It could be hard to be a happy loser on vacation.
If you’re losing by restricting your food choices, there’s no happy in that. If you’re eating too much and you’re reversing your losing progress, there’s no happy in that either.
Maine is Vacationland and what better thing to do on vacation than enjoy all the tasty treats of Maine while you continue to lose weight? It sounds like the impossible dream!
Maine vacations eats might include lobster – in rolls, steamed, or baked and stuffed, fried clams, fish and chips or fries made with hand cut Maine potatoes. Those are quintessential summertime favorites on the menu in Maine.
Maine is famous for its blueberry pies, and buckles, whoopee pies and saltwater taffy. So much good food, but what do the losers do under such tempting conditions? How do losers stay in control?
Don’t worry, I’ll share how to eat like a loser and indeed, be a loser, while eating any of the delicious famous Vacationland food! Knowledge and attitude are all you need to maintain your losing ways while enjoying your favorite Maine culinary delights.
It’s a matter of Attitude! No Fatitude allowed!
Knowledge and attitude help you make and stick to a plan, although sometimes Plan A must be hastily adjusted to become Plan B or C or even D! The secret is flexible restraint.
1. Identify your treat. Limit yourself to one treat in a single day so think hard about what you really want. Is it worth it? Fries made with hand cut Maine potatoes is so worth it. Fries from a fast food restaurant you can buy virtually anywhere, meh, not so much. 
2. Investigate your treat. Asking questions is okay. How is it made? How big is the serving size? Do you have a kiddy size or a small bite size available? Is there any way to take out some of the calories without sacrificing the yum factor?
3. Work the rest of the day around your treat. This is not hard to do. If you have a high calorie treat, eat a lot of low energy density, highly nutritious foods to compensate. Don’t rely completely on being a loser by restricting calories, go find some fun ways to burn some extra calories too.
Instead of starving yourself to save calories for a treat, why not spend more time playing and earn some extra calories to use towards that treat?
4. Prepare your attitude. There is nothing bad, wrong, or sinful about indulging in a tasty treat. Remove those associations from anything involving eating. Preparing your attitude is removing guilty thoughts and replacing them with empowering words.
I like the word risk because it’s only through taking risks can we grow, get stronger, ad get what we want. It’s worth taking a risk. Taking risks builds confidence when your risk gives you the desired outcome. If you get a different outcome, risk takers know how to recover quickly and find the action that will result in the winning outcome.
Partial list of calories* in favorite Maine Summer treats
Treat Calories
- DQ soft serve small vanilla cone 230
- 2 scoops of ice cream on a sugar cone 350
- 4 pieces of saltwater taffy 110
- 1 Wicked whoopee pie 290
- 1/12 of 9″ blueberry pie 360
- Blueberry pie à la mode 410
- Blueberry buckle 319
- Lobster roll 300
- Small ham Italian sandwich w/cheese 760
- Fish and chips 950
- Fried clams 407
*calories listed represent approximate count in an average serving. Actual calories may vary, but it’s better to account for average calories than simply say, “I don’t know and I’m blowing my diet anyway, so who cares how much I eat! Might as well just eat as much as I can until I can’t eat another thing!”
You can do it. Take risks, grow stronger, find out the power you have within you!
One final word of caution!
Eat like a winning loser, not a pathetic loser.
Winning losers take risks and make good choices that help them stay satisfied, fulfilled and confident. If they make a wrong turn, they get right back on track because they stay focused on the goal. The learn from mistakes and then let them go.
Pathetic losers make choices they regret, blame it on whatever convenient excuse they can find, beat themselves up for being too weak to successfully manage their weight, and eventually give up altogether even though success was right within their reach.
