Typical Mans Solution

[Lady T]

Just thought I would ask, am I the only one who put on any weight on

their cruise??????????? On my 7 day cruise ending a week before

Christmas I gained 7 lbs, and now I'm sure struggling to get back to

what I was. Then came Christmas and New Years, I think next year I'll

plan our cruise in Janurary or Feburary after all the extra cooking is over.

 

[My husbands solution-- is to buy 5 swim suits all different sizes, for a 5

day cruise and 7 swim suits 7 different sizes for 7 day cruises, that way

no one will ever notice] all this advice coming from a guy who can eat

anything and everything and never gain an ounce, and all I have to do

is look at a dessert and gain a lb. [i THINK I'LL KILL HIM].:D

 

Getting ready for our next cruise is tough, but it's worth it, still got to loose

those 7 lbs.

 

Everybody keep on Cruising.

[Cotton]

:D Ah, the logic of men.

 

It's SO easy to cast the diet to the sea winds when cruising! I read in Cruise Travel magazine that the average cruiser gains 5 lbs. on a 7-night cruise. I have gained from 3-5 lbs. on five-nighters.

 

I have finally solved the problem. I WALK every chance I get. I take the stairs (sometimes much faster than the elevators anyway), and walk around the decks a few times every day....which is so much more pleasant than walking at home - all that beautiful water to look at, plus the wind on my face. (On one of my last cruises, I was very surprised to see that I actually LOST a lb., and on my last cruise, I gained only one lb.)

 

Have some pizza, walk around the deck.

Have some ice cream, walk round the deck.

Works for me!:)

[kirbmeister]

My wife and I did a 7 nighter last summer. She gained 1 pound, I lost one. We never used the elevator and spent 30 minutes in the exersice room before breakfast everyday.

 

After a hot carribbean day it was dificult to use the stairs, but we stuck to it and didn'nt worry about what we ate. It was worth every stair (I can say that now);).

[Happy ks]

I honestly don't know why a person gains weight on a cruise. Do you eat a lot more than you normally would? When we are at home, we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, sometimes a few snacks. When we cruise, we pretty much eat the same amount, with dessert added every night.

 

On your next cruise, I suggest eating lower calorie choices, stay away from the buffet and walk a bit more than you normally do. We have fruit with cottage cheese for breakfast, salad and fish or chicken for lunch, whatever we want for dinner. We avoid the elevator, unless it's more than 5 flights and we take walks around the promenade deck shortly after each meal. We end our day by walking laps on the upper deck, we love the night air and the quietness of the ship at night, the water is beautiful at night.

 

Some people really only gain water weight when they are on a cruise. This can be from more salt in their food than they're used to, or from flying a long distance. You will read how someone will say they gained 5 or 7 lbs., but it was gone in a week, that's water retention, not fat. Drink a lot of bottled water, make sure you get up every hour and move on a flight, wear compression stockings. I start drinking extra water a couple of days before leaving home. I bring along bottled water as I've heard the water on the ship has more sodium.

 

There is no real secret, just watch what you eat, drink lots of water and get some excercise. Don't throw all caution to the wind and binge all week.

[Keith1010]

It is quite understandable why people gain weight on a cruise. While I typically don't gain weight (I am fairly disciplined) and actually sometime lose weight, most people do not eat full meals at home each day as they would on a cruise.

 

My recommendations. If you think you will gain weight, get below your desired weight before the cruise.

 

Walk wherever you can each day. From walking up and down the stairs and not taking the elevators, to walking on the deck, to using the excercise room.

 

We also try to walk in the ports as well before or after the excursions. We try to walk at least another hour or two.

 

I eat the same type of breakfast on the cruise as I would at home.

 

For lunch, some of they days we will order a salad as an entree (eg, Cobb Salad or something like that).

 

Limit myself to one roll at dinner. No seconds.

 

Some nights for desert I ask them to make me up a fruit plate. I ask for a variety of fruits, ranging from strawberries, to blueberries to melons.

 

Try to avoid the buffet lines and if you do eat the buffets do NOT fill up your plate.

 

Regardless, most people do gain on the cruise and it is easy to understand why.

 

The key is to think about this is to have a plan before you cruise to minimize weight gain or as I said to lose enought weight before you cruise to offset the weight you gain.

 

Keith

[Cotton]

Well, I certainly know why I gained weight (before I became more conscious of walking).....

 

I don't eat breakfast at home, BUT on the ship I order coffee and croissants or Danish early every morning, then later go to the dining room for Eggs Benedict and other things I never eat at home - bacon, for one.

 

For lunch, I head back to the dining room, and have a nice lunch plus dessert, and usually a cappuccino.

 

Mid-aftn - Hey, I'm off to the pizzeria for goat cheese pizza or a calzone...and just gotta stop by the frozen yogurt machine a time or two each day. Then - on sea days, I don't miss "Tea Time" with all those delicious little tea sandwiches and petit fors and scones.;)

 

Oh my, it's time for dinner. At home, who really has an appetizer, soup, salad, entree, and dessert every night? Well, I certainly do when cruising.

 

So - I can very easily understand why folks gain weight on a cruise. Why not? Enjoy - it's easy to get back to your normal routine when you're back home.:)

[K&RCurt]

I'll echo Cotton's comments on why people gain weight.

 

Normally I have a bagle and cup of coffe for breakfast and my wife normally just has the coffee. - On the ship, Coffe and crossaints on the veranda, THEN head to the lido where the nice man will make you any kind of omlette you would like, and the muffins look so good, and look...there's smoked salmon!

 

Lunch for both of us is usually a sandwich we brought from home and a piece of fruit. On the ship - MMM that pasta looks good, there's a sushi bar on the other side of the ship, and the pannini the're making over there look yummy. Let's get an ice cream cone on our way out!

 

Mid afternoons we are working so hard we are just trying to get everything done so that we will be able to leave within an hour of "quitting time". On the ship - That Toco bar by the pool sure looks tempting. Did you notice they have pizza availabe 24 hours a day! Let's go see how the "Royal Dutch Tea" is..MMMM

 

Dinner at home is usually fairly simple, a salad, meat, veggie and starch. On the ship - OMG! Appitizer, soup, salad, entre' desert!

 

All of the above not to mention wine with dinner, a few cocktails before, some foo foo drinks by the pool, rum punch MMM.

 

If one doesn't significantly increase their physical activities during the week they are bound to gain weight. We were lucky, we walked a lot both on and off the ship, swam, kayaked, hiked etc. We were fortunate to both lose 2 lbs over our cruise, but it would have been very easy to gain 5 - 10!

[Loves_Dogs]

Gained weight on both my cruises. Always had room service deliver coffee in the morning, of course the coffee came WITH those yummy pastries :-) Carnival serves. Then after showering, go to the dining room for my 'official' breakfast. Lunch at the buffet, followed by late afternoon either pizza or room service BLT.....late dinner with every course INCLUDING dessert....Lucky for my waistline I can only afford 1 cruise a year.

 

At home I eat oatmeal in the morning, usually a small lunch and then eat supper. No desserts...no appetizers...no morning pastries...

[cruisin newbie]

Fortunately I did not gain weight either - thank goodness - I literally worked my butt off all summer long to pull off a bikini at 36! We too, took the steps instead of the elevators. We are both pretty impatient and the waiting and lines just didn't do it for us - there were nights where the steps seemed like torture, but I think it was well worth it. We didn't drink excessively, usually just a few daily specials and drank tea i/s of soda. We did not use the gym at all. The main difference for us though is that we were active throughout the entire day i/s of coming home from work, cleaning up from dinner and plopping in front of the tv for a few hours.

[ORANGEinINDY]

Telling me to stay away from the buffet and lower calorie selections is like telling me to stay off the ship. Part of the reason I'm there is for the food. I don't get chocolate creme-brule at home so I won't pass it up there.

I should stop eating it and gust directly apply to to my waist. Remember, a waist is a terrible thing to mind.

I do walk everywhere tho- I barely knew the Mariner had elevators.

Now... wheres that third lobster tail?

[jeniroosen]

Telling me to stay away from the buffet and lower calorie selections is like telling me to stay off the ship. Part of the reason I'm there is for the food. I don't get chocolate creme-brule at home so I won't pass it up there.

 

I should stop eating it and gust directly apply to to my waist. Remember, a waist is a terrible thing to mind.

 

I do walk everywhere tho- I barely knew the Mariner had elevators.

 

Now... wheres that third lobster tail?

 

 

Dang it Ivan - I really want that third lobster tail and HURRY! Over the course of our seven day cruise I gain NINE pounds. That's a little more than a pound a day. I didn't go to the buffet once other than they first day to stock up on milk and fruits for our cooler. In my case, I think it was the airtravel and the extra salt in the food. I really don't eat salt at home.

 

I went to spinning class on the ship and our instructor told us that the reason that some of us will gain weight due to the movement of the ship. It screws with your equilibrium and retaining water is one of the symptoms as you try to balance out. Five days after being home, all nine pounds were gone again.

 

I'm not really worried about weight gain, don't look at the numbers. Are my clothes fitting me? Am I still high teens for bodyfat? Am I getting ready for my first triathlon? I don't worry about numbers. In fact, I brag to my freinds that I gained nine pounds!

 

Jeni

 

...who's thirty and trades clothes with her workout buddy's daughter. She's twelve and wears a bigger bra size and shoe size than I do! And she's taller than me too!

[ORANGEinINDY]

...our instructor told us that the reason that some of us will gain weight due to the movement of the ship. It screws with your equilibrium and retaining water is one of the symptoms as you try to balance out. ...

Thats my story... and I'm sticking with it!