Your best tips for holidays and eating out please?

[jowly]

So I've managed to get my weight down to normal, and am managing to maintain.. just.

I know I need to be able to ease up a little and enjoy life, which includes holidays, weekends away and eating out. I do try to choose healthier options but wondered how far you go in asking for things to be changed.

Do places leave off butter, dressings etc if you ask? Do you ever order just a starter?

I don't want to become obsessed with this, but I'm not exaggerating when I say I could easily gain half a stone in a week away

I don’t think you should be too worried about meals out, unless it’s really regular. How often are we talking about? What I have done is accepted I’m going to eat more calories than usual, and eaten very lightly the rest of the day, and the next day, to compensate. But it would be a little miserable to go to a nice restaurant and sit eating a salad with no dressing, while watching others enjoy a steak or whatever.

We tend to have a roast dinner every other Sunday, so I have a healthy breakfast and skip lunch that day, so I can enjoy the beef, gravy, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes etc. I still have sensible portions though.

I’ve also just come back from an all-inclusive holiday, and didn’t go as mad as previous times, but did eat more than at home, and I think in 2 weeks I’ve only put on 1 or 2 lbs. I had dessert, pizza, chips, rice etc. But just 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks/cocktails here and there, not a constant stream. And not chips every day, or filling a plate with loads of cakes every day. Just a happy medium.

When you say you could put on half a stone in a week away, presumably you’re talking about you before you lost weight? Now, you might find you naturally make better choices, because you know what it takes to lose it again and don’t want to undo the hard work. I had times when I thought “ooh, that croissant was nice, I’ll get another” and then stopped myself.