Cruise Tips about Healthy Eating on Cruises
Taking a cruise is about relaxing and not worrying about the things that commonly plague us at home. Which is great. But there are some things that one should still be aware of, and take caution with, even if you are on vacation and on a cruise.
photo courtesy healthyfood4life
The most common thing cruise passengers tend to forget about on their cruise, is eating sensibly.
Proof of this is in the fact that most cruise passengers put on between 4 and 12 pounds in the space of a 7 day cruise.
Excuses trying to alleviate the guilt range from, “It only happens once a year!” to “You’ve go to have fun at some time in your life”.
Obviously, over indulgence and weight gains of that nature are hugely unhealthy, and it’s no excuse saying that it doesn’t matter because it only happens once or twice a year.
There are several ways you can make sure that you take care of your health (and your waistline) without necessarily ruining the fun of a cruise.
1: Don’t let food be the main focus of your cruise
The first and most basic rule when taking a cruise is to try and not let the food be the main focus. As tempting as all the exotic dishes and fancy linen clad restaurant scenes may be, and no matter how pleasant it is not to have to prepare it all yourself, over-indulgence is not a good idea - for obvious reasons.
2: Avoid double entrées and triple desserts
The first very common thing highlighting cruise passenger food over-indulgence that amazes the crew of Prow’s Edge is the number of cruise passengers who claim they cannot make their minds up between the choices on the menu and order two entrees at every meal. Some even order several desserts - using the same excuse. And some do this at every meal.
The truth is, that no matter how tempting this might be, and even if everyone else at your table is doing it, ordering two entrees or several desserts at one meal is simply greed and cannot do you any good – especially done moments before you slide into bed without any further movement.
In fact, you’re more likely to enjoy the exotic things if you pace your consumption and control your appetite.
3: Try the “healthy” menu options
Even if you can’t resist the lovely restaurants and all that food, most cruise ships now offer an abundance of healthy options on the menu.
This doesn’t mean you have to stick with tasteless, fat free foods and discard the glass of wine with your meal. It just means that once in while you can avoid the full cream sauce on your steak and add a salad to it instead, or even discover some exotic and very tasty, healthy alternatives you might well want to try at home.
4: Eat smaller portions
If the attraction of all the meals offered on board a cruise ship every day is just too much to avoid, the thing to do is to eat smaller portions.
While this may sound a too obvious way to avoid over indulgence on a cruise, what few people know is that eating 5 small meals a day is in fact far healthier than eating 3 huge meals – something most of us do at home.
Eating smaller meals more frequently than larger meals can in fact avoid huge increases in weight.
The added advantage of a cruise is that you have the luxury of someone else preparing 5 meals instead of just 3.
5: Eat at a slower pace
Another somewhat unknown trick of those wanting to avoid overeating and weight gains, is to slow down the pace of eating.
It has actually been discovered that the brain registers the feeling of fullness (the proof that you have had enough) about 15 minutes after that state has actually been reached. The slower you eat, therefore, the better the chance of the satiated feeling from the brain has to kick in before you eat too much.
6: Cut back on all the treats and snacks
You have to have fun on a cruise and spoil yourself with the things you wouldn’t necessarily indulge in when you’re at home, but being on a cruise is not an excuse to over indulge in peanuts at the bar or the chocolates left on your pillow at night.
Spoil yourself with these treats in moderation. Some regular cruise passengers have written to Prow’s Edge and have told them how they save half the special chocolate treats they find on their pillows at night and can then enjoy them on special days at home for weeks to come.
Of course, taking a cruise is all about having fun, spoiling yourself to some degree and treating yourself to things you would never have at home.
The trick is doing it all in some kind of moderation, and, in fact, doing so will make you appreciate the treats much more and the cruise will be all the more pleasantly memorable because of it.
