I’ve got holiday booked, in France, with family, for 2 weeks. This sounds wonderful I know, but I know it’s gking to be a food and drink nightmare.
We are seeing friends, socialising and supposed to be having a relaxing wonderful time.
I’m concerned I’m going to spend the whole time fretting over what I’m eating and drinking.
I’m definitely fat adapted now, and sometimes go over 30g carbs without a problem. But how on earth will I manage in a restaurant???
I don’t want to kick myself out of ketosis, but I do want to relax about my eating a little bit. I normally count EVERYTHING.
If I did fall off the wagon, how much damage do you think would be done? I’ve been keto since 2/Jan.
Would it be back to square one when I got home? Or do you think i could get back in pretty quick?
I really need a holiday, and being surrounded by friends and family all eating and drinking will really test my willpower. And it’s not just willpower, sometimes it just might be hard to get anything keto.
Help
Holiday planning
My husband and I went to Italy last year and enjoyed pasta and bread and came back w/o gaining any weight or have any issues getting right back into ketosis.
But it was just us so we had control over what we ate. We didn’t go overboard on the carbs, but enjoyed the wonderful food, did not stress over it and had a great time. We ate cold meat and cheese every morning and didn’t snack and walked a ton so we were burning the carbs we ate for lunch and dinner.
Enjoy your vacation! And time with your friends! I am keto for life so vacations and holidays are just blips.
Dont forget the French have the highest consumption of saturated fat in Europe. They get it when you have cheese for dessert. They serve cream based sauces, plenty of salads, you should be fine.
My mantra on these occasions is to take a little of what you can’t eat and lots of what you can. Then leave what you can’t eat! Works every time.
Explain your eating plan but not in an obsessive way.
And enjoy a glass or two of red wine!
The most important thing is to enjoy.
I just had a 3 week holiday in Australia and lost 4 lbs without trying!
Bon voyage!
Jason Fung reminds us that life is a series of feasts and fasts. Have a great time in France! Eat what is offered and enjoy yourself. Don’t think about macros, think only of how delicious the food and wine is, and how lovely France is.
When you return home you can get back to your WOE and worry about macros, etc. If you put on some weight that is still lingering after you are fat adapted again, toss in some IF to get back to your current weight.
I go to France often, and it is easy to eat at least low carb, but with a little discipline even keto, both in restaurants and at home. Have foie gras or a cheese or seafood salad as a starter, a meat or fish dish as mains, and cheese (or just coffee) for dessert. You might need to scrape off a spoonful of onion marmalade (confit) from the foie gras; not finish all the side veggies if they contain some potatoes; and not touch the bread basket, but it is possible.
It’s another thing if you want to let yourself go and sample all the bakery and patisserie goodies that France has to offer; I don’t know how long it would take you to get back on the horse - that kind of thing has always been a serious problem for me. If keto is going well for you, I recommend you stay on it. It’s not difficult to do in France.
Bon voyage!