True Confessions

It was just as I had imagined…

This is a photo I took in Glacier Bay. I know that this picture doesn’t do it justice. Alaska was, in a word– breathtaking! I had such a great time, and saw so many amazing things that I hope to share with you a bit at a time over the days to come. Speaking of you, I’ve missed you! I haven’t had internet access this week so I haven’t been able to post, and I also haven’t been able to keep up with all of my bloggie buddies! I’m hoping my google reader hasn’t exploded!

It was a fabulous week, and I’m sorry that vacation had to end. I heard a man say “enjoy reality” as I was stepping off of the boat. His sarcasm was appreciated as I headed back to work and the daily grind, but he probably didn’t know that there are some things about reality that I really am going to enjoy. First of all, I will be happy not to have options like the one below staring me in the face every morning (and close by just about any other time of the day…):

Don’t worry. I have some beautiful sights to show you, but, since food is the main event in my usual blog posts, I thought I might as well get the “true vacation confessions” part of my trip out of the way since I’m back on the wagon and trying to focus on the positives after a week of, well, pretty unhealthy choices.

In the previous post, I listed several goals for myself during my vacation. I can tell you that my pants are most definitely too tight, and a quick and ill advised impromptu hop on the scale revealed a number that even I wouldn’t have imagined. Having said that, I enjoyed myself and the food that I ate (even if I didn’t enjoy the over-full sensation I experienced on SEVERAL occasions… Food Aversion Therapy (FAT) reared its head more than once…) As predicted, I’m more excited than sad to return to my usual fare, and there is something to be said for that. How did I do with my goals? Here is my honest appraisal.

• Make sure to drink the usual 100 ounces of water a day: I ordered 10 big bottles at the beginning of the week and worked on them all week long. I didn’t quite drink 100 ounces a day, but I got quite close on many days and even exceeded it on a few others. This is a goal that I like because I remember the days when I didn’t drink water at all. The fact that I make it a priority and typically enjoy drinking it now is evidence of a definite lifestyle change. I did pretty well with this one. Yay!!
• Visit the gym each day: Well… I did better than I would have a few years ago, but I can’t say I did a very good job of meeting this goal. I didn’t make it to the gym on the days I was traveling to and from Alaska, and I didn’t go on the days when I had excursions. I went on Tuesday for an hour, and then I never graced the door again. There were a few days with no activity at all. My long hike in Juneau was definitely a work-out (and a fabulous experience, by the way…), but my other excursions, although active, weren’t quite as strenuous. It could have been much much better, but it could have been worse. I think that scheduling lots of fun physical activities is a big key for me on vacation. That’s one way to make sure I get some activity into my day without having to put in my usual gym workout. Lesson learned. 

• Try to eat as much fresh stuff as possible: If the goal had been “try to eat as much fresh stuff as possible,” I would have scored 100%. Hee hee. All kidding aside, I definitely ate fresh fruits and vegetables at each meal, and I know that, in times past, I probably would have zipped right past them and gone straight to the pastries. Instead, I had fruit AND pastries… and bacon. For example, a breakfast would usually resemble this plate that includes a pile of fruit salad as well as a pear in my bowl of oats:

I was so glad that there were oats every morning as well as lots of cool things to add to them! The plate above was typically followed by something that looked like this:

Carbalicious! A typical lunch started with 2/3 of a huge plate of salad (mostly veggies but with a few goodies) and a sampling of whatever random offerings were on the buffet that day. 

Buffets are so weird. Don’t get me wrong. I ate more than my fair share this week, and I enjoyed most of it, but I still prefer to have things that make sense together. A wonton, baked beans, curried chicken and pasta in cream sauce are unlikely friends. My problem is that I like to try everything. That also goes for the desserts:

That brings me to the fourth goal–

• Remember that tasting is fine and cleaning the plate is not necessary: I hate to waste food, so I didn’t set out to be wasteful. However, things did get left on the plate if they just weren’t very good. There were a number of things I tried over the first few days that proved to be less than stellar, and I didn’t choose those again. Some days, however, there were so many things I wanted to try that I’d make a plate like the one above and nibble my way through. Sometimes I ate it all, but there were often some things that didn’t make the cut. I’m happy not to have a dessert buffet in my kitchen on a daily basis. Yikes! I’m glad that there were at least some fruits and veggies involved, but I was definitely craving a menu heavy in fruit and veg upon my return home. 
• Don’t overdo it on things I could have any day: I realized that this goal wasn’t really very helpful in a cruise ship atmosphere because I could have almost anything on any day. That includes the desserts. I wouldn’t have them ALL on the same healthy eating day, but I usually manage to work a few in here and there. This goal sort of morphed into my eating all the things I wouldn’t have on any old day, and eating them in abundance. I tend to lose all reason with regard to eating on vacation, even though I’m fully aware that my choices have consequences. I could have made much better choices and still had a good time. I hope to remind myself of that fact in the future. I would also have had even more fun if I hadn’t felt stuffed and sluggish on multiple occasions. Note to self: pastries are available anytime and it isn’t necessary to try to eat them all during a one week period.
• Be kind to myself: This goal really kicked in a few days ago when I realized that my clothes weren’t fitting correctly. Honestly, I’ve been beating myself up more than I would like. I enjoyed myself, but I know that I went overboard and let my sweet tooth run rampant. Instead of the “Love Boat,” I was sailing on the “Sugar Ship.” Vacation should be enjoyed, but that doesn’t mean eating everything in sight. Striking that balance is one of the hardest things of all for me, but I’ll keep working on it. 

Today I got back on track, had a great workout and renewed my commitment to healthy eating. Feeling stuffed into my clothes gave me a glimpse of what my future could be like if I stopped fighting the good fight, and it wasn’t a nice sight. I already feel better after a day of normal eating, and I’m sure that, as the days and weeks pass, the scale will move back in the right direction. If you are a person who struggles with these sorts of things the way that I do, you know that the most important thing is to get right back on the healthy path and look forward rather than wallowing in a slip up and exacerbating the problem. My feet are firmly on the positive path, and I know that I’m headed in the right direction.

Before I go, I thought I’d share one more photo from my trip. This is me on the ship as we are leaving College Fjord. It was truly a beautiful place, and I can’t wait to share more photos and tidbits about my trip over the next few posts. In case the smile on my face doesn’t give it away, I had a great time.:-) Ciao for now, and I’ll catch you later!