Travel Health and Fitness - Losing too much weight during travel

Each time I travel, I seem to lose massive amounts of weight. When I am at home, I do not usually lose too much weight, but if I go somewhere far from home, for example to Canada, I lose weight quickly. I have always had a very slim build (I believe ectomorph), and I usually lose weight easily and hard to gain weight, but usually not massive amounts of weight. Last year I was 178 cm 64 kg when I left for Spain. A week later when I returned home, I weighed myself and I was 56 kg. So I basically lost 8 kg within 6-7 days. How is it that I lose so much weight when I go on holiday? I even eat three courses for dinner on holiday, which I never do at home, yet I lose weight so quickly.

I tried to gain weight since the past year because I felt I weighed too little. Thus, now I weigh about 77 kg. But when I went on holiday for a week a few days ago, I returned weighing 73 kg. Is it due to stress that I experience? I usually get nervous and stressed whilst travelling trying to organise and worry about becoming ill, but can that cause weight loss?

However, when I return home, I regain the weight.

Oh how I wish I had the same problem.

If this is a steady program you can replicate, there's a big market for it! :-)

While I do envy your problem I notice on different types of vacations I either gain or lose weight. I gain when I'm really vacationing and eating well, but when Im quite active I end up losing weight during the travels. As a NYer I already walk/bike quite a bit but also eat out a lot and drink like a fish so when you decrease the bad activities and increase the good the weight goes down.

Also a perspective could be that the food is different. Americans in general..we eat like crap. Highly processed/"enriched"/chemical based foods compared to the more natural foods I have in Spain, Italy and the Middle East.

Lol! I gain weight from the sky club snacks, airport junk, and who knows what. Please share your secrets.

Actually being slim is not the best, because I used to be very skinny/underweight and used to become ill very frequently due to this. But now I have gained weight to the normal range. The problem however, is that I still lose massive amounts of weight during travel. In 2009 I went on a two-week holiday and I went from 65 kg to 54 kg. I am not sure if it is related to stress because ironically I worry more on holiday than I do whilst at home, usually worrying about becoming ill or scheduling each day of the holiday. I also walk around more during holiday (at least a kilometre a day), but I do not think most people lose 9 kg in two weeks without trying to.

When I went to Spain last year, I lost 8 kg, but I was also ill after I perspired profusely and had to put on air conditioning, which is another problem in itself (see my other post), so probably catching cold lost me a few kilogrammes, but otherwise on holidays in which I do not become ill I still lose weight.

I'm very overweight. How I envy you . . .

Seriously now, losing that much weight in so few days means that you're losing mostly water, not fat or muscle. Not really a problem, if not happening in extremely hot climates, where it could lead to dehydration and low blood pressure which, in extremis, can bring you to faint.

You can easily prevents it drinking more liquids, preferably not pure water, but liquids with potassium and electrolytes, such as Gatorade or similar.

You didn't say if you are female or male or if you smoke cigarettes. However, regardless, being what is sometimes called ectomorphic will make a difference.

You did, however, say that you had been ill at one time because of being underweight, and you had worked to put on weight. That makes me wonder if cigarettes might be contributing to the situation. I had the same problem once, years ago, when I smoked cigarettes (cigarettes discontinued long since :)) since the combination of cigarettes and being underweight in those years--and maybe adding in the additional factors of lack of sleep or adjusting to different climate or different time zone--can make a person more susceptible to whatever germs and viruses are floating around out there.

I do agree with the last poster, however, who indicated that it is probably water loss. At least a lot of it could be, though not necessarily all. In your case, maybe you just tend to shed pounds naturally anyway, and combined with water loss, you could easily be showing more loss than would other people. And, as many people will tell you, the "difficulty in gaining weight" is a problem that will likely go away in time. : )

ETA: OP, I have just read your other thread in this forum, about being ultra-susceptible to temperatures that wouldn't bother most people. So I have to ask: Have you seen a physician about this? It sounds unusual, if you don't mind my saying so, and maybe ought to be checked out. If you've always been this way, maybe just an unusual anomaly, but if it has developed gradually over the years, you might ought to ask about it. Hyperthyroidism a possibility? ? ? ?

I have normal T3/T4 levels, but in the other thread I referred to how for my entire life I can tolerate very cold temperatures but not hot (most people consider moderate or warm) temperatures. I am male and have never smoked cigarettes in my life. I refer to the underweight as during my childhood, I had been ill often during childhood because I was always underweight since not only am I ectomorphic but I did not eat much. In this thread I refer to how during holiday I seem to eat much good food that is quite heavy with a lot of kilojoules (especially paella when I went to Spain last year :)), but I lost 8 kg. So perhaps it was water loss because I perspired so profusely from the 25-35 C Madrid summer temperatures, which was extremely unpleasant. It was just alarming to return home and step on the scale to see I lost 8 kg in 6 days.

I tend to lose weight when I'm on vacation and not visiting family. I think that this is because I do a lot more exercise with all the walking and site seeing. Somehow I just don't feel it (other than sore feet and early bed times) because I don't think of it as exercise. I also find that I don't eat as frequently. I'll have a big breakfast and might not have more than a soda or candy bar until dinner. I think that a lot of my calories are consumed between meals and all the exercise makes up for the fattier foods I eat on vacation. I think that I eat more protein on vacation, too. I never have a meal without meat. Protein is more filling than the carbs I'd normally eat.

I tend to lose weight when I'm on vacation and not visiting family. I think that this is because I do a lot more exercise with all the walking and site seeing.

I'm the same way. If I'm visiting/touring a place, I usually only eat 2 meals a day (breakfast can be HUGE though), and do a ton of walking. I was trying to figure out how much walking we did per day in Rome last year...I'd guess 5 miles. Plus I was still doing some swimming and running.

But if I visit my Mom...there's always food around. Yes I'll run, but when not visiting relatives and such I spend quite a bit of time sitting and watching tv.

I was with the other post that thought thyroid, but you said you had Normal T3/4 based upon the lab ranges? Did you (your Dr) ever check for TSI ? And what about your TSH?

I guess it could be stress & walking more, but in the meantime, make sure to stay hydrated re the high temperatures & sweating...

First time I've heard of this sort of body type classification. Interesting.