wanted: on board diet tips

Hi,

I'm cruising Australia & NZ on Celebrity Solstice November 27th. Lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks on Medifast. I know I'll do well up to our overall 3 week trip, and am ok to not lose anything or even gain a fee pounds, but obviously want to enjoy my trip, including the beverage package. Any ideas on little cheats with food and alcohol that just won't ruin all my dedication and results. Medifast is a very low cal, fat, carb, sweet diet that includes 4 meal supplements i can bring and one lean protein with a good amount of green veggies meal a day. Any hidden info you know of F&B products on board that is beneficial to dieters would be appreciated. Virginia

There's really no hidden information on beautiful Solstice as far as maintaining lost weight is concerned. Congratulations on your awesome weight loss, by the way.

Solstice has lots of healthy selections such as a variety of salads, steamed veggies, light soups etc. Just stay away from tempting desserts and heavily sauced meats and cheesy pastas. Fish is a good choice.

As for beverages, I drink water and unsweetened tea. For alcohol, how about wine spritzers to cut calories? Some mixed drinks can be loaded with calories, for example, my beloved chocolate martini. I only allow myself a few of those a year and never more than one when I do indulge.

The worst meal of the day on a ship for overindulging is breakfast. Why? Because at home most folks on most days just don't eat the huge amount of goodies and delicious offerings that a ship has. Yet I see passengers with plates loaded high with omelets, pastries, waffles, hash brown potatoes, and so on. They have an entire day's calories for breakfast and the day is still young!

It's tough to be really careful about eating and at the same time have a great time on the ship. One of the best ways to counter over eating is by getting lots of exercise on the ship or on tours. Climb the stairs, take long walks, hit the gym.

I have such a slow metabolism I do have to actively think about every bite that goes in my mouth. I wear a pedometer always to make sure I get a bare minimum of 10,000 steps daily preferably much more. You could do that too.

But if all your best intentions fall by the way side on your cruise, know that you can start right back up after the cruise and get right back into good habits. Good luck and have a wonderful cruise.

Gangway Style, I think you have covered just about everything!

Virginia, If you are not planning to eat your medifast diet while cruising I would suggest you go off it a couple of weeks prior to the cruise and start getting used to eating 3 meals a day.

Sign up with something like MyFitnessPal which tracks your calories and research what a serving size is for most food types. Ie; protein the size of a deck of cards. this eyeballing isn't exact but it does mean when you have a meal you won't be tempted to overeat. In the MDR as soon as I get my dinner I set the extra amount to one side before I start eating. Remember you don't have to have every course; I usually have 3 of the 4 - desert being a must have.

Always get your salad dressing on the side and use a minimal amount.

Avoid the rolls at dinner, there is plenty of food without indulging in wasted calories; save them for desert or a fru-fru drink.

Light beer or prosecco are my daytime drinks 100 cal and I have a wonderful cocktail before dinner, I am thinking of changing it to after dinner and sticking with prosecco pre-dinner, whichever, even with the bev package I try to stick to one a day.

If you can, walk everywhere on and off the ship and do the stairs if you only have 4-5 flights to travel.

Cheers, h.

Thank you for the great tips and encouragement! Perhaps we'll all meet on the ship :-)

All I can add is workout a few mornings on cruise, take the stairs, dance late into the night...have dessert but only a couple of bites...enjoy your food but don't stuff yourself and have great time.

Booze is fun but an empty calorie-so if you want a drink packaage, dont make it all about the fruity drinks. Or sweet mixers. Bloody Mary's would be a good choice. On the rocks would be a good choice. I used to drink a lot, gave it up (to save my life) but I was at a diabetes work shop two weeks ago, and this advice was what I learned. Have a great cruise.

I like My Fitness Pal....have the app on my phone. I usually gain a few pounds each cruise even though I try not to. I walk and climb stairs and never touch the bread basket! Enjoy your cruise.

I actually lost a couple pounds on my last HAL cruise, not because the food was bad, but because it was so good! There tons of delicious, healthful options, so I wasn't tempted by garbage food. I ate a lot of seafood, and just really tried to be mindful about what I was eating. As long as I really wanted it, I tried it. I walk a lot while on board and in port, and worked out in the gym most days. It is quite a challenge to balance on a Bosu ball at sea!