Cruise Vacation: How to Manage Your Weight

Have you ever gone on or experienced a cruise? If you have yet to give it a try, it truly is an experience. They do everything big. The ships are big and are getting bigger – check out Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas. The service is amazing, and the access to food is insane! If you are not mindful, however, a cruise vacation experience can mean trouble.

I recently returned from a cruise that went to the Bahamas and Key West, Florida. I would not say I went nuts, but I lost my mind a little bit when it came to eating. I ate two of my favorites, bread and bacon, like they were going out of style. At one dinner service I had as many as three bread rolls! For breakfast each morning we went to the Windjammer Lido Buffet. I am not a fan of buffets, but give me an option for unlimited bacon and I am willing to make exceptions.

My indulgence did not stop on the ship. In Key West, we went to a place called Mattheessen & Magilner’s Candy Kitchen. There I shared a half pound chocolate chip cookie. Yes a half pound cookie!!! It was topped with three varieties of ice cream, key lime, vanilla, and cake batter,  AND it was drizzled with hot chocolate fudge. When the woman gave us the behemoth of a dessert, we decided that even sharing it, there was no way in the world that we would finish it. At one point Kelly said, “This is good!! We are doing much better than we should.” We did not eat it all, but we certainly ate too much of it. At least we enjoyed ourselves.

What was the end result for me? My body looked extremely puffy from the humidity, not drinking enough water, and all the carbs – bread – I ate. I also gained four pounds. Not too bad considering how out of character I was with my eating.

Suggestions for Watching Your Waistline on Your Cruise Vacation

Having had a previous cruise to Alaska under my belt, also during a time when I had lost a significant amount of weight, I knew better than to go overboard (no pun intended). In fact, I used some of the same strategies to save myself from gaining weight on that cruise vacation that I did on this most recent one. That is how I managed not to gain more than four pounds on the trip. If you plan on going on a cruise, the following are some suggestions to save you from yourself while on your cruise vacation:

Find the gym and use it: Today's cruise ships have gyms. Some offer more than others. Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas, has a running track, for example. Be sure to check out what the gym on your planned cruise offers. On both of the cruises I have taken, the cruise ships had treadmills, weight machines, dumbbells, and stationary bikes. That is plenty to get in a workout. When you first arrive on the ship, go check out the gym to see what type of classes they offer for the duration of the cruise and fit them into your schedule. You may have to pay for the class, but some are free. Don't go it alone. Take family and friends with you.

Book physical activity excursions: Cruise lines offer all kinds of excursions at your port destinations. When I went to Alaska I went ice trekking one day. Oh my god!! That was a serious workout. On another day I went kayaking. Not on topic, but to possibly save money, comparison shop excursions before booking the excursion with the cruise line.

Modify dinner options: If you partake of the cruise line dining, the menu pretty much changes each night. You do not have to get exactly what is offered for a meal. I, for example, did not have a single meal that I did not modify in some way. One night, rather than have the white rice that came with the dish I ordered, I asked that it be replaced with the vegetable that came with a different meal. Ask for dressing on the side or for none at all for your salad. (If I only would have told them if I ask for a second piece of bread don't give it to me.) Play around as much as you can to keep the meal healthy and to control the portion size.

Have a buffet strategy: The buffet has a LOT of food options. Drink lots of water to help fill you up before you arrive at the buffet. The food varies from good for you to artery-clogging. Eat more of the former while being mindful of portion sizes. It is VERY tempting to make several trips to the stations. That is how I ate so much bacon. I did, however, hit the omelette line each day to have an egg white omelette with veggies.

Limit the cocktails: It is natural to want to unwind on any vacation. One way to ease into taking a break is to enjoy a few cocktails. Some cocktails are loaded with sugar and empty calories. On our cruise vacation I put myself on a one cocktail a night limit. It also helped that I was too cheap to buy more than one.

Search the web for ideas: You are only a Google search away from getting other creative ideas for tips about enjoying yourself while not getting out of control while on your cruise vacation. I took the liberty to find some other suggestions for you. Coincidently both links I am sharing have the same title. The first How to Eat Healthy on a Cruise is by Anne, a blogger and a Registered Dietitian. I wish I had found this link before our cruise vacation. USA Today provided the second How to Eat Healthy on a Cruise article.

Final Note

No matter the vacation type, a cruise vacation, a road trip, or a staycation, enjoy yourself, but be smart about what you eat and fit in exercise.

Start the Discussion: If you were going on a cruise vacation or any other vacation where the changes were high for gaining weight, how would combat those dangers? Share in the post comments, on Facebook or Twitter.