My Wife and I are going on a cruise at the end of October. My question is this, how do I survive when cruises are known for their fabulous endless eating experiences and Chocolate buffetts?

Has any one gone on a cruise while low carbing and how did you make out?

Do the best you can but it is really impossible at dinner. The wife and I went on a cruise in August and I was able to do good at the buffets but the dinners are impossible as the waiter will bring you desert even if you tell them not to. Of course you can just not eat it but once it is in front of you it is pretty tough not to eat it. Most nights they will bring you two or three deserts. I was able to pass on the carbs that came with dinner(potatoes, rice, bread, etc.) other then the deserts. It was a 7 night cruise and I ended up gaining 5 lbs. It took me two weeks to get back to my pre-cruise weight so it basically set me back three weeks.

I just came off of a cruise on Friday, and had a blast. The strategy that my wife and I used (both of us are low-carbing) was that we were going to allow ourselves to splurge a little, but to not go crazy with the carbs.

What we ended up doing was avoiding starches (breads, pastas, gravies, etc), avoiding alcohol (my wife had an occasional glass of wine, I stayed away), but allowed ourselves one dessert per day. On some days we'd eat 1/2 of 2 different desserts instead. We always made certain to eat the sweets with the meal, rather than separate (to reduce some of the insulin spike).

We also carried along several maltitol sweetened chocolate bars, hard candies, and other low-carb sweets. This helped us to get through it for the most part.

We both gained 3 lbs during the cruise, and had already decided that we would re-enter the induction phase immediately following the cruise to burn off whatever we gained. I'm guessing that it will be a 2-3 week setback, which I feel was well worth it.

The bottom line for us was to make a plan prior to the cruise but not beat ourselves up if we slipped a little bit. We have plenty of time to recover after the cruise, but only a week to enjoy the cruise.

Other than a bit of advance planning, don't worry too much about it until AFTER the cruise, then just keep doing whatever has been working. Life's too short to ruin a good cruise by being TOO regimented.

Just my opinion!

Personally I thought it was easier than ever on the cruise. Where else do you have a virtually endless amount of prepared steaks, lobster, crab, ham, hamburgers (no bun) and other great stuff? You can ask for Sugar Free Jello if you want. They keep sugar free deserts in great supply for the diabetic population...

Hope you have fun on your cruise! Don't allow yourself "A week off". You will most certainly regret it!

-Rick