One month holiday in US - scared to get back on scales

[Plumers]

I can see this being the undoing of my weight loss.

Over the last 12 months I have very slowly lost 65
pounds naturally. I was feeling amazing and had got close to my goal weight. I loved fitting into my pre kid work outfits and not recoiling at my reflection in shop windows etc.

Anyway, my sister lives in America and we took the opportunity to do a once in a lifetime American road trip. I was good for a few days - eating eggs, fruit and chicken salads. But at one point I decided to fuck it. We ate out A LOT. We did long road trips where we would eat out at fast food places and then restaurants in the evening. I was eating massive piles of pancakes for breakfast when I had become accustomed to just eggs 😳. Plus ice creams/snacks during the day etc. I started having a few drinks also at night (stopped altogether when losing weight). I really could have controlled myself but I enjoyed trying all the new foods.

i looked up one of my dinners I had one night and it was 950 calories for a tomato based
seafood pasta with salad!

I have definitely gained weight. I can see it on my thighs, face and my love handles have somewhat come back.

I don’t know why I’m posting. I’m just really freaked out. Obviously not all is lost. I can still fit into my old work clothes but they are definitely tight around the arms and boob area

Should I just bite the bullet. It’s really hard to get back into sensible mode. I find myself getting a lot hungrier than I used to.

Any kindness / advice would be lovely as I’m really stressed and upset

If it were me, I’d hold off weighing myself for at least two weeks. Get right back on the wagon and then in two weeks, see where you are and take things from there.

You aren't a criminal. You don't have to feel guilty or bad.
You went on a holiday, what a lovely time, and you enjoyed yourself. Now you're back to normal life, you'll get back to it.

This is a good response, I agree with this one.

I think if I saw my weight above a certain number it would cause me a lot of distress.

That may be so, but then you'd get over it and get on with it 🤷‍♂️

Or you might be relieved that it's not as bad as you think.

Oh this is totally normal for America ! I remember going to Miami for a week and I must have gained half a stone. The portions are just naturally much bigger. I agree it's frustrating. I've put on a tonne of weight this year so I'm now going to go into a more sensible way of eating and shift the weight. Best thing is to remove the shame and just focus on the actions of healthy eating and the rewards it will bring. That's my plan anyway!

I think getting your DH to note down the loss is a good idea. I've gone from 0 to running three times a week and going to the gym twice a week, since May. Still haven't weighed myself before or after as I feel amazing now and if I got on the scale to find I was still over my old "overweight" weight I'd be so upset! So I understand the psychology part. We got back from holiday today - today was a McDonalds breakfast, baguette for lunch and creamy pasta with garlic bread as an example so I need to get back on it.

I find it helps too see food as another part of the post-holiday blues. On holiday I love not having to set the alarm, but back home it's not an option. I loved taking my time over a leisurely lunch, not an option back at work. I loved evenings chatting to family/friends, back home its an evening of ironing and running the kids to their clubs.

In the same context "I loved being able toinduge myself on holiday (andI'm really glad that I lost all that weight before I went), but back home, that's not an option."

I find it helpful during the challenging first week to try out some new recipes so it's not quite so 'back-to-boring'. If you're a chatGPT person use that to help you with menu and recipe planning (and your shopping list so you're not buying the tempting stuff).

They really are tortuous but you can do it!! x

It’s a ‘going on holiday’ thing. I live in the US and just came back from 2 weeks in Europe where I ate everything I wanted, and surprise! I gained weight.

Been back 2 weeks and lost it all. I did have to retrain my appetite, and get back into good habits, and it was hard at first. I find it helps to get on the scales and face up to reality.

Ignore the pp who said you’ve messed up. You haven’t messed up, you’ve had a nice holiday which I’m sure you deserved. Try to think about how much you enjoyed the food rather than feeling bad about it. We all need a break and a treat sometimes and it sounds like you’re doing really well already to get back into the healthy eating so I’m sure you’ll lose the weight again soon.

Yeah just don’t weigh yourself until you are ready to look. Meanwhile get back to what you were doing before you went away.

eating healthy in the US is difficult. Especially if you’re on the road. Try not to dwell on the gain but the amazing time you had with your sister. I’m sure it was worth it.

absolutely DO NOT weigh yourself for a few days. A lot of the gain will be water weight from excess salt and it will be very disheartening for you to think you’ve gained more than you have. Also do not try to go into extreme diet mode now to compensate, as you will panic about how hungry you feel and may give up completely. Have a few days or a week of healthy-ish eating, lots of filling protein, salads, veggies etc to ease yourself back in and give yourself some grace. Then back on the horse properly in a week or so. Best of luck OP

I agree that eating healthily in the US can be difficult. What we tend to do is seek out higher end eateries and natural food type places that do lots of salads. Steak houses are another option as they tend to have nice salad bars.

Also, many larger grocery stores have nice delicatessen counters with a variety of salads. Sometimes we would get a selection of salads and a baguette and some fruit and eat it at the beach or in a park. Only problem is that they tend to have very stringent open container laws, so one has to be very discrete with alcohol.

Why are people advising not to go on the scales? What's the point in hiding your head under the sand like an ostrich?
OP, take control of your life, for goodness sake. Information is power! Depending on the amount of gained weight you will have to adjust your habits in varying degrees.
Also, I will have you know that if you don't weigh yourself you are introducing a precedent in your life. There will be another occasion down the road that you end up eating more than you should have and you'll just skip the weighing and hope for the best, again.
Carry on like this and probabilities of gaining back every single kg will rise and rise.

I wouldn't bother weighing yourself right now. It's a temporary number, and you don't need to know exactly what it is.

Agreed it's weird.

If the OP said she's not sure if she might be low in iron or something, I can't imagine people telling her not to bother going for a blood test.

They'd tell her find out and deal with it.

Weight is no different.

She's going to have to deal with it (if she wants to) either way, so might as well be now.

I don't think you've done that bad?!?!

Massive piles of pancakes, ice-cream etc and you can still fasten into your clothes?!

I don’t think it’s a case of being an ostrich at all. It’s really hard when you have lost a significant amount of weight to gain a little even though you understand the reasons behind the gain. The emotions such as feeling guilty etc are not positive and can derail any weight loss efforts as people may feel they have failed or say to themselves what’s the point. I don’t see what’s wrong with stepping on the scales when a person is ready on all fronts.

Don't be so hard on yourself op! I'm jealous it sounds like you had a fantastic holiday!

There was saying a 'lapse' is when you have that day or 2 with a big splurge. A 'relapse' as you say when you have a week/month. But aslong as you don't 'collapse' and go back to eating nothing but shit forever more....then your all good😀

Get back on the wagon and go from there. You've got this💪

You didn't gain 65 pounds back, that's for sure!

Whatever you gained will be a lot of glycogen restoration and water weight, especially if you were low carb beforehand, and it will come off quick.

I ate whatever I wanted to from December 24-Jan 1 last year. I gained 15 pounds and it took all of January to lose it by going low carb all month, but it worked, and so I will repeat this again this year because I love mince pies and no one can stop me!

Just draw a line under it as being a once in a lifetime trip and resume being home now.

I know it might not seem like a big deal to some but weight is a really sensitive and emotional topic for a lot of people. It’s not just about the number on the scale. It can bring up fear, shame and all kinds of anxiety, especially if you've struggled with body image like I have since having my first baby 5 years ago. The thought of going backwards, even a little is really upsetting. I was miserable when I was overweight (well obese truth be told).

If you stick to a healthy diet - mostly plants + protein - and keep to around 300-500 calories below your TDEE at least 80% of the time, you’ll probably be fine.

Ok so I bit the bullet! I gained 12 pounds. Which okay isn’t great. But it could have been worse. Considering I REALLY lost control of my eating after a year of dieting isn’t too bad. I can definitely lose that in 5 or 6 weeks.

Had my cry. But at least I know. It’s been a great motivator.

Gahhhhh. It is what it is.

Hi op i was going to post and say I've had periods where I've gained weight following a big weight loss (had a few injuries) and I actually find that a cold hard loss of reality jolts me back into action. Tbf, 12lb following a month in America driving a lot and eating their famously big portions is not the worst it could have been.

I think it's great you didn't let your weight loss stop you from enjoying your holiday. I'm going away soon and I'm planning on just enjoying myself ! Im hoping to do some some lengths in the pool every morning to balance it out a bit but I am really going to cut loose. I just want to enjoy the experience with my family.

@Plumers You've totally got this in the bag! You've got your motivation back which is a fantastic thing! What's for lunch today? I need some inspiration 😀