The whole reason I began this WOE was to drop some weight for a planned cruise this summer.

I returned from my cruise 2 weeks ago. I had the best intentions in the world of controlling myself before the trip, but after just 45 minutes on the ship, I was at the buffet. I did fairly well the first day (there are low-carb choices everywhere) and then completely blew it the remaining 6 days. The only exception is that I stuck with lc alcholic drinks. We went to the Caribbean, so fruity-tooty frozen tropical drinks were being offered left and right, but I resisted that margarita I wanted to badly! I smuggled some vodka and diet tonic (shhh! don't tell) onboard, and had a couple of drinks in my cabin each night. If I ordered a drink at the bar, I ordered vodka and diet sprite (no diet tonic of course). Our ship had an awesome workout facility which I scoped out shortly after boarding (before I found the buffet). Unfortunately, I just couldn't seem to find it again once the ship left port! The final nail in my lc coffin was the pool cafe that offered pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and nachos 24 hours a day. The worst part is that I had to walk right by it to get to my cabin. The cafe servers knew me by name at the end of the cruise! Yep, I completely blew it, but had the time of my life!

Now, here's the score card: I gained 5 pounds in one week! I was sick about it and even posted here the day I returned and saw the scale. HOWEVER, once I got back to eating my normal induction foods and exercising 45 minutes a day, all of the weight I'd gained was gone within 5 days! That's 7 days of eating everything I wanted and 5 days to take it off.

You know yourself better than anyone. If you've got the willpower, go for it! If you lose control like I did, it's not the end of the world. My advice is to enjoy yourself. If you're miserable because you want all the hc foods you see, indulge a little. Oh yeah, and avoid those buffets!