Ok, I have been stressing about my impending vacation. Which I know must elevate my glucose level due to elevated cortisol level. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes 5 years ago and my life changed when my doctor threatened to prescribed insulin shots if my bio markers didn’t change. I have been on a Keto Lifestyle for over 6 months, lost 45 lbs and now within 15 lbs of my goal to have a BMI level as normal (which is unheard of! I thought I was going to be an Obese person for the rest of my life).
2 weeks ago I went to see my doctor, my A1C1 went from 6.8 to 5.5, triglycerides from 167 to 57. I am totally off all my meds. I have been doing well, doing 24 hr fasting 2x a week, sometimes doing Intermittent Fasting just to keep switching it up.
I don’t want to come back from my vacation and having blown everything I worked so hard to do.
I know I will indulge during those 2 weeks. My question to you my fellow Keto-ers, how did you overcome the carb cravings and got back to Keto after your vacation and how long did it take?
HELP! I'm going on an NYC vacation for 2 weeks in June. How did you come back to Keto and how long did it take?
Why stress? I’m right outside NYC, and if there were ever a place to find any kind of Keto food you want, it’s there.
I guess I don’t understand why you’re projecting that you’ll fall off the “keto wagon” while on vacation. It is so easy to eat keto wherever you are. In the rare event that nothing keto is available, fast!
Keep to your keto WOE and enjoy your vacation. There is so much more to an enjoyable vacation than food. 
Thanks for your advice. I will treat this as a game plan and see how I can “ketofy” my meals as much as possible.
Do you know where you will be staying yet? We were in NYC last summer and stayed at an AirBnB in Brooklyn so we could control our diets better. We only ate one meal out a day and only one day did we go off our plan - I shared a bagel with my husband one morning and that night we had pasta and dessert in Little Italy. Otherwise, steak salads and meat and vegetable dishes is what we did. I should add, it was a two week trip to the Northeast with only four days being in NYC. I came back 4.7 pounds heavier (I drank a lot!) as I also had a day of indulgence in Boston and had a lobster roll in CT. But otherwise for most of the two weeks I was pretty good about staying with my WOE. It took me six days to take that 4.7 pounds off once I got home.
Allow yourself a day or two to indulge so you don’t feel deprived, but don’t have the mindset of “Well, I had this pizza so now I am off the wagon, what the hell!” and then have it turn into a two week bender
I find Keto is easy on the go, because you can get away eating some fatty meats, cheeses and a lil veggie and you’re good to go.
We will be in the middle of Times Square. My husband grew up in Brooklyn and since this is my first time in NYC he is eager to show me the “True insider” NYC.
All he talks about are Bagels, Cheesecakes, Knishes and Pizzas. Carb,carb and more carb. He is supportive of me and my Keto lifestyle. So yes, we will sharing a lot of these and he is committed to have one meal a day and a lot of walking to work it off. Thanks for your reply. How did you managed to take the weight off? Any fasting regime, or did you just continue eating what you had been eating before the vacation? Did you do anything different?
Thanks, Dena. But if I do gain weight (which I know I will) how do I get back on that Keto horse? Have you ever gone on vacation and gain weight and gone back to Keto? I need advice on what to do when I return. Any experience or tips on how to get back to it.
Vacation does not require many added carbs. I can always find or can make many menu items keto. If anything I will likely increase my beer intake but that’s not the end of the world. Just avoid the mind game of “since I had two beers I might as well a sandwich with fries & chips too”. Ooh the cake looks good too!
It’s all a mental game. Don’t psyche yourself out before you even go. You’re the one in control here, not the fear that your mind is projecting. I know, easier said than done. I fall off wagons all the time. The way I get back on them is just do what I was doing to begin with. Few of us will never fall of the wagon time and time again. We’re going to screw up, or do things that aren’t exactly according to plan. If it happens, the most important thing is get on the damage control as quickly as you can. Brush yourself off, and do what you did at the start. The weight goes on…it comes off…it goes back on…and it comes off again. It’s just the way things are for some of us.
I’d been doing two meals a day at that point with an eating window from noon to 8 PM. So just got right back onto two meals a day with my coffee with heavy cream in the morning and back to HFLC - didn’t have any fruit or alcohol that first week back though. I typically have a couple of servings of low sugar fruit every week and I drink a couple of times a week.
Sounds more like sabotage than support. From what you wrote, this isn’t about whether you gain a few pounds, it is about reversing a disease (diabetes). That’s not something you take vacations from.
This is correct. I always find it easy to stick to low-carb when eating out. You just have to be a little choosy about restaurants and pick your menu choices properly.
Scott, you’re right…I can smell Junior’s (sugar Free) cheesecake already.
Do you have any tip for after the vacation?
How did you shed the vacation pounds and how long did it take you?
Did you do anything different to hasten your return to being fat adapted or be in ketosis?
Hey Ann. Enjoy your time with your husband! Have fun with him showing you the real NYC. It is something he is proud of and reminiscent about and he wants to include you in that! That said, keep yourself protected too. When it comes to all the foods he wants you to taste, do just that, have a taste of his, especially if the serving size is fairly big. Also order yourself some keto food whenever it’s possible as your main meal item so that your tastes of his are a small portion. If you attempt to do this with most meals, you will greatly reduce your intake of carbs. Figure either full bore off the wagon binge or only a 50% or 30% binge. The latter will be easier to recover from and leave you feeling better physically (fewer ramifications) and also better mentally. When you get back, have a hard date, vacation is over this day, back to keto. Go back to your normal keto way and recommit. It might suck. You’ll probably have to go back through carb withdrawal and will probably be cranky. Just commit and let the time go by. You already did it once, you can do it again.
Ann
From your numbers you know keto works for you, so, eat keto when on hols if you can, but if you eat off plan, don’t sweat it. Enjoy your holiday. When you get back, do a fast or 2, and you will be right back with it.
If you do eat off plan, expect some weight gain, this does happen when you eat carbs. Just climb right back on as soon as you get home.
Enjoy your hols!
So far I haven’t had much trouble eating keto when out – burgers wrapped in lettuce, cobb salad (hold the dressing), steak, etc. Might not be as easy in some places, but I bet you can make it work. Heck, I even managed to just have a cup of egg drop soup when my family really wanted to go to the dreaded PF Chang’s. I was pretty close to just not eating at all, but honestly I have missed soup and it was 6 carbs. It is nice to be able to Google nutrition info! Also, it was delicious.
Just take each day at a time and try not to think about having to get through two weeks. Win the day and move on to the next! (And also, congratulations!)
Thank you so much for your reply. Very inspiring.
I am so glad I discovered this forum after listening to 2 Keto Dudes. I will do just that and prepare myself to go HARD on Keto as soon as we arrive back home. I’ve read some keto-ers start an egg fast or fat fast as soon as they come back to shed the extra weight and carbs. I’m interested if any one out other there did this and what their experience was like.
Thank you so much for your words of encouragement.
I am looking forward to experiencing NYC, not only for food but there’s so MUCH more out there for me to see and do. Being in the Keto Lifestyle for 6 months I know how to “to do” Keto and I am excited to flex my Keto Muscles 
When I return back home, I will do just what you recommend.GO HARD!
I felt the same when I went on a 3 week vacation to Australia recently.
However, I ate well most of the time (through choice) made a few calculated deviations (I hate the term cheats), drank a few extra carbs! (Rude not too the wine is so good) and lost 4lbs!
The important thing is to enjoy your holiday and relax.
Thank you for your kind words. Now that I feel so much better with full of pep and energy due to Keto I know I will enjoy this vacation even more. Walk further and be clear headed and not run out of gas at the end of the day. I will take your advice and as soon as I come back home, back to Keto. Make a meal plan that’s ready when I return.