How I Lost Weight on a 15-Day Cruise

Imagine my surprise, upon returning from my 15-day fortieth anniversary cruise with the lovely Robin, to discover that I had actually lost a couple pounds on the trip! Me. Who usually gains weight from thinking about food. It's true. But it wasn't by accident.

So how did it happen?

1. The lovely Robin and I ate like royalty but we intentionally stayed away from the 24-hour buffet on the ship. We started each day with room service breakfast (see here) but otherwise ordered from the menu in one of the ship's elegant dining rooms. That way, while we did have multiple courses, we also had set portions at nearly every meal (we did eat three meals in the buffet, I think, due to scheduling and availability). Overall, we ate well but never once felt stuffed while on board the Grand Princess.

2. I exercised every morning when the ship was at sea (except one day) in the ship's fitness center (above). That totaled nine exercise sessions, I think.

3. We snacked only on fruit, which was available (and free) in our room 24/7. Well, we also had an ice cream cone most evenings. But again, we stayed out of the buffet.

And that was about it. Not rocket science. And it didn't require a lot of effort. But it sure worked for me.