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  • On a Cruise, Maintaining and Losing Weight


    LAS PALMAS, SPAIN - Aboard the Regent Seven Seas Mariner: Finding a scale on a cruise ship is like looking for a clock in a casino. They don't have them. They're bad for business.

    Think of a cruise, and food comes to mind. It's usually excellent and abundant. A travel agency poll found that passengers on average gain 13 pounds on a two-week cruise.

    I've taken about 30 cruises over the last 20 years and I've gained weight on all of them. Following a lifetime struggle with weight, I was able to lose 30 pounds before this cruise, a 17-night crossing from Monte Carlo to Rio de Janeiro on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner.

    I was determined to keep the weight off, perhaps even lose a few more pounds, but how? I've sailed on this luxury line 10 times. Everything is included in the cruise fare -- all the food, alcohol and wine.

    You can get anything to eat anytime you want it. If what you want isn't on the menu, they'll make it for you.

    I also have a butler, Soumya; yes, a real butler, who brings food to my cabin every afternoon. And the last thing you see at night are chocolates on your pillow. How could an overweight person like me resist all this delicious temptation?

    The key for me is that this time the will to succeed has to be greater than the weakness to fail. I still have another 30 to 50 pounds to lose, and I didn't want this cruise vacation to set back the progress I had made on the first 30.

    I decided I could use the food component of the cruise to work in my favor. Yes, they would prepare anything I wanted to eat, so I could make sure there was always something healthy on my plate.

    That doesn't mean eating only cottage cheese and sprouts. You can have normal meals. Just favor fish and chicken over red meats. Don't deny yourself anything. Just make healthier choices.

    In the first six days of this 17-day cruise, I have had beef twice for dinner and veal once. The rest was fish or chicken. The two beef dishes were small portions, about four ounces. The veal was Osso Buco, but it was prepared from the cruise line's "Canyon Ranch Spa" menu. The veal dish was 490 calories.

    Strangely enough, I have not felt deprived. One advantage of being on the cruise is that the fish items on the menu are so good and so varied that I don't mind trying them and passing up the heavier meats.

    If there is a sauce on the fish, I'll eat the sauce. I also eat a few servings of bread each day. And I'll either order the low-calorie dessert or take a bite or two from a regular dessert. That way I'm not denying myself anything.

    After six days on the ship, my clothes weren't getting any tighter but I needed a way to make sure I was on track. One morning I asked my steward if he could find a scale for my cabin. He said he might be able to locate one by evening.

    That evening, there was a scale in my cabin. I didn't get on it until the next morning. I held my breath and stepped on the scale. It was broken.

    I have eaten two nights at the ship's steak house restaurant, Prime 7. The crab legs, shrimp cocktail and tuna tartar are very healthy. So is the lobster if you go easy on the melted butter. And you can order healthy sides like mushrooms and green beans and skip the twice-baked potato and fried onion rings.

    It's the steak that will get you if you are not careful. I ordered the surf and turf, lobster tail and filet mignon, the first night. But I probably overdid it even though the beef was only four ounces. The rest of the steaks can range from a 10 ounce fillet to NY strips, porterhouses and prime ribs, about a pound each. That's a lot of beef and a lot of fatty calories. I know because that's what I used to eat.

    The biggest adjustment is being willing to eat at a steakhouse and have fish while everyone else has red meat. During our second visit I ordered grilled perch as my entrée. It was good and I didn't feel disappointed. I passed up the key lime pie and cheese cake and had mixed berries. But I did have one of the little pre-desert chocolate cakes they brought to the table.

    A new scale has appeared. A close inspection finds this one only registers in kilograms. I'm going to have to go on line to find out how to convert.

    I make it to afternoon tea every day, popular with my friends who like to play trivia. But afternoon tea is another opportunity to eat sweets. Scones with cream and jam and plenty of desserts. But fruit is also available and as long as my willpower remains strong I take the fruit, maybe once a little taste of a profiterole.

    Last night was dinner in the gourmet French restaurant, Signatures. Watching what you eat there was easier than I had expected. There were scallops, lobster, crab and salmon on the appetizer menu, all healthy choices. For the entrée there was halibut. I stayed away from the beef with foie gras. Dessert was berries, with a little taste of one of their regular desserts of marinated figs.

    It has been three weeks since I weighed myself. During that time my regular schedule has been disrupted. There was a trip to Cleveland to cover a presidential campaign event, followed by a trip to western Maryland to cover the snow storm caused by Hurricane Sandy, then a drive to Richmond for election night coverage. And the same day I returned from Richmond to D.C., I caught the plane to Europe for the cruise which I have been on for almost a week.

    I finally get on the scale and see my weight in kilos. I know to multiply by 2.2. My weight remained the same. I didn't gain anything in the last three weeks. I'm happy with that. I never expected to lose weight with all of that traveling going on. But now, I can work on trying to lose a few more pounds.

    In part two I'll venture to a place I've never been on a ship in 20 years of cruising, the fitness center, otherwise known as the exercise room.

    By Tom Giusto, ABC News




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    I have usually gained a few pounds on a 7 day cruise or land vacation, but I agree that it is temporary weight gain, as it comes off within a few days after returning home to my own cooking. At home, more fish and chicken and less beef or other meats. Dessert only on Sundays at home. And I use low or no fat dairy products at home and control the salt.

    But I go on a cruise to enjoy the food, things I wouldn't make at home. And my preference in cruise lines tends to be driven by what I think of their food.

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    Interesting remarks, everyone...just thinking back to my second cruise which was my two-week honeymoon cruise to the Mexican Riviera. It was my husband's first cruise, and he was so happy with all the food and midnight buffets and everything that he came home with an extra 12 pounds or so. My folks picked us up from the airport and just laughed a bit at the extra weight on his tummy...with his sombrero on and the extra weight he did look cute...LOL I think I did gain on that cruise, too, but only about 2 pounds. We have learned since that we don't have to eat everything, and that enjoying what we want in moderation, and doing all the walking is the best way to keep from gaining. For me these days, although I have a weight problem, I rarely gain on a cruise. It's all the walking, which is so good for us. The bigger ships today also force us to do extra walking so that's a good thing... if we are able to do it. We also usually book late seating for dinner, and then avoid the midnight buffets... or whatever they have to offer now on the ship after hours. At home when I'm up all night I tend to snack (on a diet now) because I sometimes don't go to bed until 6 AM. Crazy, I know...LOL When on vacation, I do force myself into some regular hours and then I don't always need the snacks in between either.

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    We go on cruises to have fun and we do enjoy the food--including desserts. We don't go to the gym, however we seldom take the elevators as the stairs make great exercise equipment. We also walk around the ship a few times after breakfast and lunch and we dance in the evening. On our last cruise, which was 10 days, I gained 3 lbs which came off a week after arriving home and Rita did not gain.

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    I still think that the vacation weight gain is from everything cooked in butter, lots of salt and the truly yummy desserts. And I agree that once you get home and get back to your routine, the vacation weight should come off. It's the continued cruise eating that will get ya!

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    ...and taking the stairs as much as possible. Also saves time waiting for the elevator.

    Great point on the saving time Kevin! One time we took the stairs eight decks to the buffet while Mom & Dad took the elevator – we were already at a table with food and drinks when they arrived after stopping at every deck to let people on and off the elevator! Less elevator time means more cruise time! :biggrin:

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