How to have a holiday without putting on weight

Those of you that know me will know that cruises are my ultimate dream holiday. To me there is nothing that says holiday like a week on a cruise ship. Think sunbaking, white sand, crystal clear water, palm trees, coconuts, tropical islands and more.

Pacific Dawn

Isle of Pines, one of the most beautiful islands I have ever come across

I've gotta give a big shout out to P&O Cruises. (No one was paid for that shout out, mind you). 

I've now been on 3 P&O Cruises, and I'd jump on board a hundred more if I could. The thing that I love most about cruises is the fact that you don't have to worry about anything from the moment you board the ship. Where you are are going, how you're going to get there, what you're going to eat... these are all taken care of. You are out of mobile phone reception most of the time as well, so that means no emails on your blackberry, no facebook, no tweeting, nothing. You are forced to have a real holiday. And it starts the moment you get on board, with a sailaway cocktail :)

It was quite funny when my girlfriends and I sat down for our first ever meal on the ship. One of the of the first things that was uttered was, "Jemma don't judge me on what I eat this week!!" 

Of course being a dietitian I am used to this, as people think that I judge them by what they eat all the time. When I tell them that I really don't, they are so suprised. See my theory is this: In my personal life, I don't give out nutrition advice unless someone asks me. To me there is nothing worse than when you are on a holiday (or otherwise) and someone is in your ear saying, "Should you really be eating that??". 

I told my friends that they didn't have to worry about what they ate. Obviously as I generally tend to practice what I preach I didn't indulge quite as much. But neverless we were on a holiday and holidays are about having fun and enjoying the amazing food that there is to offer. 

Does that mean I'm giving you permission to pig out on your next holiday? Absolutely not. Enjoying & savouring food is quite different to pigging out. Read on to find out more.

Weight maintenance and holidays... an oxymoron?

Most people would say that the words 'holiday' and 'weight' tend to form sentences with the word 'gain', not 'maintain'. Certainly holidays can be a challenging time when you are watching your weight. There are so many factors that are out of your control, such as what will be offered on the menu that night, or what options for physical activity you have available to you. Rest assured, my key message for you today is that it is possible to maintain your weight on holidays. And there are plenty of ways that you can maintain control. Lots of people place healthy eating in the too hard basket when they go on a holiday, but it's actually not that hard at all.

Failing to plan = planning to fail

Have a plan before you step onto the ship. The main key to successful holiday weight maintence is to know your limits before you are faced with challenging situations. For example, if you know that every night on the cruise there is going to be 3 amazing desserts offered to you on a silver platter, before you step onto that boat, decide on whether you will indulge in a dessert each day, or whether you really don't need to eat dessert every day and maybe you'll have it once or twice over the week when your favourite dessert such as creme brulee pops up on the menu. Or maybe seeing as fruit is one of the options you'll stick to fruit on most days.

By setting your limits and thinking about what challenging situations may arise, you'll know what your plan of attack is when you're faced with them. Not having a plan is a recipe for disaster, as peer pressure and 'living in the moment' can often lead to poor decisions being made.

Holidaying is not an excuse to get on it

My number 2 rule is to keep in mind that going on holidays is not an excuse to eat more or give up all of your healthy eating habits. 

It can be so so so easy to put on weight. Your body is designed this way as it looks at putting on weight as having 'extra baggage' just in case it gets thrown into starvation mode. It's for this reason that it's so easy to gain weight and so hard to lose it. So if you go on holidays and let all your hard work go, chances are you'll put on a lot more weight than you think, even in such small periods of time. And then the time that it will take to lose that weight again will probably be several times what it took to put it on.

Don't blame the food

In today’s day and age, 9 times out of 10 there will always be healthy options available. They sometimes may not be as easily accessible, and it may take longer to find them, but rest assured they will be there. Take the cruise for example. Every day we had the opportunity to eat from an a la carte style menu or buffet for 3 meals a day. The buffet was massive. And although there were a lot of not so healthy foods in the buffet, there was always plenty of salad, vegetables and lean meats available. I think I ate enough fish to meet my omega 3 requirement for the next 6 months. 

We often dined in the a la carte restaurant for dinner, where every night we were offered bread with dips, soups, salads, entrees, mains, desserts, after dinner treats, etc. But did we have to eat every course? No. There were many days that I didn't have a bread roll and butter, simply because I didn't need it. You could also order fruit as a dessert every day if you wished to. Generally the mains were a protein based dish with vegetables, and you could order sides of vegetables as well. So the key message here is that just because you may be dining in a buffet or a la carte restaurant with so many options available, you don't have to eat the restaurant out. Choose some meals that you really enjoy, and stick to the same principles as you would at home. For example, eating plenty of vegetables with your main meal, and if you don't eat dessert at home, you don't need to eat it every day on holidays just because it's there. 

Alcohol can sometimes be like dining with the devil

At 29kJ/gram, alcohol is the second highest 'nutrient' compared to fat when it comes to its yield of kilojoules per gram. This means that it's very easy to put on weight if you drink a lot of it.

Now although I would never advise abstinence on a holiday, the key is to watch how much you drink, and what actually is mixed into that drink that you order.

If you follow my blogs you will know how anti-soft drink I am. Try to avoid drinks that contain soft drink, for example scotch and coke or alcopops. Scotch on the rocks or scotch and soda will contain much less calories and than scotch mixed with soft drink.

The other misconception is that fruit juice based drinks are less fattening than soft drink based drinks. Although fruit juice is a healthier alternative, when you compare calories there is very little difference. The key is to watch how much you drink as it's very easy to consume a lot of kilojoules when you add mixers.

Go for clear cocktails over creamy ones

When it comes to cocktails, go for the clearer kind over creamy ones. Creamy cocktails will generally contain full fat milk, coconut milk, cream or coconut cream. These are high in the saturated artery clogging fat that is linked with heart disease. And as fat yields 37kJ/gram, creamy cocktails are often higher in calories than other cocktails. 

And if you're looking for a drink that will give you less of a hangover the next day, choose clearer drinks (eg. white wine, vodka) over coloured drinks (eg. red wine, bundy rum). Pace yourself and stay hydrated by having a non-alcoholic beverage between every drink, or as I like to say, a water between every wine. The current governement recommendation for alcohol is 2 standard drinks a day and 2 alcohol free days a week.

Start the day off well and the rest of the day will follow 

Enjoying a healthy breakfast will help you to continue that trend throughout the day. Go for a higher fibre breakfast choice, such as muesli or Weet-Bix with low fat milk. If you can only see one type of milk in a jug, chances are it's full cream. Always ask if they have low fat or soy milk available, as they often do but sometimes only provide it on request.

I combined the toasted muesli and All-Bran to make a yummy cereal

No cereal options available? It doesn't mean that you have to forfeit a healthy breakfast. Hot breakfasts can be just as good for you. Go for eggs (boiled, poached or scrambled) and plenty of vegetables, such as spinach, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes or baked beans. Make sure you have some low GI toast such as multigrain or sourdough to fuel your body with plenty of energy for the day. Avoid the fried foods like bacon, hash browns and sausages, and avoid the pastries section at all costs.

Good choice, plenty of vegetables

Poor choice, pastries are high in saturated and trans fat and overall high in calories

Be active in as many ways as you can

Now although our cruise ship had a jogging track and a gym, I'll be honest and say that I never actually used them. What I did do however (dragging the girls with me at times) was walk the stairs every day. And all of these steps add up. Don't feel that you have to take on a serious exercise routine when you are on holidays, but being active in as many ways as you can really does count and will help you burn off some of those unwanted calories.

Jogging track at sunset

Taking the stairs every day meant we were out of breath by the time we reached the deck

Be realistic, have a treat once in a while

Finally, don’t overly restrict yourself. Holidays are about enjoyment and engaging in activities with friends and family, and restricting yourself to the extreme will only result in feelings of isolation and chances are you’ll give in to your favourite foods anyway. Enjoy a treat or two over the course of your holiday, just not every day. 

Pina coladas are one of my favourite cocktails, so instead of having one of these every day I choose a special day to enjoy one, and let me add, it was in the spa, looking out into the ocean with the wind in our hair. I also bought the girls one so that we could all enjoy the moment together.

Summing up...

Weight maintenance on holidays can be challenging but it is possible. Make a plan and stick to your boundaries. Indulge in a treat or two over your holiday, and don't feel guilty about doing so! I still cherish that moment when I was sitting in the spa, drinking a pina colada and looking out into the ocean. I remember saying to my girlfriends, "Now this, is the life". That memory has not faded and gets me through tough days at work. Why was it so special? Apart from being in such amazing surroundings and company, I treated myself to something that I did not allow myself to have every day.

With holidays comes lots of eating and drinking, and often we can get lost in the moment if we don't have a plan. Although it might seem like a good idea at the time, I'd hate for you to return from your holidays a few kilos heavier and grabbing at your belling wondering where that roll came from. Remember that it is so much easier to put weight on than it is to burn it off, so don't forget how hard you've worked to get where you are.

And finally, get rid of the misconception that having a good time = eating as much bad food as you can. Pigging out on buffets and eating every course of a la carte will leave you feeling sluggish, bloated and uncomfortable, let alone the feelings of guilt that will start flooding in. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meat, low fat dairy and low GI carbs. Enjoy your food, savour the moments and create some amazing memories!

Going on holidays but not on a cruise? Check out part 2 of my series - How to have a holiday without putting on weight: Asia

Thank you P&O

The food photos in this blog were taken by myself on a P&O Cruise in January 2011. This is an true reflection of the amazing dishes on offer, although the photos do not reflect the excellent service and friendly staff that served our meals and poured our drinks. Thank you to P&O for an experience of a lifetime.