Should you follow your meal plan while on vacation?

I often have clients ask how to approach a vacation in terms of whether or not to stay on plan. My answer to them is always “it depends.”

Are you dieting for an event, photo shoot, or a competition that you are in the homestretch of? If so, I recommend staying on plan as best you can while maybe allowing an off-plan meal or two. 

If not, and you are dieting with no specific end goal in site, I recommend enjoying your vacation without worrying about strictly following a meal plan. Of course you would still want to be mindful of what and how much you are eating so that you don’t go completely overboard. To add to that, you would have to be accepting of the fact that you may regress in progress while going off plan on your trip. With that in mind, there is nothing wrong with enjoying the occasional vacation without strictly following a meal plan, if you choose to do so.

There are also people who really enjoy staying on plan while they are on vacation, no matter where they are in their journey, just because they enjoy the structure of the plan. And that is ok too.

Ultimately, it depends on the situation.