I have the same thing every month. As long as I know that it will all go away I am fine with it. I did however discover that if I drank a lot more water during that time I didn't gain as much, and it went away faster.

As for the vacation thing. Just keep excercising. If you do that then it will be easier to stay on the right track. Just rememeber once you cheat it is hard to stop. I know... On Easter it has always been my job to make the pies and I REALLY love my coconut cream pie. I was really good with everything but thought that it would be okay to have that one piece and after that, it took me an entire week to stop cheating. You know a little here and a little there. It was horrible. I didn't gain any weight (thank God) but after all that time with not even a little cheating and then it took days to stop once I started. So try your best to keep up the good work otherwise, just don't get discouraged if you aren't as good as you plan. Just start each day with the right frame of mind and see how it goes from there. It asounds like you have a good head on your shoulders. I am sure that you will be fine.

Good Luck and have fun
Ell...