Vacation & Your Diet

Summer is just weeks away and many people are gearing up for summer vacation! Whether you go all out and travel, go to the next town over or do a stay-cation, the purpose is the same: to relax and create memories with your loved ones. So where does your diet fit into this?

What I tell people is that it is truly an individual and personal decision whether or not you should try to stick to your diet on vacation. You really have to consider and weigh out the pros and cons and choose which one you want to do.

Will you be able to relax, have fun and enjoy this short amount of time that you have to the fullest if you have to say no to the ice cream shops on the beach and order a salad when everyone is going out for burgers? I can't answer that for you, and there is no right or wrong choice. Some people would feel deprived if they had to sit and watch their family enjoy big ice cream cones, and others would be perfectly ok with it.

Is it going to be hard to track your foods or have access to healthy options? Will you be at a place that is full of restaurants and fast food (think theme parks) where healthy options are scarce or will you be somewhere that you will have more freedom and be able to even cook some meals yourself (think renting a beach house or cabin).

Is it going to be stressful tracking your food while exploring a city or will the lack of control and not tracking create anxiety for you?

Do you have a competition or a bet coming up that you have to be a certain body weight or body fat percent by? Or is your goal self set and flexible?

These are all things to ask yourself if you are having a hard time choosing what to do on vacation. My personal thought is:
Vacation is a really special time and for most families, it is not often that you take them. If you don't have a bikini competition or challenge deadline coming up, then I always vote to take the time off of your diet and enjoy these days food-worry free. Memories and fun for me, are worth more than losing my 1-2 pounds that week.

Keep in mind when you go that you have freedom, but don't go crazy and have 5 cheeseburgers and 3 dole whips a day. Also that you will typically see a rise in the scale when you return but if you get back on your plan right away, drink your water and be strict, any extra you gained can typically come off in a week because unless you do go absolutely crazy- it will be water retention.

Enjoy your vacations! Enjoy your family and friends and food! We want weight loss and we want our bodies to change but lets remember what really matters in the big picture.

Leave a Comment Dining out, healthy eating, vacation, weight loss

Starvation Mode & Dieting

I am sure we've all heard the theory of starvation mode, no? If not, basically it is when people think/assume that if they don't eat enough their body will go into "starvation mode" and you won't lose weight because your body thinks it's starving and needs to hold on to everything.

What does this actually even mean? Is it real?

Yes and No. It is named wrong, because what happens during "starvation" mode is not your body starving. If you truly do not eat enough your body will lose and you will starve to death, so that portion is incorrect.

What actually happens is that while dieting (eating in a significant caloric deficit) everything slows down, including your NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis: the amount of energy you use living and doing your day to day routine). Your body slows everything down in order to maintain homeostasis.  Typically, the stress of dieting and hunger will increase the cortisol levels in your body which will cause muscle loss and water retention...which will mask fat loss.

Sometimes there are people who are not losing weight despite their strict food intake on very low calories and exercise.  The reason for this is that the very low calorie intake is actually their current maintenance level (the amount you need to eat to maintain your weight) because of the decrease of their NEAT and the INCREASE of their cortisol levels. When you increase your calories you are less stressed (eating in a caloric deficit is a stressor on your body) and you have more energy. You will be able to do more and have more energy which will raise your NEAT and restore some of your cortisol levels and you will lose again. This is why some people can lose weight "eating more" than they previously were.

Here is an example of this situation I found from a nutrition coach group I am in:


Molly is eating 1400 cals a day. She is tired and not as active, her NEAT is decreased which means her total daily energy expenditure is low. She is no longer losing weight at this. 

Her coach bumped her up to eating 1800 cals a day. She has more energy and is less stressed and is moving more during the day. Her NEAT and TDEE has risen and she is losing again. 

I hope this helps not only explain "starving" (if you don't enough you will starve to death, period) and what happens when you diet and stall in general. I really love reading new information like this!

Leave a Comment diet break, eating, FAQ, fluctuation, macros, plateau, weight loss