Newbie here and going on vacation


(Nathan) #1

Hello everyone. I’m new to the keto diet, 3 weeks in and will be going on vacation next week on a cruise.

I am still learning the keto way so I often have to spend a few minutes every day to plan the meals to make sure they balance and hit the macros. Unfortunately I only have a narrow list of foods that i know are keto approved. While I am getting better and branching out, I fear the vacation will be a disaster in regards to keep those macros even remotely close.

So I am here to ask for any tips on how to hit those macros when I cant track them accurately. Any general vacation tips would also be welcome.

On a related note. In the event I fall out of ketosis during this trip. How does you body respond? Is this a black and white biological state? If I Eleat 100g of carbs a day for a week will it be just as hard to re enter ketosis as if I had eaten 500+


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

The big thing about a ketogenic diet is to keep the carbohydrate under 20 g/day. You could certainly do that while on the cruise, if you wanted to do so: have bacon, eggs, and sausage for breakfast, skipping the toast and potatoes; for lunch and dinner have a main course of meat, poultry, or fish, side dish of broccoli or cauliflower, salad with blue cheese dressing, and fresh berries in cream for dessert. That would actually keep me happy.

But if you want to go wild on carbohydrate, why not go for it? At three weeks in, the worst is that it will set you back for a bit in terms of reaching fat-adaptation, but this is a lifelong way of eating for most of us, and in that context being set back a few weeks is not so bad. You might want to go back to eating carbohydrate a couple of days before the cruise, so that you won’t be caught by digestive upset while on the cruise. Also, you might not find sweet things as pleasant, so just be aware.


(Nathan) #3

I appreciate the advice, cheers.

My gaol is to not go over 20g on carbs. Would not want to toss away work for nothing.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

Well, if you can keep the carbs down, you’ll be fine. That’s 90% of a ketogenic diet, anyway. Enjoy the cruise!


(Carpe salata!) #5

I loved going on a cruise. There is so much food and a lot of it is buffet style so you can select as much keto food as you want. At dinner, don’t take a bread roll, take a few butters though. :smiley: :smiley:

Don’t bother ‘tracking’, use what you have learned and be sensible.

Have fun !


#6

I agree with @Peter - relax and enjoy. I haven’t been on a cruise but I have friends who have who are keto and they say it is pretty easy to stay on track as there is such a wide choice available. It will be tempting I am sure if you are swayed by having carby things in front of you. It sounds like it will be a great test of how you keto in the wild! It will also be a good test to go by feel without tracking. Use what you have learned so far like tho others said and try to tune in to your hunger/satiety signals and eat to those rather than just because you can. Most of all have a fabulous time. x


(Bob M) #7

For me, I try to be relatively strict when vacationing, but I lose scale weight very slowly. This year, we went on vacation, and I was quite good except for pizza (3 times), chocolate, and 2 ice creams. I gained 7 pounds, and it took me somewhere around 3 weeks to get that off, and that includes a 3 day fast and multiple 36 and 22 hour fasts.

What I find is I can’t get enough to eat, even spending $30-40 for an appetizer and a meal. We went to a seafood restaurant, for instance, and I had mussels for an appetizer and fish for my meal. Fish, in particular, is almost always small, you’re lucky to get 6 ounces. I went to our rented house and had a second dinner.

On a cruise that’s buffet-style, though, you might have better options.