Day 32 - Beck Diet Solution, Prepare for Travel

When you travel, whether it’s for business or pleasure, decide on a strategy for your plan.  BDS actually says most people find it unrealistic to strictly follow their plan so as to not gain any weight.  This often backfires, as people often get fed up at this point and throw in the towel.  It’s more realistic to allow for at least some weight gain.  But decide on what that strategy will be first, at least a week in advance.  Some strategies might be:

·       Let yourself eat a few hundred extra calories per day (this is what Dr. Beck does);

·       Follow your usual plan but allow for a few minor splurges;

·       Follow your usual plan for the whole time except the last day, when you can have a bigger splurge.

Any of these strategies might cause a small weight gain, but as long as you’ve been learning and applying the techniques learned thus far, that weight should come off after you get back home.

Other things you can do to minimize the weight you gain on your trip:

·       Exercise more – you could integrate this exercise into fun things you’ll already be doing on the trip, like sightseeing, hiking, water sports, etc.

·       Eat brunch instead of a breakfast and lunch – this will let you have more food at one sitting.

·       Carry food with you, like some portable favorites.

·       Have a fridge in your room so you can do shopping for your planned foods.

·       Have the hotel remove any alcohol from the room minibar.

·       Practice, practice, practice the tools you’ve already learned in this program.

When you’re on the way on, look back over the trip and ask yourself how you did.  Give yourself credit for everything you did right!  Watch out for STs telling you to avoid the scale when you get home – approach the scale saying “I might have gained a bit on this trip…that’s ok, I had planned a small gain…now that I’m home I can exercise my usual control over my food and environment and lose the weight again.”  Don’t crash diet – just let the weight come off naturally by following your usual plan.