Cruising seems to be synonymous with the phrase “all you can eat”. The ship’s culinary team does offer a large variety of our favorite foods and, for the most part, they do it well. If you aren’t careful, you can walk (or waddle) away gaining several pounds. If you gain just one pound (3500 calories), that would take the average woman six hours of running to burn just that one pound! Here are some tips I used to keep the weight off (and I did- not one pound gained).

• Stay hydrated! Drinking water keeps your energy high and helps keep you feeling full.
• Don’t drink your calories! The ship offered a souvenir cup that allowed you to have unlimited soda refills for $6/day. And when you pay, you want to get the most bang for your buck so you will drink more than usual.
• Our ship had a “Vitality” menu. These were lower calorie meals and were marked on the menu so you could knowingly make a healthy selection.
  

  Seared Sea Bass with Lentils

• Indulge a bit! You can treat yourself to a couple of special choices. Just make sure they are something you really want rather than just eating it because it’s in front of you or its available. My indulgence was an authentic Mexican meal – garbanzo bean soup, chicken nachos shared with my husband, and sizzling chicken fajitas. Even our friend commented on how much I ate at lunch!
  

  Chicken Nachos

• Plan, plan, plan! Earlier in the day, before you dine, take a look at the menu (preferably when you are NOT hungry) and decide what you would like and stick with it. If you are at the buffet, look at the all the selections before you start loading your plate. Choose the items that you really want and enjoy those. Fill your plate mainly with healthy foods and take just a small serving of high caloric dishes. If you have an option to be served rather than going to the buffet, that may be a better choice if that will keep you from overloading your plate.
  

  My typical breakfast - egg white omelet

• Remember how sluggish and miserable you feel when you are stuffed from overeating. Having a dysfunctional digestive system on a trip is no vacation at all if you ask me!