I will be leaving for a 2 week cruise with a road trip to and from the port. The cruise is 9 days, and a 2 day road trip on each side of the cruise. I know I will not gibe eating grains, at least to ones I can identify. I plan on staying away from potatoes, but I can’t be for sure about fruits and I don’t think I will be able to get almond milk for my protein shakes.
Any words of wisdom for a 2 week vacation with a cruise
Eating eggs first thing in the morning always seemed to work for me. It seems to set the course for the rest of the day. If you are going to have fruit, have a small amount and do so at the end of the day. Keep in mind that you are on vacation and a piece of fruit here and there is not going to adversely affect you long-term.
It’s a tough one, because much of the allure of taking a cruise is to eat anything and everything laid out. That’s often what folks relish the most (… as opposed to being stuffed onto a boat with countless strangers).
Part of the psychology of a cruise is: Well, I paid for this food so I should eat it. That’s mostly true (about paying for it). If you eat it, you wind up “paying for it” twice
If you’re committed to avoiding cards, then yeah, that’s the key. Avoid the stuff you know is filled with carbs and sugar (which is the majority of what’s on the buffet because it’s cheaper to serve than meat, eggs, fish, poultry, hard cheese, etc.)
The more you stick to those minimal-carb items, the more you’ll avoid the “down the rathole” carb feeling that comes with abandoning a low-carb WOE.
For travel stash, search for various travel-related threads around here for oodles of ideas.
Bon voyage!
I am taking pig skins with me to snack on. I may also take some pecans and walnuts. I know to not eat many nuts but they satisfy me to eat a same amount. Fruit will depend on what fruit and if it is fresh or not, I will stay away from any fruit that is in type of syrup.
I love salads and know to be careful about the dressing.
I am over 5 years on keto. I have done cruises strict keto (early on) and relaxed keto. I didn’t gain weight either way and came back and got on the keto horse after the relaxed version.
I rarely eat breakfast at home but on the cruise I hit the omelette bar and had some bacon in the morning.
I had very small portions of potatoes, no bread, no sugar.
Enjoy your cruise!!!
Pig skins, jerky, beef sticks, hard cheese, boiled eggs, nuts in moderation, salads … these all travel well. Depends of course on how important keto is to you. Since you don’t have blood glucose issues (per your profile) but have lost 30 lbs, I’m assuming that you aren’t facing critical health issues?
If not, then @Janie’s approach isn’t bad advice at all. If you’ve got more serious health issues that keto was intended to resolve, that’s a different story.
For me personally (lacking any serious health issues), I avoid the carbs simply because I feel so good without them. But that’s a personal decision for each of us to make given our own context.
No my worse issue is a mildly high BP issue, I am off all but a very low dose of a BP prescription. At this time my weight loss is on hold as I am at a well known plateau to me. I am at the low end of what I weighed for my Navy years. I can easily be at the weight for a half a year or more. But with my low carb, staying below 50 total carbs I am trimming down. And after the cruise the weather here will such I can get back on the trails at least a few days a week. I have an exercise bike but I don’t push myself on it like I do on the trails around here. My doctor said I needed to get 180, I am not going for a weight goal, I am just wanting to trim down and let my body find the weight range it is comfortable with.
The last time we were on a cruise (which hopefully was truly our last!) my wife and I found a well-stocked exercise room overlooking the bow of the boat with lovely views - motivating us to run our way ashore even faster.
Perhaps you’ll be lucky enough to find the same kind of facilities on your cruise.
You can probably eat a lot of meat and avoid the breads, grains, and starches. So for breakfast, bacon, sausage, and eggs. No toast, home fries, pancakes, or cereal. For lunch, cold cuts or a meat entree with no bread or potatoes. Supper the same. Stay away from the dessert table, unless they have berries and whipped cream. And you can certainly use whole milk or even heavy cream for your shake, can’t you? Or simply do without the shake for the duration?
If you are afraid that you can’t go to the dining room without putting carbs on your plate and wolfing them down, then you could bring lots of keto snacks along, such as pre-cooked bacon, pepperoni, prosciutto, and pork rinds, and subsist on those.
Alternatively you could just pig out on carbs and blow your blood sugar and insulin sky-high. But would you be able to return to a ketogenic diet afterward? That is a serious question, which only you can answer.
I’d stick to the clean protein items and eat a lot of them - eggs, beef, steak, seafood, bacon, sausage, deviled eggs, some cheese, etc. I’ve never been on a cruise but I hear you can ask for a second portion of a protein. If that’s the case, I’d have two steaks (until I was satisfied), two fish, lots of shrimp, lobster tails in butter. I’d also ask them not to bring the sides, if a sit-down dinner where you can’t choose your items. I’d also request heavy cream for your coffee or to take some back to your room.
Have fun!
Hi Chuck. Obviously it’s a vacation and you want to enjoy it, not be stressed about food choices, I get that. If I was paying for a cruise I would certainly expect to be served the foods I wanted aka full fat dairy, meat and eggs, I can’t imagine they wouldn’t have those options available, and would only be serving up the cheaper carb-laden foods. Now if you’re off a mind to enjoy on your cruice a variety of foods, that’s a different matter, and it’s then a matter of choosing lesser evils, so fruit instead of cake, and some starchy vegetables instead of bread, and having a stash of keto friendly snacks to hand will also be useful. Enjoy your cruice🙂
Stick with fresh berries, other fruits’ carbs add up quickly. Eggs, meat, salad should be readily available. Be very careful with the salad dressings, most will be made from bad oils. You might want to take your own for the road trip and the cruise, don’t forget some vinegar as well.
Relax and enjoy the other amenities of a cruise, like the gym, yoga classes, library, pools, etc. Bon Voyage.
Yes, I agree with collaroygal, about the berries. Too much of the sweeter fruits, and then you have the potential problem of fructose overload.
We found it easier to eat dinner on the Lido deck instrad of the dining room because there were lots of keto-friendly choices and not limited to the evening’s menu. And most of the time they had the same fare on the Lido deck as the dining room but with so much more in addition.
Meats, cheeses, salads, etc. We have been on 2 cruises since keto and I lost weight on both of them - not a lot, maybe 5 lbs - but didn’t gain. But we never were about pigging out (even before keto) and all about exploring the ports of call with LOTS of walking! We also avoided the crowded elevators and took the stairs.
This last cruise I was 8 weeks out from total knee replacement so we took the elevator some when my knee became sore (and hated it). More going down than up as going downstairs hurt my knee more.
Just focus on fiber instead. Avoid food with added sugar. Don’t watch Titanic. I’ve never been on a cruise, so this is just guesswork.
I have an unpopular view that the body needs a break from protein, so maybe you could consider that route temporarily.
nowadays if you ask you probably can get almond milk, it is out there alot now
plus a cruise is it mostly buffet style? if yes then you can eat all ya see and know you do well on and have at it and enjoy this trip!!!
I truly think you will be fine as long as you hold your keto menu that works for ya. But again, a cruise, omgosh the food is abundant, just hold your keto course and you should floruish on this trip!
I think with so much food around we focus on it, nah, you eat good keto as it suits you and then put all that focus onto the darn great time you are gonna have on that cruise and all that is offered that ain’t food A ton of fun coming for ya!
fun times, a cruise vacay!!! lucky you!!