nicole

I travel a lot, and inspite of my many efforts to 'take it easy' it seems that the pounds keep coming. I love to try new foods, and dining experiences seem to be hald the fun of traveling. Any ideans for keeping the lid on the tummy, as it were.

Anna Nicole

It isn't the traveling, my dear. It is ageing and lack of exercise and slow metabolism. Get yourself to a gym, and don't overload on the calories at home and away. The pounds will sneak up on you otherwise and you will be like me.

Bobbi

That's funny. I usually lose weight when I travel. Mostly because I'm chained to a desk all day and on vacation I'm out wandering the town all day. Maybe partially because when I'm working I skip breakfast and eat lunch and dinner. On vacation I eat breakfast and dinner and skip lunch. <shrug>

zzz

RE: Bobby<BR><BR>Same for me. Its the walking and the will power not to stop at every pastry shop in town. Skipping lunch saves time and helps banish that bloated, take a nap feeling.

XXX

Some restaurants give you more than you should eat at any one meal. One common trick is to mentally divide the food on your plate into two when the food arrives to help you keep track of the portion sizes. Would you be happy with 1/2 the amount? If you are going someplace truly special you may need to save your calories or schedule an extra workout to balance it out. Snack on fresh fruit. Also, make sure you drink plenty of water (bottled if necessary). Sometimes people think they are hungry, but its their body craving water. Watch your alchohol intake, again a glass of wine is only 150-300 calories, but can add up fast if you have several.

thin

I lose weight when I travel so I guess if I travel more, I will be very thin.

Trish

We spent two and one-half weeks in Italy this October. We did this trip on our own and did lots of walking. The food is so healthy- we didn't have pre-packaged foods or fast foods. I am a Weight Watchers member - we ate well and drank a lot of wonderful wine - I only gained one pound. The secret is relaxing and enjoying your meals - Italians are not big on rich deserts, which is a blessing. Enjoy your trip and don't stress about your weight.

Julie

Nicole, I love trying new and different foods also when traveling, but try to only eat one meal a day and do snacks for the others and I rarely gain weight. Also, I highly recommend a book called Defensive Dining by Cheryl Sindell. She has menus in all different languages. Check out her website--Cherylsindell.com.<BR><BR>I really think you can do it--it just might take some minor changes. Good luck.

Sherry

I always lose weight when I travel, because there is so much walking involved in going from one museum/attraction to the next. Just make sure you exercise as much as possible, even if it means walking laps in the train station/airport while you wait.

EP

I don`t get it. You are on a holiday. You eat breakfast, a light lunch (omelette, salad or soup) and a lengthy dinner (no dessert because you eat a filling main course). You walk a lot. You just cannot gain weight. It isn´t even aging and metabolism (I am 52). <BR><BR>Sometimes people say that Christmas with all the eating makes one fat. But it is not the eating between Xmas and New Year that makes you fat. It is the eating between New Year and Xmas. Same for travelling. It is not those days or weeks you are travelling, it is those days that are in between your travels.

Ira

Hi Nicole,<BR> Welcome to the club. Get out and walk more.

Patrick

I'm borderline diabetic and watch my diet -- no breads, potatoes, pastas for one thing. Right! Like I'm not going to eat pommes frites and bread in Paris or pasta in Italy? So although I try to watch it even when traveling, there's no doubt that I eat more of what I shouldn't eat than when at home.<BR><BR>But, we walk. Paris for a week and walked everywhere. Like the day we walked from the big arch at Defense back to our hotel in the Latin Quarter. Or walking all the way back from Montmarte. Or the loop route from out hotel in St. Germaine, across Pont Neuf, all the way up the Tulleries and the Champs Elysees and Arc di Triomphe, then around to the Eiffel Tower and back to our hotel again. Guess what? I never seem to gain any weight on vacation -- even those that last 5 months and I overindulge a lot! I'm often surprised at the number of questions about metro passes. We seldom use the metro at all -- we walk instead. A pass would be a waste for us.<BR>

Bob C

Like many of you my wife and I lose weight. Even in France with all the wine and great food we didn't gain any weight. Like others on this post we feel its do to all the walking we do on any trip.

buffy

I lost at least 5 pounds on our last trip to London - all of the walking others have mentioned, plus half the time none of the escalators were working at our tube stop so we were constantly up and down lots of stairs. <BR><BR>Having said that, I understand how tempting all of these new wonderful foods are. One suggestion might be to decide on one new food you want to try per day and make that your main meal for the day. Your other meals can be light. If you find it hard to rein in the eating urges, then maybe you need to give in to that and just make sure you walk a bit more (maybe walk to the theatre instead taking the cab you were planning on taking).

Anna

Did it ever occur to you all that some people don't walk on their trips? I know some people (one of which I work with) who spend most of their time eating and taking taxis. Without exercise, at home or abroad, you will gain weight as you age, unless you have an high metabolism. <BR>

urbanphile

as long as you remain committed to car culture, not exercising and eating supersized fast food meals - you will gain weight. Unfortunately, most Americans subscribe to that formula.

Anna

I agree with you urban, but we don't all live in the USA.

Tulle

Years ago we went with another couple on a driving tour of Italy, I sat in the backseat and watched the couple in the front seat's behinds get larger and larger as the weeks wore on. By the end of the trip they could barely move and that was the trouble, they barely did move the whole trip, just in and out of restaurants, they were foodies. At least I walked about after I over ate, that seems to be the key no matter where you are.

xxx

Must have been a lot of weeks, Tulle. To actually see someone putting on weight to such extremes in a matter of a month or two is almost beyond the realm of possibility.

Tulle

It was a little over three weeks, and believe me they did spread out over their seats by the last week. The woman was well aware of it, and when she got home she saw she had gained alot of weight on the scales. She had a weight problem to begin with though, it didn't just occur on the trip that she suddenly got lazy.