France/Europe trip... RNY style!

At nearly three years out, I have stopped losing weight and am maintaining around where I want to be (155-160ish).  I was curious to see how I would do in France... since when we went to Spain two years ago I came back thinner than I had started, but I also had malabsorbtion and a smaller pouch back then.

So we went two weeks ago and came back yesterday.  I weighed myself this morning, and found to my delight that I was down five pounds from when I had left! 

A few things I learned:

That stuff you hear about portion sizes being smaller in France/Europe?  Nonsense.  I couldn't finish a single meal, and shared more with my boyfriend than I actually ate.

Hiking and biking to remote castle ruins is fun!  Lots more hiking this trip... sadly I still have the mindset of a larger person sometimes, and was very tentative going down steep inclines due to fear of losing balance (gravity and slippery rocks favor 155 pounds much more than 340 pounds).  But the BF bought me some nice hiking sticks, and I got over it.

I have never really had a problem with constipation post-RNY, unlike most people.  If anything, I tend to swing the other direction, consistency-wise.  Well this trip, I quickly had to learn the French word for laxative ("laxatif" in case anyone was wondering) before I exploded my stomach like a shipmate in Alien.  That was definitely a new experience! 

I could drink more this time too.  I still get way too wasted on way too little wine, but at least I could have two glasses a night this trip without walking like a toddler on Percoset.

And of course all the cool stuff I learned in my last international trip stayed the same... fitting in airline seats/seatbelts, renting bikes without getting sad/worried looks from bike shop owners, waiters asking me if I was unwell because I didn't finish my most-excellent meal, etc...

Audrey

Sounds amazing.  I have never been to Europe, but when I went to Australia back in 2000 I did find the meals didn't come with all the sides we traditionally have in the US, so they did seem smaller.  I could never got to Paris without trying some croissants though and butter. Yum.

I don't limit fat intake, never have, so butter wasn't a problem... but if I ate any amount of croissant or bread at a meal it really filled me up too much!  Food there isn't cheap, lol (especially in nearby Switzerland where we practically had to remortgage our house for a glass of water at a meal) so I tried to maximize quality and quantity, but it was tough!

Audrey

My dream has always been Paris, you are so lucky, glad you had fun!

You look amazing and so glad to hear that after 3 years you can go on vaca and even come home the same or a lower weight. Gives us relatively new newbies in maintenance hope!! My hubby and I are planning a European vaca for 2016 - can't wait!
Congrats to you.