Are worries about weight loss before a holiday typical?

[LostTheButter]

DH has booked us a trip to Spain for August.

The issue: I'm currently undergoing a pretty aggressive diet due to having put on the pounds at the end of 2025.

I'm excited to visit Spain, never been before, but I'm worried about:

a) how much time I have to lose weight before going
b) how much weight I'm likely to gain in a 7 day holiday
c) how much time I'll need to lose any gained weight all over again

Are these normal worries? Do all women think this way?

It just feels like all of the above is spoiling the anticipation of finally going away together after a very long time since our last holiday.

Yes, fairly normal, I think.
I need to lose at least a stone by 1 July. The weight has gradually crept up over the last 3 years. I don't want people to see me at my heaviest. I look big.

I'm following a pretty strict diet too. It's working. My clothes are looser. Some of them were too tight a month ago. It's taking time to get the weight off but it is coming off.

I’m thin. I don’t care much for thinking about my figure before I go away.. but by day 4, I feel bloated and the other gorgeous women have me feeling like I need the gym and a lifestyle overhaul when I get home.

As long as you don’t go mad mad then the lb or two you’ll inevitably put on will go the week you’re back home. Water retention, bread and wine plays havoc but it’s fairly temporary.

I really wish weight would come off for me like it seems to do for you.

I have gained 8 lbs in under a month for allowing myself 2 days off my diet, consecutive weekends, and it just feels like a hard old slog!

Quite normal. But a bit of a shame imo. By all means try to be healthy and lose weight before you go, and not go made while you’re there: but absolutely try not to let body worries affect your enjoyment and anticipation.

I think it probably is normal for women. But it really shouldn’t be.

The unnecessary pressure we put on ourselves makes me so angry.

It’s fairly normal I’d say, but a shame if it’s a constant. My Mum and Grandmother both spent my childhood in a cycle of ‘deprive myself for weeks ahead of holiday / event, gorge myself on holiday / at event, deprive myself for weeks afterward’. My Mum still does it in fact, she’s just back from a cruise so I expect the updates on how much she gained and how much per week she loses to commence shortly. No idea why she feels the need to tell me.

It never seemed to occur to either of them that a more balanced approach long-term, and (heaven forbid) actually doing some exercise might be a solution.

Not saying that you’re on the same endless cycle Op, by the way. Just that yes, others have the same thought process!

I don't think it's normal at all to spend months before the holiday worrying about it and then not enjoy eating while you are there. I go on holiday to enjoy myself and see new things, not stare around the beach critiquing what other women look like in their swimming costumes. There are people everywhere of all shapes and sizes. Enjoying the local food is part of the holiday.

Well it’s very common but it shouldn’t be normal if that makes sense. I think you’re in strict lockdown phase where you self control is quite high and you’re prioritising the diet over living and experiencing things. You’re worried about loosening the grip and going into free fall. I would just remind you that the holidays are usually the best bits of living and if you contaminate that with fears of
weight gain and dread will you feel it was worth it down the line ?

It might help to re-frame your entire frame of thought about this. Focus on maintaining a healthy lifestyle and nutritious food intake. You will never be on a 'diet' again - instead, your normal everyday eating habits will be nutritious and sustainable long term. Then, you can forget about weight entirely. The holiday is just another week, and whatever you weigh then is just your weight.

If anything, on holiday is the time to be the least concerned about how you look as you will probably never see any of the people around you again!

I'm 45 and can honestly say I've never given anything like this a moment's thought, far less devoted weeks to worrying about it. I'm size 14 so not some skinny waif but life is really too short.

I think it’s quite common but it’s never taken up space in my head, even when I was overweight. I’ve just never cared about other people’s opinions/thoughts about my body.

It's very common but you don't have to endure pain/discomfort simply if you don't want to lose the weight as ultimately you get out what you put in, so choose a target weight and work as much/little as you want to achieve it. When you're out in Spain go for a couple of daily long walks, swims and swap the occasional sangria for water and you'll be fine

We took my MIL to Asia to visit family and the literal second flights were booked she started on about losing weight for the holiday.
I almost deliberately chose to not enter my usual pre holiday diet as a way of defiance so each week when she asked how much weight I'd lost, 'for the holiday' I said none.

This year I'm 18 months into a long haul diet and fitness plan so there's no mad last rush to try to lose weight quickly, it's just slow and steady like usual.

I think there is something about reframing like a few posters have said. It is not really that sustainable to go for crash diets before and then binge on holiday. I think people go for some pretty extreme things a month before a holiday and then go mad on holiday. It’s probably much better if you’re on a longer weight loss journey to have a sustainable deficit and then be sensible-ish on holiday or walk/swim a fair bit. If you’re somewhere with a buffet then filling up on salads and fruit. Biggest thing is probably avoiding drinking a ton of calories.

It feels hard because you’ve put yourself on a restrictive diet. Diets like that always fail as you end up binging and then cancelling out any work you’ve done! Follow this couple on Facebook. They explain you don’t need crazy diets to lose weight. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1LqYucP47n/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I’ve never dieted for a holiday and didn’t really realise it was a thing. I’ve never put weight on on a holiday* as I just eat like I usually do - there’s been no restriction whatsoever in thr lead up so no binging or overeating when I’m there. I do keep a mental note of alcohol calories though and try and do a bit of extra walking or swimming.

*the only time I’ve put on weight was a week at Ikos where I put on 3lb/just under a kilo but that’s an extreme all inclusive ! I lost it within a couple of weeks returning to normal life

No, and I was significantly overweight for several holidays. The added benefit of being in a different country is that no one knows me or cares, and if they do care, I don’t because I don’t know them. On the food side, I know I don’t gain , despite eating more because I’m quite active (swim a lot, actually swimming, not just float in a pool) , sweat a lot and the food choices are healthier overall.

I try (and often fail) not to feel this. If it is needing medical treatment in July that’s one thing. If generally I’m reducing I don’t need it to be a certain weight down. If anything it’s slightly inconvenient because I have summer clothes that are slightly big now but fit, hoping newer clothes next year.

However I know the pressure even places where I’ll never see those people again
Why do we do this to ourselves??

As others have said I do think some worries like this are normal but probably not very healthy. I think you do really have to make an effort towards sustainability of diet changes rather than the crash/binge/crash cycle that most adult women were taught to follow from our teenage years (with a hefty side order of body shame whatever your size) in order to be able to enjoy your life but also stay healthy (physically and mentally). Things that have helped me:

1. Trying to develop a more positive relationship with my body that isn't linked to thinness or physical appearance - for me sport and exercise have helped, not with losing weight per se but just to enjoy moving my body and tracking and improving what it can do. Its a truism but I really think you have to accept where you are before you can make a change...

1. Really putting an effort into not judging other people's bodies negatively particularly based purely on appearance (this would only be inside my head, never verbally) - for me things like being judgemental about other women wearing bikinis on the beach was a slippery slope towards even more horrible thoughts about myself as well as just generally being quite toxic as a thought process. Trying to replace or override those thoughts with thinking about role models of women of all shapes and sizes who are confident in their own skin (e.g. women at the gym who don't have a conventional gym bunny body but can lift multiples of their own body weight on a deadlift or squat) was better for me. And opting out as far as possible (you can't eliminate it entirely) from negative, judgey diet-culture type conversations and discourse about other women in particular, on TV/social media and in real life (looking at you, Mum).

1. Developing healthy eating habits rather than dieting per se, so that I stick to it pretty much all the time, rather than only on weekdays and going mad at weekends and on holidays. So not being wildly restrictive but making it a non negotiable that I've had three satisfying meals with protein, fibre, fruits and veg etc every single day, before even thinking about treats or snacks, always drinking enough water, alternating alcohol with soft drinks etc - things I really can stick to whatever life throws at me - I do still then have treats and eat out especially on holidays but I'm really working on the in moderation part - e.g. is a cone of really good ice cream as satisfying as a huge cheap sundae loaded with all the extras, can I share that pastry or bag of crisps with DH rather than eating a whole one, could I order the side salad rather than the fries with my burger (and not then snaffle all DH's!) - not easy for me and only works well when I've controlled other areas e.g. I've eaten enough to not need to hit the snacks/junk food for fuel, I'm not thirsty or stressed or emotional or super tired, maintaining a level of exercise and movement even when away from home/normal routine (helps that now kids are older we're able to choose more active holidays rather than sit by the pool in the day with ice cream, sit on the balcony at night with wine, littlie-friendly but bad for waistline options) - but so far so good in that I've come back from holidays /weekends away only a couple of lbs heavier which is largely water retention and undigested food rather than true fat gain, rather than the stone or more it would be pre new mindset.

I do get frustrated still because I'm stubbornly sitting at about half a stone above my ideal weight and only losing very, very slowly, I know I can lose that much quite quickly if I diet really strictly, it's tempting to do that for summer but I don't want to set back longer term wins and experience has taught me I will yo-yo back right to where I was before once I loosen my grip on myself...

Normal for me OP, unfortunately. Wish it wasn’t but if I beat myself up about worrying about it I’m beating myself up about 2 things (my weight and worrying about my weight!) which is even more annoying!

It often is normal. I’m ashamed to admit that my enjoyment of a holiday is often measured by how I feel about my body. And I’m not overweight….just not toned and tbh, even as in my teens and 20’s I didn’t ever have what I perceived as a good bikini body.
I really dislike this about myself as objectively, I know it DOES NOT MATTER!
I am now in my mid 50’s and recently booked a holiday and I’m already thinking ‘ I need to lose half a stone or I’m not going to enjoy myself as much’.
Makes me feel shallow and ridiculous….because it is 😂.

Good perspectives here. I have been losing weight, slow and steady, since October. This trip was booked yesterday on impulse. Had no idea we were going so not doing anything radical for a holiday. It just occurred to me, though, that weight was on my mind, i.e. losing and then controlling it, instead of seeing the sites and enjoying myself. I have never really thought about holidays like this before, so it was new for me, and I'm glad (but sad) that it's not a unique feeling.

Honestly, when I was bigger, I just felt happier and more care free. Maintenance, when having reached a goal weight, is harder mental work than anticipated!

It’s normal I’m the same