Advice for not gaining whilst abroad would be gratefully received

[Crissy2]

I am in northern Italy for 10days on a course in a region which is amazing for food and I'm very anxious I will gain and undo all the hard work it took to lose weight to date. 2 days in and ive been exceeding my calorie allowance by 600-800 daily.

I'd be grateful for any tips and advice on how to keep to calorie allowance when routine and meal planning are more challenging and the food is so tempting and right in front of me!

I've tucked into the most sensible breakfast I could make in the hotel - cereal and a piece of fruit with a cup of tea, but would also be grateful for strength you can give me to maintain this.

Thanks in advance team

[EllaMidlands]

Hi. What a fabulous time you must be having. I always put weight on as wel particularly on cruises where it is around me all the time. Next time I go I plan to have one meal a day of what I fancy which might vary depending on where I am so if I am out for lunch trying local goodies I will have a light tea. For breakfast I will only eat fruit. I would expect to put on weight although I would aim to walk/swim a lot as well. Holidays are to be enjoyed so I think you do need to be able to eat some nice stuff. I wouldn't have dessert every day. My husband and I always say if it isn't an 8/10 dessert I won't finish it but I think next time I will up that to 9/10 so that I only eat stuff that is really delicious and not just because it is there. I will avoid extras like afternoon tea! Hope this helps, it's only my ideas. Enjoy!

I just re-read your post and noticed that you are at work, not on holiday. In which case I would limit myself much further as holidays are different. In that case I would only eat little bits of the nice stuff and try to stick to the quantities and types of food (for me low carb) that I eat at home.

[Crissy2 in reply to EllaMidlands]

Thank you that's really helpful, especially the finishing things if 8-9/10 which I will certainly try.

[Penel]

What a wonderful place to have a course! With some of the best and most healthy food in the world. Keep your portions small, with only a little pasta, and avoid the creamy sauces, fill up on veg or salad if you need to. Ella's suggestion on desserts sounds like a good idea.

Hope you can manage to enjoy your time out there.

[Crissy2 in reply to Penel]

Thank you so much

Put these into practice this evening and it helped a lot

Much appreciated x

[suzybenj]

Avoid bread and anything to starchy....

[Crissy2 in reply to suzybenj]

Good suggestion and very helpful to hear it said. Bread being so freely available and fresh it is the ultimate temptation but I've been taking all your advice and focussing instead on less starchy more healthy items. Thank yog