On vacation: Following every rule, breaking every rule

#1

A year-long Keto/extended faster here. Lost 70 pounds.

Day One of long, two-week vacation from La. To L.A.

Cooked up 3 pounds of bacon, made more than a dozen ham/cheese roll ups, a dozen boiled eggs, good berries, etc etc.

Hit the road at 6 a.m. westbound didn’t eat at all for 6 hours so had a solid 18-hour IF under my belt. Then we got to a Buc-ees near Houston and the bottom dropped out. Ice cream bar, sweet coffee, fudge sample. Then on to Fredericksburg — another fudge sample, chips and sample jellies and jams.

Yummy for sure. And just as sure, one carby thing led to another carby thing or two. We are for sure recovering sugar addicts.

I’m not going to pretend that I’m going to get back on Keto tomorrow. Will try but vacation just seems to have a way of doing us in. Right?

So, I’m going to try to minimize the damage now that the excitement is wearing off. Enjoy but be sensible is all I can manage right now.

Two weeks from now? At home. Well, of course, it will be KCKO.

Feast and famine, eh?

(Doug) #2

Much the same here, Ben. Not going out of my way to eat carbohydrates, but not really worrying about anything either. My wife’s a teacher and this is her Spring Break week. That Big Easy city in your home state has no lack of stuff to eat and drink.

I figure increased metabolic flexibility does me some good. Yeah, maybe for the first day anyway. :wink:

(Jessica) #3

This is my philosophy on vacation. Enjoy it. You’ve prepped your body for this flexibility and you know what to do when you get home. Don’t go completely nuts but enjoy the adventure!

(Scott) #4

I don’t know about this working for me. On vacation I still don’t eat fries, chips, breads, root vegetables and pasta. I do however tend to stop at every Tap Room I can find. I also may have a bloody mary at breakfast too. I guess I just like different carbs then @GentleBen
Enjoy!

#5

Carbing it up as I expected but not as bad as it could be. Eating a needless but good breakfast and fasting several hours before eating a small ice cream cone and with a bit of bacon in between as a road snack.

But tonight I had my first Whopper and fries in more than 7 months. We had walked all of Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and was famished.

Also drove six hours and that can sap you pretty quick as well.

#6

Day 11 of cross country vacation. Enjoying my carbs but trying to work in some intermittent fasting of 14 hours. But still eating way too many sweets, of course.

Will probably gain 10 pounds over the 15 days. But don’t care because I know I can return to Keto and Extended fasting. My year of low carb taught me a lot. (But it won’t be easy,I know.)

Nice thing is that all my new clothes are still fitting just fine. I see and feel a lot of water weight. Belly is kinda getting a little bigger again but no other gains noticed elsewhere. I actually expected worse.

Trip ends on Tuesday then I will ease back into Keto through Easter Sunday. Then it’s back to what I know is best for me.

#7

@RobC
This vacation is confirming so many observations offered on this site. I had been on low carb/Keto/fasting for so long I had forgotten many of these. But they have all come back to me quickly.

— Eating high carb leaves you famished only a couple of hours later, leading to more carbs.
— sweets beget sweets. Refined sugar is so very addictive. I can’t eat only a little over a days time. I want more.
— driving long distances while snacking on high carbs leads to a quicker loss of stamina which requires yet more carbs.
— high carb eating does not improve your mood or your spousal tolerance.
— sleep has been easier to attain but not as relaxing.
— coupled with daily long drives, high carb eating leads to water retention in legs and wrist/hands — sometimes accompanied by mild tingling/numbness.

Just a few days remaining on this trip and I look forward to returning to my Keto/fasting WOE.

(Robert C) #8

HA!

When you’re young, it’s too much partying and then looking forward to sleeping in your own bed.
Later, non-Keto is too my partying.

I bet this confirmation changes the way you plan the next vacation!

#9

@RobC

Headed home to Baton Rouge. Day 15 and final leg — from Dallas to BR. Just had my last waffle for the year! Lol

Looked forward to eating on vacation and now can’t wait to get back to Keto and then fasting in a week or so.

Feeling like the typical vacation 10-pound weight gain. We’ll see soon.

And, yes, this will probably be my last cross-country trek. Next time I will fly and rent a car. Extensive driving opens you up to way too many carb binging situations. Meal and snack planning falls aside quickly after second day.

(traci simpson) #10

Hey I’m about 20 min from Fredericksburg!

(Scott) #11

I want a scale update and a how long it takes to recover update. Glad you had fun!

(Robert C) #12

Me too!

(Ethan) #13

I’ve moved on from any thoughts or desires of cheating since I restarted tis way of life in July 2017. I’ve had zero cheats since then. I have had mistakes where I ate something that had unadvertised or non-obvious carbs. It all depends on your goal. This is the only way I can live happy, healthy, and long; so why would I cheat? It’s just not something I consider.

#14

I’ll give y’all a scale reading as soon as I get a new one. My older glass top scale was shattered when I got home. Really. Seriously. I guess it missed me. Of course, my daughter had no idea how it happened.

Any recommendations for a new digital scale?

By the way, I finally got home this afternoon after 15 days so tonight is the last meal with serious carbs in it. Tomorrow I cut back drastically in anticipation of Easter Weekend. Then Monday it will be time to get serious with a new fast. Will keep y’all posted on my post-vacation recovery.

(Jessica) #15

I was reading scale reviews a while back. There was one on Amazon that several people reported spontaneously shattered. Can’t remember which one. Weird!

(Scott) #16

It’s a sign…that she had a crazy party maybe.

I really like my Aria scale by FitBit. It logs my weight and body fat so I can go back years to see the trends. People alway poor mouth the body fat % but I can say it goes up when I gain and down when I shed weight. There are probably many brands out there so do some checking to see what works in your ecosystem.

#17

@jessOTR
Wow. Just read a review with a photo on Amazon about an EatSmart scale that “exploded” like mine did. Yep. An EatSmart like mine.

Did not buy another one like it.

#18

@jessOTR
I purchased an Arboleaf brand through Amazon but it might have a short lifespan because it’s readings are erratic and way too high. Even put two 10-pound dumbbells on it and got readings of 10.2 and 10.4. Don’t know if it’s the weights or the scale.

Also weighed me 6 pounds heavier than my old analog scale. The Arboleaf cost $40. Might just be a matter of getting what you pay for.

At least my exploding EatSmart scale was accurate and consistent.

(traci simpson) #19

Heading to the beach for the weekend and I’m planning my snacks. I have for the road coffee which should sustain me half the trip (7 hours). I’m thinking about making some keto pork rind chicken wings (they travel well) a couple boiled eggs, maybe some beef sticks. I’m gonna be hungry because they are only feeding us dinner which is the usual poultry or beef main course and some green salad or veggie but tons of desserts which is gonna be tough for me to avoid.

#20

Keep in mind that the coffee might actually stimulate your appetite … though it is said coffee can curb your appetite. Kind of roulette there.

Don’t overdo the boiled eggs or you’ll have a ton left over.

Beef sticks are great. Just pick the ones with least carbs. But load up on them. They’re good and satisfying.

I’d add breath mints like cinnamon Altoids or Breathsavers. Both very low carb.

And if I’m going to have chicken wings, I’m going to have the real thing from a fast-food place. Just don’t go hog wild. It’s vacation. Enjoy.