Post Vacation Huge Gain

On April 2 I weighed myself in at 229 right before leaving on a two week vacation.

Vacation = cruise, eating drinkign nad being merry, activity level for a vacation was above average with scuba nad snorkeling and some hiking nad lots of walking on ship and one trip to gym on ship ... but no where CLOSE to what I do routinely

I could see nad feel the weight gained so decided not not weigh myself until about 2 weeks or so after vacation so I didn't mentally destroy myself from looking at hte scale results

Week after vacation = normal routine with food nad exercise   I got my annual physical and found out that my thyroid is acting up again and my synthroid dosage was increased to 200 mcg from 175

The following week a friend was intown for hte entire week - stayed on track failrly well, not perfect by any menas -  while I ate a little more calories nad drank, I was also with my personal trainer 3 times that week and went to see Dave MAtthews twice which means about a total of 5 hours of concert dancing

This past week - back to routine

I got on the scale yesterday for the first time, so it'd been over a month since the 229 weigh in

I know I have lost weight since vacation because I can see nad feel the loss

Yesterday morning the scale returned and INSANE number - 242

WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED????

I know darn well I gained on vacation and I deserved to gain and I planned to gain becuase I truly wanted to enjoy life, eat drink and merriment.

I am so discouraged and frustrated nad disappointed and defeated.

This is the ame hting I weighed in like early February - and I pay a bundle for personal training nad nutrition consultation and feel like I wanted 3 months of work

Thoughts?

Advice?

Any similar stories out there?

I mean seriously, as of yesterday I was up 13 pounds since hte beginning of April and know I lost around 5 pounds or so since being back from vacation - is it REALLY possible to gain so much weight so fast??????

Well, I would start by giving myself a pat on the back for returning to CC.  Part of how I got myself into the trouble I am in now (severely overweight) is by not dealing with my lifestyle for 25 years.  So, at least you are back paying attention after a few weeks, and that has to be better than being out of control or in denial.

That said, I would try to ask myself what I could learn from the past 5 weeks that will prevent it from happening again.  Some proposed questions for you (it is always easier to advise others than to advise oneself):

1. Can I plan vacations that will be fun and satisfying and allow me to be on a weight maintenance program?  Maybe a cruise is not the best choice for next year.
2. When I am on vacation, what "special treat" can I plan for that I will really enjoy, but will keep me on maintenance rather than gaining? 
3. When should I start my routine weigh-in after the vacation?  I think it is better to know if there was damage and nip it in the bud earlier rather than later, so I personally only wait 2 days beyond my normal weigh-in of Monday to allow the salt to dissipate from my system.  It looks to me as if you waited 3 weeks to weigh-in after the vacation, I think that is too long.  For me, weighing in is part of the whole lifestyle, and critical to evaluating my eating/exercise program.

I believe that no effort is wasted as long as I learn from my failures (and successes, too).  Now, as Ginger (and our president) says "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again"!

Hi - I read your post and understand completely...here is some just plain Dave advice...no science...no mumbo-jumbo study....ok you know you gained so now its the "so what test":

1.  "So what" did I learn from this?

2. "So what" am I going to do about it?

3.  "So what" can I do about it in the future to either eliminate it or prevent it in the future?

My small advice is do the "so what" test and learn from this...remember it took you years to where you are and so results should be slow and steady to get back.

I'm kind of in the same boat, except that my eating wasn't "merriment" it was stress.  I'm in exams right now and have been studying like a fiend, saying that it's the most important thing right now, which is true.

True until I get on the scale and it reads +10lbs...  ARGH.  I could tell I was gaining, but still.

Sorry for injecting my personal drama, but I had to commiserate.  A month and a half of work is GONE right before summer too.   :(

I'm sure you know the routine by now - learn from it, put it behind you and get back on the programme. I think dkenworthy is right to highlight vacation choice. Cruises are the worst of all worlds for us. Just too much food all day and too little real activity. Maybe next time go for an activity holiday or just get the focus away from food and drink. This Easter I had a two week beach holiday and ate and drank pretty well but chose the most remote beach from the resort - a good 45 minutes walk over sand dunes. It worked! I had gained just one pound when I got home. Result.

Don't be downhearted. The summer is coming. Get with the programme - you know it works!

Thank you, nancybehrend, for sharing your story.  I went on a long weekend trip, then had my birthday this week, and didn't weigh myself until today hoping I could repair some damage before facing the music.

Well, the tune was a sorry one:  I gained 3.9 pounds in two weeks.  I can hear you saying "I WISH I had only gained 4 pounds!" but the principle is the same - we can really put on the pounds when we want to!  I don't know about you, but some of my off-plan eating wasn't even any fun at the time, I was just stuffing it in because I could.  And I was discouraged because, like you, I was far more active than I ever have been on vacations and at home, and yet, there's the weight gain.

Remember, some of it is water and will shed fast with a return to the discipline of logging calories and exercise.

I love all the great suggestions others have offered you, and I'm going to use them myself because in a week I'm going away for a 12 day trip with my father to small-town Arkansas, where my people believe "if it ain't fried, it ain't food."  These people either survive into their 90's no matter what they eat, or die early of heart disease with fat greasy smiles on their faces.

I won't be anywhere near a wired universe, so taking my laptop and sticking with CC is out of the question.  Some CC friends have suggested a hand-written journal (!!!) and that's what I'm going to do to keep myself conscious and within maintenance calories.  I can do 2000 calories a day - it's the 3000, 4000, 5000 calorie days that do me in.  Naturally - our bodies know the math even if we want to ignore it.

I share your discouragement, nancy, but I remind myself "What choice do I have?"  I like dave98z3's "so what test".  I can either get back on the wagon and learn what I need to learn in order to strengthen my healthy habits.  Or I can continue to eat and gain and be miserable.  I choose health and happiness today. 

Dear Nancy- It is hard to not give in to the peer pressure, temptations etc. and if that is  what surrounds you on a cruise (I have never been) you need alternatives. Were you able to go ashore and walk a lot? Did you keep your food log and/or journal? Get the feelings out on paper. Don't suppress them with food. Pamper yourself in other ways.

Eating out is never easy. You have no idea what the chef did with butter, salt etc. Funny that the "fast food" places now have nutrition info posted but the "good" restaurants don't. I just started CC in April and have not yet been challenged by a real restaurant so I am not sure what I will do unless I get to choose the place. What do other folks do? Have you ever asked for a "doggie" bag at the start of the meal and put half the portion aside for the next day? Theory- If it is not one the table you can not eat it. Ever asked for a child's portion? I don't know why restaurants make it hard.