How not to gain 5 lbs on a cruise

Did you know that the average person gains 5-7lbs on a one week cruise?

I’m not really shocked about that.  With the lavish buffets, self-serve soft serve ice cream and 24 hour pizza availability….I’m surprised it’s actually not even more!

Jake and I just got back from a 5 day cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas.

Beachbody chartered the entire ship of 6,000 passengers.  It was such a great trip!

The cruise was filled with 3,000 health and fitness coaches and their guests.

There were daily workouts each morning on the pool deck…and there were lots of healthy eating options.

But there also were lots of desserts….and drinks….in fact I even heard that we beat Royal Caribbean’s record for amount of alcoholic beverages consumed on a 5 day cruise…that’s totally crazy!

Anyways….

Here was my strategy for tackling the cruise:

1. I worked out every single day.  For AT least an hour a day, if not more.  Each morning I worked out on the pool deck with our trainers.  That was about 60 minutes of intense work.  I also walked a lot around the ship – and it is huge!  Each day I got in at least 15,000 steps.  One day it was even 25,000 steps.  In addition to just walking around the ship to get around, I walked around the track for at least 30 mins a day while listening to an audiobook.  I also took the stairs instead of the elevator 98% of the time.
2. I made healthy choices at each meal.  At breakfast I would often have eggs, fruit, veggies and a piece of toast.  Lunch would often be a giant salad with some sort of protein.  Dinner was in the dining room each night and I always chose a salad and either fish or a lean protein and veggies.  I found the veggies to be lacking at dinner time, so I always made sure to get in a lot of veggies at breakfast and dinner.
3. I ate dessert at lunch and dinner every single day.  Yup…I did.  I was on vacation, it was there, and I enjoyed it.  End of story.  I don’t do this at home.  Here’s the truth – what you do on vacation doesn’t matter nearly as much as what you do every day.
4. I didn’t drink much alcohol.  I’ve never been a big drinker…I would rather have dessert than a cocktail.  I think you have to pick and choose your empty calories.  I don’t think you can indulge in alchohol and dessert at every meal for a week and not gain lots of weight.  Pick one to go overboard with.  Or have moderate amounts of both.

Morning workouts on the pool deck

A typical lunch – a big salad with protein

Breakfast – egg whites, fruits, mushrooms, toast

Taking the stairs

When I came home and hopped on the scale, I learned that I had gained 3 lbs.  I didn’t freak out.  I know it is normal for me to fluctuate within a range of 3-5 lbs, especially if I have eaten out a lot.   I’m used to eating almost all my meals at home, and when you eat out there is a lot of added salt and sugar in your foods.  This causes me to bloat and retain water.

I didn’t let these three pounds turn into a slippery slope of more weight gain and an excuse to justify poor eating habits.

I needed a reset back into healthy eating, so I knew it was a perfect opportunity to do the 3 Day Refresh.  The Refresh is a gentle cleanse/detox that involves lots of water, fruit, veggies, fibre and plant-based proteins.

It is great to do after a vacation or when you just want some help getting back on track or when you want a quick win with weight loss to motivate you.

We arrived home on Thurday night and I did the Refresh from Friday – Sunday.

I felt SO much better after the Refresh…I no longer felt bloated and I felt like my body released all that salt and retained water from the cruise.  I also did not work out on the Refresh and it was a good chance for my muscles to rest from all the intense exercise I did on the cruise.

And guess what?  Those three pounds were gone at the end of the Refresh.

So I had a great trip.  I worked out a lot – for me that is something that I love to do, so it wasn’t a chore but a joy!  I ate lots of delicious food, including lots of fruits and veggies and also including dessert.

We had a great time and I don’t regret a thing!  I also don’t regret jumping right into the Refresh and then from that into my normal healthy eating habits.  I think that is key – don’t let a vacation turn into an excuse to throw away all of your hard work and healthy habits.   What matters most is what you do most of the time, not what you do occassionally while you travel.

I’m putting together my next 30 day health and fitness challenge.  We start April 11th.  If you have been wanting to start taking better care of yourself – this is the perfect opportunity!  Join our supportive community of women who help each other on their journies towards better health.  Be a part of our group – work out everyday for 30 mins from the comfort of your home, learn about portion controlled clean eating and enrich your mind, body and spirit!  For more info, send me at email at sheryl@ikor.com or PM me via Facebook and I will get back to you ASAP with the details about the challenge.