I fall victim to the "gateway" foods and fall down the slippery slope. I try not to, but it is hard to have something and then not try to justify another indulgence for me. So I try to avoid it. One thing I do allow myself, is to indulge on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just let myself have whatever I want on those days, and then think nothing of it afterwards. A long vacation is a little harder, I tend to IF on vacations, it helps make more time for everything else, and it ultimately limits the damage. I would say if this was a regular occurrence, then you should probably avoid the slippery slope, but if it is for 2-3 vacation weeks spread through the year, it probably isn't doing much damage, unless you have some sort of autoimmune issue or reactions to certain foods.

Most likely the sudden weight gain and subsequent weight loss is related to you being in a carb depleted state. When you have a sudden excess of carbs, your body stores them as glycogen, which must also store excess water to stabilize it. The body can store 400-500g of glycogen, and about 3-4 times that much in water tied to the glycogen. I would try to avoid falling off the wagon as far, but overall it isn't really going to hurt you a lot in the long run. Good Luck!

I'm personally of the opinion that vacations and holidays are the times when you SHOULD indulge a bit. Those are times that are meant to be spent with family and friends enjoying yourself and having a good time, and food is one of the things that contributes to that happiness. Now to be clear, there is a world of difference between letting yourself have a slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving and spending a week-long vacation doing nothing but stuffing your face.

Recently, while on a family vacation in Florida, I fell victim to this mindset (ate about 20 chicken wings while out to dinner with the family one night, 2 hotdogs/hamburger/potato salad at family BBQ the next night, among many other things) and actually ended up in the ER at 2am from a gull bladder attack.

Point being, I think your day-to-day life is when it's important to stay the course eating-wise and special occassions like vacations and holidays are when you should indulge a bit, as long as you do it in moderation. Don't make the same mistake I did, nurses tend to laugh at you when they ask the reason for your ER visit and you respond "Hot wings. So many hot wings."

I'm so thankful you posted this question, as I lost 8 lbs doing two back-to-back Whole30s, then went on vacation and ate anything and everything I wanted and was unable to workout. So I gained 7 lbs in two weeks. I started a third W30 11 days ago and have not yet lost the weight. I was beginning to wonder if Paleo won't work for me anymore. But the glycogen explanation makes sense. So I'll stay the course resuming my exercise program as well as eating 100% clean and never go that far off the wagon again.

many people have a wrong belief that fasting helps in reducing weight, but it actually depletes the essential vitamins and minerals present in the body. Physical exercise helps in reducing the amount of calories present in the body. It is necessary to work out as hard as possible depending upon the amount of excessive calories present in the body.Drink as much water as possible, as it helps in diluting the concentration of excessive chemical substance present in the body.