Aren’t you supposed to gain 10 pounds of fat when you go on a cruise? Everyone that I know who has been on a cruise has come back with a lot more belly fat. Even a personal trainer friend of mine recently gained weight during a recent cruise. So how is it that I returned from a Caribbean cruise having burned over a pound of fat in the process?

Upon my return from the cruise the #1 question that I was asked was, “How did you enjoy all that food?” Not, “How were the islands? What exciting things did you see? Or what were your favorite excursions?”

The entire focus was on food and the large quantities of it. Is this really why people choose to go on cruises? Is gorging yourself more fun and exciting than visiting beautiful places? Is stuffing yourself silly 24 hours out of the day the only way that you feel like you’ve gotten your money’s worth out of the cruise?

So how did I overcome this challenge?

Answer: I challenged it!

I said to myself and every person that I met the first day on the cruise that I would walk off of the ship in better shape then when I walked on, and I would have a lot of fun in the process as well as not restrict myself.

Prior to leaving for the cruise Angie and I set our fat loss goals for the next 3 months and we committed ourselves to following The Every Other Day Diet Plan. Most important, we committed ourselves to supporting each other during our fat loss journey.

This was actually a really big test for The Every Other Day Diet and it’s tag line “The Easiest Diet In The World”. After all, many diets claim to be easy, but once life gets in the way forget about it.

To be 100% honest with you it was actually easier to follow The Every Other Day Diet Plan during the cruise than it is at home. From my experience it’s easier to eat healthy on a cruise than it is at home.

One of the things that holds people back from eating healthy is the amount of time that it takes to prepare healthy meals. On the cruise ship all the vegetables were diced up nice and fresh so all you had to do was decide which of the endless amount of veggies you were going to pile on your plate today.

I started off each day with an omelet that was loaded with vegetables. For each and every meal after that I began by filling half my plate with Romaine lettuce and then loaded on cucumber’s, carrots, red peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds, kidney beans, chic peas, and a teaspoon of raspberry vinegar.

Then I would fill a quarter of my plate with steamed veggies like string beans, broccoli, and cauliflower. For the last quarter of my plate I chose from a variety of fish or chicken. It was great because the vegetables were always prepared different and the fish and chicken were prepared in a large variety of ways.

Angie and I still talk about how easy it was to eat well and wish that we could have it that easy at home. But still it really isn’t even that difficult at home.

I even indulged in desert a couple of times. The desert was always laid out on it’s own individual plate and the portions were just right. I had a nice small piece of chocolate fudge cake one night and a small bowl of melting chocolate cake another night. I enjoyed every second of it and was definitely satisfied.

I really don’t drink alcohol normally so avoiding it on the cruise was pretty easy. There were 2 days where I had on fruity island drink in a small glass.

I also worked out 6 of the 8 days. I spent 15 minutes doing interval training on the stationary bike or treadmill, and 15 minutes of incredibly intense weight training. So I didn’t feel like my workouts were taking away from my vacation, they actually enhanced it.

Here’s the interesting thing. I saw the exact same people in the gym each day and all of them were in great shape. I also saw these same people during meal time and they were doing the same thing that I was with loading my plate full of veggies and lean protein. Even more important, we were all having a blast and didn’t feel restricted.

Now let’s take a moment to discus what I noticed with the people who I’m sure gained 10 pounds during this 8 day cruise…

They would make several trips to one of the many ice cream stations throughout the day. They would consume a burger and fries or pizza one hour prior to lunch or dinner. The only activity that they did was lifting their alcoholic beverage from the table to their mouth or pulling the bar on the slot machine.

This was the perfect case study for role modeling. If you want to gain 10 pounds on a cruise then do what these people that I just described did. If you want to get in better shape while cruising, do what myself and the many other fit individuals did on the cruise.

Now you may be thinking that when you go on vacation you want to relax and enjoy yourself. I guarantee that all of us who ate well and exercised regularly on the cruise had a better time than those that didn’t.

It was obvious to me during excursions. The people who where out of shape and had stuffed themselves throughout the vacation were fatigued and couldn’t participate in many activities because of their weight, lack of energy, lack of strength, or lack of self-esteem.

This wasn’t a problem for those of us who were active.

It was even a bit upsetting to see people who were overweight laying out in the sun fully clothed because they were ashamed to show their bodies. And yes some people even told me this was how they felt. It upset me because I felt bad for them. I could only imagine what was going through their minds and how their entire life is effected by their weight.

This encouraged me to continue to do what I do and try to make this world a healthier place. It’s not fair that people have to feel this way when the tools to live a better life are readily available.

The mental boost that I received from getting in better shape during a cruise has been tremendous. I have taken the momentum from this success and riding it now that we are back home. From now on any so called obstacle that presents itself I will challenge. If someone tells me that something can’t be done. I will challenge them.

If you have a vacation or cruise coming up I encourage you to end the vacation in better shape then when you begin it. Model yourself after what the successful people do. You don’t have to gain weight like the majority of people tell you. You can decide that your health and body are worth the effort and attention necessary to be the best that you can be.

No matter what obstacle or challenge you are faced with during your fat loss journey, you can and will overcome it. Others have before you and you can do it now.

Have a totally awesome day!