Why did I not gain any weight on holiday?

[Chickenoreg]

Slightly lighthearted but I’ve just come back from a 10 day all inclusive holiday and all I have done is eat and drink. I’ve been on a diet this year and have extremely slowly lost 22 pounds. My BMI was only slightly over weight before and I never looked it but now I am comfortably in a healthy BMI range and feel very happy with my body. I work out 4 times a week. It is NOTORIOUSLY hard for me to lose weight. If I gain half a stone at Christmas it usually takes until march for me to lose it. I strictly calorie count and if I have one day over I will gain on weigh day.

When I say all I have done is eat and drink for ten days I mean it! Multiple plates for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ice cream and pastries for snacks. Pina coladas flowing all day. I didn’t use the gym once but did walk around 10k steps a day. I got in the pool but just floated on a lilo. Got home and weighed myself and I’m exactly the same to the pound. DH gained a stone!! Although he has now lost half of that a week later so I’m guessing it’s water weight. But what is this wizardry and how do I apply it to my life over here? I was eating in a massive surplus, honestly usually a sniff of cake and I gain weight! It was 35 degrees where I was, is it possible I just sweated it out? I need to know so I can eat and drink pina coladas every day! My strength at the gym has obviously gone slightly but weighed myself on multiple scales and all the same.

I don't know op. Did you do a lot of active waking/swimming? Was the food dramatically different from your usual diet?

I spent 6months losing weight for my wedding absolute torture as the only way that works for me is sevear restriction and control, fasting 5:2 diet etc and and deviating led to an inevitable stall.

We went to Japan for 3 weeks for our honey moon and we love Japanese food. Ate sushi, mochi etc dailey, fried chicken noodles with mayo and chilli sauce. We did walk alot to travel around but probably only amounted to 3-4 hours max of gentle ambling, some days much less.

Got home and was shocked I hadn't gained a single pound. Was the same weight the morning of my wedding (before the cake and hog roast and chocolate fondue). The only thing I can think is that the food was less processed and it was very very hot while we were there which burns energy.

I was going to say was it very hot and you sweated it off then I saw you said it was 😂 You need to join a gym with a sauna and walk 10k steps on the treadmill then go in the sauna for an hour and see what happens!

I think I’m going to try this. If sweating my back out in a sauna 5 x a week means I’ve cracked the key to eating whatever I want then so be it 😂

I don’t know the answer but it sounded like and amazing holiday 😂😂😂 I love any excuse for a Pina colada but I would also think 🤔 how can I live like this at home

May be related to stress and sleep...

Your cortisol levels in daily life may be holding you back.

I’m exactly the same. No more walking or exercise than at home. Eating large meals and restaurants portions are always bigger than home. Lose weight every time.

Did you sleep a lot more than usual on holiday?

Am I fat because I have insomnia?! I never lose weight no matter what I do.

You might have a delay in scales, but we'll done. I would have gained 6 lbs.

Probably @Specvaries

I've been suffering with poor sleep the last year and I've stacked on 7lb with no significant change to diet except maybe a bit more snacking.

Lack of sleep makes you hungry, it makes you crave glucose, it makes you snack.

I went to the Maldives a few years ago, all inclusive and I came home and had lost 3lbs. I also ate and drank a lot, I put it down to eating well, lots of salads and fruit, small deserts and smaller plates. But I was also a lot more active than normal (I wfh), so a fair bit of swimming and walking.

You can't sweat out fat.

Sounds like a lovely week and well done for not putting anything on. I would caution to get back to your usual habits and it can sometimes catch up.

No! In fact, I slept a lot less! My body never really got used to the jet lag and I struggled to siesta in the afternoon. We also got up at 6am every day to watch the sunrise. I did a lot of lying there doing nothing though so maybe that helped my body rest?

What kind of workouts do you do?

I had the same this year after a holiday, and was so surprised. I've spent years struggling with my weight and I seem to have been a stable healthy weight for over a year now after starting strength training. I can only guess that now I have more muscle that my body is more efficient at burning calories.