Being active and enjoying yourself in moderation are the keys to maintaining your weight on vacation.

Mai tais and margaritas. Fancy French cheeses and deep-fried coconut shrimp. Chocolates on your pillow. The list of enticements you’re likely to find while on vacation is endless.

And while there’s nothing wrong with trying new foods and enjoying yourself when you’re away from home, unbridled indulgence could leave you with as much as 5 extra pounds in a week’s time.

“There’s no question many people have a tendency to overeat and drink too much when they’re on vacation, and as a result they often come home with more than memories,” says Katherine Tallmadge, a registered dietitian in Washington, D.C., and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. “That said, with a little planning and forethought, you can have a great time and maintain your weight.”

Tallmadge offers the following strategies to help you enjoy your vacation and limit any extra weight to your baggage.

• Be as active as possible.
  “Often your ability to maintain your weight on vacation depends on how much you walk,” says Tallmadge. “For example, if you’re on a sightseeing tour of a major city and you walk five or six hours a day, you’re more likely to maintain your weight than if you’re sunning yourself on a beach chair at the shore.”

  No matter where you are, find ways to be as active as possible. Take the stairs, work out in your hotel’s fitness center, dance at the disco—do whatever gets you on your feet.

• Moderate your alcohol intake. Many people drink more on vacation than they do at home, and doing so can easily add up to 1,000 calories or more a day. In addition, after a drink or two, most people find it more difficult to stick to a moderate amount of food.

  Keep in mind that specialty drinks such as margaritas and piña coladas can have 400 to 600 calories.

• Keep some kind of structure to your mealtimes.
  “It’s easier to track your food intake if you stick to a mealtime schedule,” says Tallmadge. “The problem with some vacations is your mealtimes can become erratic; or you may be up late, sleep in, and skip breakfast, which can cause you to overeat at lunch and dinner.”

  To keep this from occurring, create a routine that’s consistent, even if it’s different from what you do at home. Eating every four hours or so will also make you less likely to grab a high-fat snack.

• Approach buffets with care. Many resorts and cruise lines offer buffet meals as a convenience. However, they can lead to high calorie and fat consumption if you plunge in without a plan.

  To keep your meal on the light side, load up on fresh fruit at breakfast and green salads at lunch and dinner. And resist the urge to fill your plate multiple times.

  “Buffets are usually ‘all you can eat,’ but that doesn’t mean you should,” Tallmadge says.

• Don’t accept the minibar key.
  “Trust me, aside from bottled water, everything else will be high in calories, not to mention overpriced,” says Tallmadge.
• Indulge—with limits.
  No one wants to feel deprived on vacation. On the other hand, if you go all-out at every meal, you could easily pack on a pound a day.

“Instead, pick one indulgence a day and enjoy it,” she suggests. “It’s really a balancing act. If you’re having dinner at the best restaurant in town, eat a light breakfast and lunch that day, and you’re more likely to break even as far as calories as concerned.”

Barbara Floria spoke with Katherine Tallmadge, R.D., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, and author of Diet Simple, Regnery Publishing, 2002, $21.95. For more information, visit www.eatright.org.

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