Losing Weight on Vacation in Hawaii

How we lost weight on a Hawaii Vacation

Before we moved to Hawaii, we frequently visited the islands to relax and get rejuvinated. We also had a goal of losing weight on vacation while still having fun!

On one our trips to Waikiki we suceeded, even while surrounded by amazing restaurants. Our goal was accomplished by combining our vacation with walking and watching our calorie intake. In the first six days we lost 15 pounds between us.We did it while having a really fun time and occationally eating out. Everyone in our family lost weight and we maintained it when we got home by continuing to eat less and exercise. It turned out to be a pivotal trip for us to get relaxed and get into shape so that we could make even more progress when we got back home.

We selected a comfortable and affordable condo near, but not on, the beach. That way, we had more room to stretch out, a kitchen, and it required that we walk every day to get to the beach and to get to coffee in the morning. Also, the vacation rental didn't have incredible buffets and easy access to food which we find hard to resist in Hawaiian hotels. Keeping food out of reach gave us lots of excuses to walk which really added up.

We brought three things with us on the trip to support our personal weight loss program. We put the extra stuff in a box that we checked in with our luggage (this was before the crazy fees for added luggage). The three things were 1) a scale to track our progress (we like instant feedback) 2) an electric grill to cook fresh fish easily and with minimal oil (George Foreman grills are our favorite) and 3) pedometers for everyone in the family to track our daily exercise progress. We brought these things, rather than buying them in Oahu, to make sure we had them immediately (in case they weren't easy to find nearby). We also brought good walking shoes, socks, comfy shorts and pants, and loose shirts to keep cool.

Once we were settled into the condo, we did a baseline check of our weights with the scale we brought. Then we headed to the grocery store to load up on veggies and fresh fish, the wonderful bounty of Hawaii.

Here's how we did it:
Walking: We woke up early, before the heat of the day, to make our daily pilgrimage to a Starbucks. Starbucks are everywhere in Waikiki and they open early. We usually headed to the Starbucks in the lobby of the Outrigger Reef Hotel and then sat on a bench outside watching the ocean waves and people going by before heading back to the condo. The walk to coffee and back was over a mile. The day had hardly begun and we had already gotten in a mile of walking!

We walked to the grocery store (Food Pantry), walked to ABC stores for water, newspaper, and fruit, walked to lunch. We walked to everything. A check of our pedometers and we were amazed at how quickly the steps added up. At first we could only do 2 to 3 miles a day. We got blisters and sore legs. But over time, we were able to get to 5 miles a day and the blisters and soreness went away. Soon we were covering the distance faster and faster. This amazed us, since when we arrived, we were really out of shape.

waikiki walk

Counting calories: We each had daily calories goals. We didn't always make the goal, but we were more aware of what we ate and usually got close. The combination of walking and lower calories really added up during the vacation. Since we were on vacatio, we just slept when we were tired rather than using food to stay awake. After all the walking, falling asleep was easy.

Eating fish. With the electric grill, eating fresh fish was really simple. In Waikiki fresh fish is available at the Food Pantry (on Kuhio) or in the Ala Moana mall at Foodland. You can get fresh Ahi (tuna), Marlin, Ono, or Mahi Mahi. With our fish cooker, we would plug it in and heat it for 5 minutes, spray it with Pam, and throw on fish filets to cook for 5 minutes. The taste was amazing, the fish was filling, we got our protein, omega-3 oils with minimalcalories. .We ate fish with an egg in the morning and fish for dinner. That left us with excess calories for lunch at a restaurant and a glass of wine at night. We found ocean view restaurants with incredible salads and ate burgers without the buns.

We like a challenge and goals, so creating a challenging goal as a part of our vacation and meeting it, made it even more enjoyable. Every day we logged the number of miles we walked, the number of calories we ate, the number of hours we slept, and any other actions that we had taken to benefit our health (swimming or other types of exercise). We focused on measurable actions done that day to improve our health and fitness.

Every evening we took long walks up and down the beach and found new places to watch the sunset. It was daily exercise with romance.

At the end of the vacation we felt relaxed, rejuvenated, and we lost weight! It was a great vacation!