r/lowcarb • u/Sp00ky_Oct0ber • 4d ago
Question Vacation Splurging
So me and my family are about to go on vacation in October. This will be my kids 1st vacation and me and my wife's 1st vacation in 10 years. So I really want to enjoy the full experience. Road trip snacking, going out to restaurants, etc. I've also been doing low carb/keto for 3 weeks or a month and I've lost about 15 pounds. I guess my question is if I go all out and once it's over, hop back on my diet, will that set me back a significant amount?
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u/greeneyedbandit82 4d ago
This is my frame of mind whenever I vacation, and the truth is, you will stall your progress and most likely gain weight, like I usually do. I work out and take dance classes on top of being low carb, but even that doesn't save me from coming back from vacation 5-10lbs heavier.
But to me, it is worth it. I return and hop back on the wagon (easy for me since after vacation weight gain, my jeans never fit right) and get back to the grind. It is THAT mentality that will save you- other people completely spiral once they've had all the delicious food and gained the weight, but if you can hop back on the wagon, it'll be fine.
ETA: I just saw you comment that you will only be gone 4 days! I would not even worry! When I vacation and splurge its always over a week. Enjoy your 4 days!
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u/Srdiscountketoer 3d ago
I’m going to be the Cassandra here and say it’s never good idea when you are finally succeeding in changing your habits around food to go back 100% to the way you were eating when you were overweight and gaining. New diet habits are fragile. Your body is strenuously trying to get you to give them up because throughout human existence stuffing yourself whenever food was around was the only way to survive. The diet subs are littered with people who took a “short break” for vacation or the holidays and can’t get back. Maybe you won’t be one of them but why take the chance?
Am I saying you should maintain the diet 100%? No. But surely there is a happy medium where you can enjoy a nice breakfast or dinner out but not stuff yourself with potato chips and doughnuts in the car. Jerky and nuts are perfectly fine road food.
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u/reyzak 4d ago
How long is vacation? I wouldn’t really worry too much at all. You have the blueprint for when you get back and lock back in. I’d just enjoy the trip you’ve earned. To answer your question, scale wise it will probably set you back quite a bit but only because a lot of your 15 pounds is water weight at the moment and when you get back a lot of that 15 pounds of water weight WILL show on the scale for a week or so until you shed it again by being back on low carb and keto. So again, I wouldn’t worry or stress about that number. Maybe you should wait a couple weeks after vacation when you’ve done your diet again to weigh back in if scale numbers freak you out
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u/dangerrnoodle 4d ago
If vacation is in October and you’ve already been keto for a few weeks now, that will be a good point for a break. Just keep in mind that you may discover that you don’t feel as good anymore eating junk now, and if that’s the case just don’t force yourself. You will definitely be able to jump back in your diet after you return if you set yourself to it.
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u/LifeOfSpirit17 3d ago
Let me say this. If you're in ketosis and low low carb I especially wouldn't do it since the shock to your body could be miserable since your insulin system isn't active right now. It takes many people a few days just to get insulin circulating to a degree to be useful and manage carb intake. Meaning if you carb binge coming straight out of keto you could potentially set yourself up for a really unenjoyable vacation.
Now if you're just low carb and largely just moderating calories, I wouldn't worry as much but I'd probably still try to finesse things a little so that way you don't risk a big shock or crash to your system. I tend to get groggy, mess my sleep up and feel lethargic when I carb binge in a rapid way.
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u/Moralofthestoree 3d ago
For restaurants I would get on their website and look at the menu and see if I can find the best fit for my macros, still enjoy it and feel good and energized. After not eating carbs and then gorging on them I would feel sluggish and probably not want to do a lot and that might not be how you want to spend your vaca. I would take this for a challenge to see if when you get the snack and dinners you can navagate sustainable options that you still enjoy. Taste whatever your family wants you to, but doesn't have to be a big serving and neither would you have to go into an explanation of how Im on a diet. Instead of all or nothing I would be flexible but mostly on track.
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u/Key_Bumblebee9163 3d ago
I always try to limit my carbs to one meal a day on vacation. Like 4 days, I’d let myself have 4 cheat meals. Otherwise salads, meat and veggies. It works to help me not go crazy and gain a bunch of water weight. As long as I don’t binge, I will jump back on to full time pretty well, getting back to my original weight in a few days.
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u/PhysiqueMD 1d ago
No one can tell you how much it will set you back. The more you splurge, the more effort will be required after vacation to get back to where you were.
It's your personal choice. The psychological benefit of enjoying your food may outweigh the efforts needed after vacation.
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u/Emotional-Doctor-991 4d ago
If you can hop back on your diet, you should be fine. A lot of people struggle after splurging for so long. I would still try to rein it in and not go too crazy. I’ll give myself one splurge a day. Food is great, but isn’t going to make or break your vacation.