Saturday, December 11, 2010

Vacation Update #2

VACATION UPDATE #2

Ok, I started off the trip doing fairly well, but then I have to say following the ‘rules’ were put aside for the rest of the trip. Yes, I did have some excellent, very healthy meals throughout the trip, but I also had some very high calorie desserts and meals I know were made of ‘who knows what ingredients’ and processed bases. Did they taste good? Yes – they tasted quite good actually, but they always do. That’s what all those extra preservatives and things do to food, make it taste good. That doesn’t mean it’s good for me though.
I was really curious about being able to “feel” the difference of eating the way I did and I have to say, yes, I can. The most obvious thing I’ve noticed is that my hands are so swollen. I can barely get my rings on and off. I’m guessing that has to do with all the sodium in the food at the restaurants we’ve eaten. Whatever it is, I can see a big difference in that. My tummy hasn’t been thrilled with the food I’ve eaten along the way either. Let’s just say my digestive system has put up a few battles in the last week. J
We are finally back home. After a very long day of traveling and delays at airports yesterday, we got home about 3AM this morning. We were both awake by 7:30, so I’m hoping we find a nap this afternoon in the plans. Before that though, I’m going in to town to see those grandbabies! I missed those little boys!
I want to regroup a little bit today and get myself back on my eating plan for numerous reasons!  
As for my next challenge, I’ve decided to add two things on top of continuing to eat REAL food:
First: I’m going to plan out a week’s menu at a time and only allow myself to go grocery shopping once a week. Sounds simply, but I can envision a few interesting things happening.
Second: I will challenge myself to exercise a minimum of 4 days a week. Since the foot injury fiasco, everyone knows that my active lifestyle has taken a dramatic change in direction. I’m far more limited to what I can do at this point, but I’ll do what I can. I know I can bike so that’s where I’m going to start. I think this challenge will be far more difficult for me than the food side of it!
My ultimate goal would be to lose a few pounds while doing this second part of the challenge, which is very doable but in order for it to happen, I need to be far more conscious of what I’m actually putting in my mouth every single day. Maybe not even what I’m putting in my mouth but more precisely the amount of what I’m consuming. As I’ve said before, REAL food doesn’t have additives and chemicals in it but it still has calories! The goal will be to pack in as many nutrients as possible into “X” amount of calories each day. There’s that nasty ‘C’ word – calories. We’ve all known someone who says, “No matter what I do, I just can’t lose weight.” They shrug their shoulders and sigh as they read some article about genetics playing a factor in weight loss. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but genetics has very little to do with weight loss. It’s a matter of being honest with yourself about how much you are eating. If you actually record every calorie that enters your body, you’ll be amazed at how many calories you consume in a day. It quickly becomes apparent why people ‘just can’t seem to lose weight no matter what’. Weight gain vs weight loss is simply a matter of calories in versus calories out. Since I’m not running anymore the pounds have crept on rather quickly and it’s time to get a few of those back off. I know it will be a little longer process without burning the amount of calories I did, but hopefully by following the new challenge of exercise 4 days a week, it will kick start something. J
  
*Thought for the day*
If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented? J

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