Before you leave for an extended trip, you hear all kinds of rumours from friends, on forums and blogs and through word-of-mouth. Many of them involve whether or not you’re likely to lose weight.
I heard several different ones, including that only men lose weight while travelling and women put on weight (that was a really nice one to hear when you’re nerve-wracked about picking up and leaving as it is!), or that women lose weight, but only if they travel to certain countries.
The truth? Most of it is absolute rubbish.
Of course, everybody is different, so some of these fables may have been true in certain circumstances.
But they are not the blueprint by which we should all live our (travelling) lives.
In my case, I would have to say that my weight has only fluctuated very slightly while travelling long term.
I tend to be quite lucky in that ever since I hit puberty, my weight has never gone higher or lower than, say, two or three pounds each way on the scale, depending on whether I was on a weight loss program or not. (I have no doubt that this will probably change as I get older. Eeek!)
But then I started travelling to new countries and experiencing new food and, sometimes, some scary bacteria (remember my experience in Mexico City?) You tell yourself that you wouldn’t be doing justice to a certain country if you didn’t experience all of the culinary delights that they had to offer.
I have discovered that that kind of mentality usually leads you down the wrong path.
In Italy, while discovering all of the culinary delights it had to offer, I was scoffing ice cream, rich pasta dishes and plenty of pizza and bread.
No-one can tell me I was going to stay trim if I kept that up for any period of time.
In Malaysia, all of the culinary delights tended to focus around a distinct lack of dairy and very little bread. Hygiene levels are also not as high as at home, meaning that you can more easily get a stomach bug.
So, naturally, I lost weight there. (Although I’m pretty damn sure all of the sweating in the humidity had something to do with it too).
 |
But I would never say that this was a healthy way to lose weight.
For one, I was missing many nutrients that I usually get in my daily life back in the UK, not least the calcium from dairy products and the fibre from bread and wheat products.
I felt tired all the time and my hair and skin looked dull. It was lucky that I had a tan to hide what I’m sure would have been a terrible, pasty sight.
Since leaving Asia and travelling in Western countries, I would say that my weight has returned to its original status. And I feel much happier about it.
I am now more focused on trying to eat healthily and get enough nutrients, rather than just sampling all of the amazing, but ultimately unhealthy, treats in every country I visit (although I still eat my fair share).
I won’t pretend that travelling can’t have an effect on your weight. It definitely can.
But it isn’t always in a good way and it isn’t always permanent.
Try not to worry about it too much while travelling, but instead try and stay healthy and happy in terms of being strong and well. Not because of what the scales say.
It is much better for you come home injury and ailment free and stock up on natural health products than it is to eat terribly abroad and leave yourself with lifelong health problems.
Weight isn’t everything, but health and amazing experiences definitely are.
Leave a Reply