Rules to cruise by…

As I’m sure you can tell, we’ve had a great time on our cruise; the people have been great and New Zealand is beautiful. Instead of telling more about the people and country, I’m going to talk about something else we’ve experienced- major weight gain.

Our first night at dinner our table mates (and experienced cruisers), Stephanie and Michael, shared some rules to follow to not gain weight on a cruise.

Rule 1: Don’t eat the bread at dinner

Rule 2: Don’t skip a course (not sure how this helps us not gain weight, but we liked the rule anyway)

Rule 3: Always take the stairs

Although we followed the rules (except the first one), we both managed to gain 5-10 lbs in 9 nights! As it turns out, they forgot one of the rules.

Rule 4: Don’t order drinks

Not that I think the drinks caused all of our weight gain, but the daiquiris, margaritas, martinis, and other drinks that we may have enjoyed were probably pretty high in calories. Still, I think that more than 4 rules are necessary to avoid gaining weight. Here are my additions. Hopefully they work better for me next time.

Rule 5: Weigh yourself everyday (so you’re not surprised at the end of the cruise that you’ve gained a pound a day)

Rule 6: Go to the gym at least once each day at sea

Rule 7: Avoid the buffet as much as possible

Rule 8: Eat only 3 meals a day and limit snacks to 1-2 small items

Rule 9 (this is Stephanie and Michael’s new rule): Have sex everyday

Rule 10: Bring Advil, allergy medicine, cold sore medicine, and Advil Cold and Sinus on board (this has nothing to do with weight gain, but it’s another rule to cruise by if you’re sickly like me)