Ep 69: Vacation + Food Anxiety: Have a Good Time without Gaining Weight
06/2/22 | 23:46 | Episode 69
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Audible | Amazon | iHeart
Travel is often a source of anxiety for various reasons
Fear of having to put on a bathing suit
Fear of being seen after gaining the COVID 19, or more
Fear of gaining weight while on vacation
Fear of feeling deprived
We plan to eat all the things, essentially planning to overeat the entire trip– because if weight gain is inevitable, we might as well make it worth it!!
We stuff the guilt and shame we feel while overeating by numbing ourselves with more, and more food and drink, telling ourselves
I’ll make up for it when I get home.
You only live once!
I’m doomed to be overweight anyway so I might as well enjoy it
All of these thoughts may seem carefree and free-spirited in the moment, but if you dig a little deeper you’ll find that what’s underneath them are feelings of defeat and disappointment– two feelings most of us don’t want to feel on vacation.
Eliminate travel food anxiety and weight gain by…
Make a list of the top 3-5 feelings you want to have on your vacation and reverse engineer your experience from there
Plan to make REAL pleasure the priority
Don’t tolerate the Eff its!
Eat 2:2 on the hunger scale which you can learn for free at liapinelli.com, click on the black bar at the top of the page
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TRANSCRIPT
When I was my uncle worked for Alaska airlines which meant that his immediate family could fly for free, anywhere in the world.
How lucky, right? (Not lucky for me– I was extended family.)
But I noticed that they really didn’t travel much. When I was 19 I asked my aunt about it. “Why don’t you guys travel more?” and she said “You know, Lia, I would but when I travel I gain weight SO easily.”
Now, my aunt is a petite little Italian-Sicilian woman, no more than 5 feet tall and very slim. I remember empathizing with her because weight gain was ALWAYS a source of stress for me, but also I remember feeling sad… here was this woman who had access to FREE travel and yet didn’t take advantage of seeing the world because of a fear of weight gain!!
Now, in hindsight, I feel really sad because what I know now could have helped relieve her anxiety and that is exactly what I’m going to share with you on today’s episode, because travel is SOOOO important and the fear of weight gain is totally solvable.
Travel, women like us, is often a source of anxiety for various reasons
Fear of having to put on a bathing suit
Fear of being seen after gaining the COVID 19, or more
Fear of gaining weight while on vacation
So much FEAR around something that is supposed to be joyful and relaxing and yet it’s… not.
This desire to travel and feel free, coupled with fear and anxiety about travel, is what is called cognitive dissonance, meaning we want two seemingly incompatible things at the same time.
We want to enjoy our vacation which, for many of us, means eating all of the wonderful, local foods , and yet we want to not gain any weight in the process.
We think we can’t have both.
How can I possibly travel to Italy, eat pasta, gelato, and wine everyday and not gain weight? For me it’s the – come on!! So good.
But then idea of traveling and dieting is even worse– going to Italy and not eating what I consider to be the best food in the world– have you tried the fried Zabignone in Venice– that sounds like torture and a total waste of time.
So here’s what happens, we book the trip and then we typically go into what I call Eff it mode.
We plan to eat all the things, essentially planning to overeat the entire trip– because if weight gain is inevitable, we might as well make it worth it!!
We stuff the guilt and shame we feel while overeating by numbing ourselves with more, and more food and drink, telling ourselves
I’ll make up for it when I get home.
You only live once!
I’m doomed to be overweight anyway so I might as well enjoy it
All of these thoughts may seem carefree and free-spirited in the moment, but if you dig a little deeper you’ll find that what’s underneath them are feelings of defeat and disappointment– two feelings most of us don’t want to feel on vacation.
I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be this way.
You can 100% go on vacation, eat local foods, and not gain a bunch of weight.
I’ve maintained my 30 lb weight loss for nearly five years at the time of this recording and I’ve traveled a bunch. Plus I come from a big time foodie family where eating is THE focus of every gathering and I still maintain my weight loss, and you can, too.
Here’s how to do it:
Make a list of the top 3-5 feelings you want to have on your vacation
Feelings are generated from our thoughts, so decide ahead of time what you want to feel and then you can reverse engineer that experience.
For example, when I go to Tahoe every year for my family reunion, I want to feel deeply connected, relaxed, and fun (meaning have lots of fun!) None of those require overeating, or even focusing on food much. Now, my family is a big foodie family, so food is 90% of the time our collective focus, but stay tuned because I’m going to give you tips on how to deal with that in a moment. But to reverse engineer my top three feelings of deep connection, relaxation, and fun I’m going to plan to focus my energy on connecting with the humans in the room, creating space to relax by napping, bringing a good book, and planning to take lots of walks. And I’m intentionally going to bring my high vibbin’ self to the party because I’m here to have fun, not agonize over how “sinful” the nacho bar is. BTW, don’t make comments about how bad yummy foods are if you’re trying to bring the fun– nothing reeks worse of a buzz kill.
But let’s say I’m going to Italy, or Vietnam for example. My top three feelings there might be inspired, curious, and refreshed. Maybe trying new foods is a part of that, but overeating isn’t in any way included. In fact, it would push me further from those feelings, not closer. To generate those emotions I would focus on soaking in all that the destination has to offer, using all five senses, instead of just focusing on food. Food is included, but it’s not the focal point.
Now, as I mentioned about my foodie family, sometimes food is the focus and that’s ok! Food is not scary or bad in my world anymore, thanks to my own journey through my 90 Days to Food Freedom program and beyond. But when food is the focal point I make sure to enjoy it with all five senses, and incorporate it into the larger experience so that I get more satisfaction and fulfillment from it, intentionally not letting myself numb out and overeat.
Plan to make REAL pleasure the priority
Define real pleasure
Net positive vs. negative
Overeating never feels good, ever, so commit to not doing it.
Don’t tolerate any “eff its” – they never, ever lead to real pleasure
First 3 bites are the best
Eat 2:2 on the hunger scale
This one is huge!!
If you aren’t familiar with eating 2:2 on the hunger scale, check out my free 17 minute training video called Eating Without Fear which you can get at liapinelli.com so you can learn it today
This is the one that allows me to eat the freshly fried tortilla chips and homemade guac, the perfectly balanced Moscow Mules, and the warm french bread drizzled with really good quality Italian olive oil + oregano + chili flakes just like my grandfather used to eat all on vacation and not gain a pound. Foods like this every night.
Practicing eating 2:2 and committing to only eating when I’m hungry and stopping when I’m no longer hungry are key to enjoying it all and not gaining a bunch of weight on vacation.
Again, if you aren’t familiar with eating 2:2 on the hunger scale, check out my free 17 minute training video at liapinelli.com so you can learn it today
Recap:
Eliminate travel food anxiety and weight gain by…
Make a list of the top 3-5 feelings you want to have on your vacation and reverse engineer your experience from there
Plan to make REAL pleasure the priority
Don’t tolerate the Eff its!
Eat 2:2 on the hunger scale which you can learn for free at liapinelli.com, click on the black bar at the top of the page