Do you gain weight on a cruise?

[secret1122]

One good thing about the decline in food quality in general and desserts in particular has caused me not to eat as much. Having done several cruises on Royal Caribbean, I'm familiar enough with the menus that on those days that nothing on the MDR menu suits, I go to the WJ and make a salad. Another contribution is I always get a cabin on Deck 6 or 7 so I use the stairs for everything but going to the very top decks. That helps, too. End result is I don't gain and have even lost a couple of pounds.

 

Tucker in Texas

See, unfortunately for me, even a crappy dessert by most people's standards would taste just fine to me. I love my desserts.

[freeruthie]

I have to watch what i eat. I eat of low fat or sugar free. I walk and walk and do more activities then at home. I do eat and a few cruises actually lost weight.

 

So do you gain or lose weight?

 

Usually I gain a couple pounds.

On my first Oasis cruise last February, I lost 4 or 5 pounds. I think it was because I ate breakfast and lunch in the solarium every day and there was a lot of walking opportunity on that ship due to the fact that our cabin was very close to the back of the ship.

 

Last week on the Oasis, I didn't gain or lose. I also didn't do as much walking or stair climbing because our cabin was in the center of the ship.

[FOXTROT]

On a 7 day cruise, the average person will gain 7 lbs. Yes have gained weight on cruises & have lost weight on cruises. Just have to be careful what & how much you eat. As a few post point out the food is too bad to eat. It would seem that most people would lose weight on a cruise. It must be that salt water.:rolleyes:

[Desert Cruizers]

I tend to be more active on a cruise then home since I am walking around more and take adventage of the fruit salads, melons with my meals.

[cooncat_mom]

I'm not a fitness person due to back & hip problems...in fact, I'm one of those REALLY annoying people you run into who looks fine but takes the elevator for only one floor when my back & hip are screaming...That said, I usually come back from a cruise 5 - 10 lbs lighter! I may not walk fast, but I walk often...I've decided that cruising is the best form of dieting for me!

[TheMastodon]

I eat as much as I can - boosts the metabolism :D

[addicted2]

We always make fun of my husband who gained 17 pounds on a 9 night cruise. Granted we had two teenagers with on that cruise and my husband was matching them ice cream cone for ice cream cone. Now we usually cruise alone and hit the fitness center every morning and take the stairs. His weight gain is down to only a couple pounds a cruise. I usually stay the same or gain a couple pounds. Guess we will see what happens next week when we leave on our longest cruise yet (10 nights). We both have lost 25-30 pounds over the last year so we really watch what we eat while cruising (lots of salads). We also don't eat in the MDR anymore preferring to eat in the WJ most nights.

[thegima]

I stuffed my face last month on FOS every single meal. Worked out a couple times, did very minimal cardio - mostly lifting. Only used the elevator twice the entire trip and did a lot of walking at every port. I gained 3lbs, then again I'm only 28 and workout/exercise daily so all that food was just a week long treat :D

[Bookish Angel]

I eat healthfully and exercise at home and frankly, I am not a big fan of cruise food. I don't eat the majority of desserts, have maybe 2 cocktails on a 7 day cruise and never take an elevator. I power walk almost every day and eat sensible portions of mostly fruit, veggies, whole grains, white-only chicken and a few eggs a week.

[vermilch]

I think the weight I gain on a cruise is water weight. My feet swell. I do walk up and down the stairs. I don't like the desserts too much and usually just eat the ice cream. We also follow a low salt diet which cuts out sauces and soups.

[cynalan]

I went crazy my first cruise, but since then I've been known to lose weight on a cruise. For some reason I eat healthier and I'm more active compared to when I'm home. Weird...right?

 

Nope - I also lose weight on a cruise. I have a good breakfast (something i don't always do at home), a health lunch (salad) and enjoy my dinner with some wine. I am also very active on a cruise. It's a simple equation - weight change = calories consumed - calories used).

[SGM Arty]

I gained 3 pounds on our last cruise. I have gained more on other cruises. I do eat a lot on the cruise. To start with I have breakfast in the dining room each day. That is way more food than I would eat normally at breakfast. Lunch is closer to what I would normally eat. Dinner is way more food than I would eat.

 

I have gotten better about eating only food that I really want not just because it is there.

 

We took the stairs for the most part. We worked out in the gym on two at sea days. We had two excursions that involved walking and swimming. That all helped

[slh182]

I actually lost 12lbs on my cruise. I think it was because of all of the walking that I did.

[Big_G]

I'm a card carrying member of the Gainers Club and proud of it. At least 5 but as many as 10 lbs. It comes off quick enough so we tend NOT to watch what we eat or drink while on the cruise. I always bring my gym gear but it just never seems to leave the room but maybe once.

[ninnau]

I usually gain 3-4 pounds on a cruise. But, as soon as we are back home and back to the usual routine, the weight gained is lost in about a week.

I am the same.

[Iluvcruising2]

Definitely gain, but now trying to moderate the gain.

 

Used to gain a lot more but now that we are more experienced, we have adopted several strategies, which I admit may look a bit wasteful.

 

We love to try food, so we try everything, but we don't necessary finish all the food.

 

We dine in the MDR a lot. We eat the protein & veggies but usually do not take much of the carbos.

 

We gym more on the cruise. On average, at least 30 minutes on the threadmill. I am not talking about walking on the threadmill but really going for a good workout. For me, I try to complete a 5km run/walk (3.1miles) daily, always under 30 minutes.

 

All the above said, we love desserts and we eat too much of those on the cruise. However, we don't have such desserts when we are not cruising so it all balances out.

[Tucker in Texas]

I love desserts, too. However, if I take a bite and find the gelatin based whatever they want to call it is bland, not delicious, then I leave it and head for a cookie in the promenade cafe. There is one dessert on the luncheon menu that is the best they have on the ship and that is my downfall. I forget what they call it and the description did not fit the actual product so I fell into it. Something with raspberries and chocolate. I eat mine, order one for DH and eat his too. It is being dropped from the new menus :(. Save me from myself. Since we don't have the new menus on our upcoming Mariner TA next week, I'll get one more shot at it plus the onion tart.

 

Tucker in Texas

[jimslady15]

I went crazy my first cruise, but since then I've been known to lose weight on a cruise. For some reason I eat healthier and I'm more active compared to when I'm home. Weird...right?

Actually I do the same, maybe because there is so much food haha So not so weird to me;)

[YubaSutter]

I think the most I have gained is about 4 lbs. I generally lose it within a couple of days after returning home. We take the stairs a lot also and walking around the ship and in port is good exercise. But I definitely go off my daily food plan.

 

Walking only burns 70 calories/hour.

[secret1122]

Walking only burns 70 calories/hour.

That's been my thinking as well. I don't know how accurate that number is on average, but if it is, then it would take 57 hours for me to burn off one meal just walking around :eek:. By that time, I've already eaten another 7 meals! This of course is based on an average "vacation" meal. Even if that number is off a little, the fact remains that while walking a lot and taking the stairs as opposed to the elevator is always a good idea and is considered the healthier option, when it comes to weight loss on a vacation, they have minimal to no effect on your weight. If you don't tend to eat more on vacation than in every day life, this doesn't apply to you.

[kleo30]

Walking only burns 70 calories/hour.

 

This got me curious since I'm a walker and assumed I burned more than this per hour. So I did a google search. THIS link gives amounts of calories burned per hour at different paces.

 

At my weight (150 lbs.) walking 3.5 miles an hour (17 min. mile...my normal pace) I burn 258 calories.

 

It gives several weights and speeds and calories burned. Interesting. I tried to just copy/paste, but the formatting wouldn't copy paste. So I included the link.

 

Anyway.....as I said up thread, I gain and expect to, even though I walk a lot.

[secret1122]

This got me curious since I'm a walker and assumed I burned more than this per hour. So I did a google search. THIS link gives amounts of calories burned per hour at different paces.

 

At my weight (150 lbs.) walking 3.5 miles an hour (17 min. mile...my normal pace) I burn 258 calories.

 

It gives several weights and speeds and calories burned. Interesting. I tried to just copy/paste, but the formatting wouldn't copy paste. So I included the link.

 

Anyway.....as I said up thread, I gain and expect to, even though I walk a lot.

Using the chart provided (again, the numbers will differ with each person so I'm just using this as an example), my "vacation" dinner would need 15 hours of walking. Much better number, but still shows how it would take a few days of walking (to build up 15 straight hours worth) just to negate one meal. Maybe over a 7 day trip I could essentially eliminate 2 meals I had during the week. It certainly is helpful in the long run, especially when it comes time to losing the weight when I get home. Maybe a lot of walking could help me gain only 18 instead of 20 pounds. I'd be happy with that.

[KirkNC]

It has varied by cruise but the most U have ever gained is 2-3 lbs. On Med cruises I can lose weight due to the number of ports and amount of walking.

[Keith1010]

We have found we can enjoy all the good food but balance this by eating healthy and with exercise not gain any weight.

 

Keith

[kleo30]

Using the chart provided (again, the numbers will differ with each person so I'm just using this as an example), my "vacation" dinner would need 15 hours of walking. Much better number, but still shows how it would take a few days of walking (to build up 15 straight hours worth) just to negate one meal. Maybe over a 7 day trip I could essentially eliminate 2 meals I had during the week. It certainly is helpful in the long run, especially when it comes time to losing the weight when I get home. Maybe a lot of walking could help me gain only 18 instead of 20 pounds. I'd be happy with that.

 

Oh yeah......I'd have to walk a lot to walk off everything I drank and ate. I gained 6 lbs. on a 10 night cruise. I was aiming for 5, but what can ya do? It's gone now so that is all that matters :)