I'm not big on sugar but i was tempted a few times. By the way they are big breakfast eaters, and i love a good full Monty (heavy heavy meat eaters and a full Irish breakfast is served as part of the price of a hotel night stay) which is why this was the meal i most needed to avoid but in reality a bite of everything on the plate is probably about all you could eat (fully aware I'm making assumptions about your capacity but it was true for me)

 

If i had advice it would be because our capacity is so small and i was there last year for 5 months, i saved my calories for the evening meal.  In Ireland much like the drinking, it's not eating or drinking it's a real social occasion.  The other problem you may run into is that an evening meal if you meet people can take place over a number of hours and of course this is a problem for us. We may not be able to get a lot in at once but over a long stretch with drinking, it changes the lay of the land.  Be on the lookout for this.

I had breakfast as above, a really light lunch couple shrimp maybe, although i searched could not find a Greek yogurt with low enough sugar, so i had brought quest bars and then in the evening i had what i wanted mostly but it was always an appetizer and wine and alcohol.  I didn't gain, but i didn't lose.  If i ate something off plan early in the day then i changed my strategy for the evening,  I had great food but i was there a long time and so had to figure out a way to weather it.

 

I didn't do potatoes but only because they are almost never with an appetizer and also i just did't have the capacity.  I was about 9 months out when i went there, so probably at the same point you'll be.  I've never been a beer drinker so that was fine.

 

I did split an odd fish and chips with 3 people because i could eat so little but it's so above and beyond any fish and chip you've ever had in America that it may be worth it to you, it was to me.

 

But for a vacation of a lifetime and just a week, I'd say basics before and basics after.  The big thing i find about vacations is that you have to stop them when they stop and not get caught up in the tomorrow syndrome.

 

Enjoy

WOW! Ireland is on my BUCKET list!! I can't wait to hear the responses to this question - way to go!!

Your looking great!! Keep up the great work!!!!!

Ann - 4 months out on the 21st and 1/2 way to my Goal of 135!!!

The food is edible in Ireland and you should be able to stay away from the carbs. Haggis is nothing but sheep organs ground up. Cottage pie I would just not eat the potatoes and concentrate on the meat. I ate a lot of fish while I was in Dublin, so you could stay on plan.

Of course the St. James brewery had to start a third shift while I was there. I do love Guinness.

 

I started to grin about the Haggis. More Scottish than Irish... heart, liver, and lungs with some barley typically boiled inside a sheep stomach. Been craving that for oh about 2-3 weeks. Effed if my cravings are not for meat, and things I cannot get easily.

Mmmm cottage pie. Got some of that in my freezer (self made)... May have to pull it out.

Did they have to start the third shift because you were there?
Sorry, couldn't help myself.

I agree with Elina--try to lose before you go. And then, just be mindful..Certainly, you want to taste everything, but don't let it become a free-for-all (as you said!) You may be surprised that you lose weight. We went on a 3 week European cruise/vacation last summer, and I lost 2 lbs because of all the walking, etc. Even so, it took some effort to get myself back on plan--that's the hardest part, so maybe have some some of your favorite "on plan" foods ready to go for the INSTANT you get home. Have fun!

Lizanne