{"id":5840,"date":"2016-05-05T16:24:38","date_gmt":"2016-05-05T22:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/?p=5840"},"modified":"2016-05-23T12:20:03","modified_gmt":"2016-05-23T18:20:03","slug":"chasing-fishies-is-calorie-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/05\/chasing-fishies-is-calorie-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Chasing Fishies is Calorie Free"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m going on vacation soon.\u00a0 I’m super excited about it – a week of no work, all play. There will be scuba diving, snorkeling, being by the ocean.\u00a0 There will be games with family, shows, entertainment, dancing, lounging by the pool and reading.\u00a0 I cannot wait so hard, I actually lost sleep over it one day last week.\u00a0 Christmas morning syndrome… I guess you still get it at 37 years old…<\/p>\n

\"Sunday-1\"<\/p>\n

I love to be on a boat!<\/em><\/p>\n

However, the fact remains that I’ve worked hard this spring and lost some weight and want to continue to make progress.\u00a0 Slightly related, a huge part of cruising is the sheer amount of AMAZING food and drink available.\u00a0 Not just available… but kinda sorta of pushed on you.\u00a0 I’ve gotten better about this in my daily life.\u00a0 If it were up to me, I’d be ready to make the cruise more about fun and less about food.<\/p>\n

However, I’m traveling with family, and they are REALLY into the food part of cruising.\u00a0 Their favorite part is the fancy sit-down dinner every night, and they tend to do breakfast, lunch, snacks, ice cream, and extra post-dinner buffet sometimes as well.\u00a0 If I follow suit, I’ll gain all the weight back, and I’ll probably end up throwing myself off the side of the ship.<\/p>\n

To keep me from being fish food, I’ve come up with some strategy on how to do the all inclusive thing without gaining a bunch of weight.<\/p>\n

Breakfast<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"cruise19\"<\/p>\n

More books, less pancakes…<\/em><\/p>\n

I plan to skip breakfast every day that I can.\u00a0 I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day blah blah blah, but the problem is the cross section of a) healthy breakfast food I like and b) food they serve on a cruise includes fruit, and perhaps some turkey sausage and that’s about it.<\/p>\n

I’m HOPING to do that by avoiding it altogether on sea days.\u00a0 I don’t plan to get up before 10am on vacation unless I have a good reason to do so. I’d like to start my mornings when we aren’t in port with a little gym session, and if I have more time to kill, relax and read by (or go swim in) the pool.\u00a0 I’m going to tell my family about my plans.\u00a0 However, if I *have* to join someone at breakfast, I’ll just grab a coffee and maybe some fruit and bide my time until lunch.<\/p>\n

The exceptions are: shore days and the last day.\u00a0 On shore days, I’ll be up and out playing before the noon lunch bell, so I’ll probably split my calories and have a small breakfast and lunch.\u00a0 The last day, I’ll splurge and eat whatever I want for breakfast, because pancakes are fucking yummy and I’ll be home for a healthy lunch\/dinner.<\/p>\n

Lunch<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Mar16\"<\/p>\n

Salads will be key here… maybe *slightly* smaller though…<\/em><\/p>\n

The great thing about cruise food is that they have tons of vegetable-filled options available at the lunch buffets.\u00a0 There’s a lot of unhealthy stuff as well, but it’s generally easy for me to fill my plate with mostly good stuff. Lunch should be the easiest meal for me to navigate as long as I make good choices and eat reasonable portions.<\/p>\n

My strategy: start with one plate, half full of vegetables or salad, a quarter full of good protein, and then the last quarter can be whatever I want.\u00a0 If I’m still wanting food, I’ll get one more soup-sized item (soup, or something that fits in that bowl).<\/p>\n

If I’m still hungry after that, I need to calm the fuck down, take ~30 minutes to digest and drink a bunch of water\/tea\/coffee\/whatevs, because no matter what the content of those plates were, that’s plenty of food.\u00a0 I’m now eating things only because they’re around, and none of us want that (because you’ll have to listen to me bitch about my weight that much longer).<\/p>\n

If I’m still hungry after that – see the snack section.<\/p>\n

Dinner<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Thurs-6\"<\/p>\n

You don’t pass this up, but maybe you accommodate by eating lighter the rest of the meal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dinner is a little trickier, because with the family, it’s formal dining at a set time (5:30pm), served in courses, all at the breakneck speed of whomever eats the slowest at the large table.\u00a0 It’s going to be a challenge, so I have to be smart and have a plan here, or I can easily consume a full day’s calories in one meal.<\/p>\n

Rolls and butter are served before dinner, and great bread is my fucking kryponite.\u00a0 If they’re amazing, I’ll indulge.\u00a0 If they aren’t, I will attempt to skip it.<\/p>\n

Then, comes appetizers and entrees.\u00a0 If I’m debating between main courses, I’ll always pick the one that sounds like it has the least calories, but I won’t forego something I really want for something I don’t.\u00a0 For appetizers, since lunches are going to be very salad heavy, I’m skipping those in the dining room.\u00a0 I’ll choose either one or two appetizers\/soups, depending on how light it sounds, and what else I’ve consumed that day.<\/p>\n

As for dessert – I’m going to listen to my stomach and my heart.\u00a0 If I’m full – just coffee.\u00a0 If I’m not stuffed, or there’s something I *HAVE* to have, I’ll order it and attempt to eat just enough to get a taste of it.\u00a0 I’ll consider this an opportunity to get better resisting eating things just because it exists.<\/p>\n

Snacks<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"cruise16\"<\/p>\n

Trying to concentrate more on the scenery than the eateries…<\/em><\/p>\n

Here be dragons.\u00a0 Even if you manage to eat sensible meals, there’s always other ways to completely overeat.\u00a0 Room service breakfast.\u00a0 24-hour snack station with sandwiches, cookies, deserts, etc.\u00a0 Burgers and dogs and fries at the pool.\u00a0 Pizza parlor.\u00a0 In between buffet lunch and dinner is a magical thing called the snack buffet and sometimes there’s the midnight chocolate buffet.\u00a0 Dinner buffet after formal dinner.\u00a0 Late night room service.\u00a0 It doesn’t end.<\/p>\n

While these indulgences are all tempting, the fact is, I’m losing weight by giving up snacks at home, so I plan to mostly stick with that on vacation.<\/p>\n

I’m enforcing one and only one rule here.\u00a0 First, I must check in with myself, and ask if I am really and truly hungry right then.\u00a0 If “I could eat” or “that looks yummy” or “that smells good”, then I’ll get myself some coffee, tea, or water.\u00a0 If I am actually going to eat a deck chair, I will get myself a fucking snack and probably eat a little less at the next meal to compensate.<\/p>\n

It sounds counter intuitive on an all inclusive situation like the cruise to bring my own snack options, but I am.\u00a0 I’ve got some mini bags of pretzels, pita chips, and jerky.\u00a0 I may not touch them at all.\u00a0 Hear me out.\u00a0 I think it could save me a bunch of calories when I just want a SMALL snack and don’t need something like a plate at the buffet.<\/p>\n

Alcohol<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Wed-6\"<\/p>\n

Cheers to Belize beer!<\/em><\/p>\n

I would like to strike the balance of enjoying myself and not sabotaging the rest of my efforts.\u00a0 Things I have to remember:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Bar drinks are way more potent than you make at home.\u00a0 Drink them slower and have a water between each.<\/li>\n
  2. Stay away from the fruity drinks and heavy beer (as the rule, the rare exception is another story).\u00a0 Stick to liquor either with soda or on the rocks, wine, or light beer.<\/li>\n
  3. While there will be imbibing, it’s also something I can do just fine when I’m NOT on vacation.\u00a0 So enjoy, but not to the point where I waste a day hungover.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Activity<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"Wed-5\"<\/p>\n

    You’re naturally pretty active on the cruise ship because you walk everywhere, but I’d like to make sure I keep the kind of activity up that I have now:<\/p>\n