Keeping weight off during vacation

So we went on the big 7-night cruise and I was super worried about going balls to the wall on the food intake. Will power is so hard when it's in front of me and it is a cruise after all. Food is the main attraction on the boat it seems.

However, I'm happy to report when we returned I was shocked that I came home weighing the same I did when we left. Say WHAT? Yup, exact same. 159!

So here are my tips to keep the weight off, they seemed to at least work for me.

1. Don't go on a cruise. Kidding. Realize that there will be food and lots of super unhealthy food around but you have all week to try it. Don't feel like you have to eat everything at every meal as fast as you can. Space it out and indulge a little here and there. Also take a bite or two and then be done with it.

Caught in the act! I think I was on my 8th cookie at
the place we panned for gold.  Do as I say, not as I do ;)

2. Bring it. Most likely there will be a gym so bring your workout gear. If you don't bring it, you're giving yourself a free pass to not do anything while you're gone and that's not ok. If there's no gym, get out and go for a jog/walk. Do some pushup, jumping jacks, squats, etc.

3. Walk, walk, walk. Look for opportunities to go for a walk. If you're at the beach, go for a walk on the beach. If you're on a cruise, go for a stroll around the deck after dinner. If you go to a theme park, walk the park, don't be lazy and take the train/sky ride to get around. Big city? Walk, don't use public transportation. You get the idea. The extra walking will really help to balance out the extra food/drinks you might be consuming.

4. Wear the baby. Yup, strap that baby to you (if you have one) and cart around an extra 20 lbs or so, it is sure to burns some extra calories. I use the Ergo and love it. I just recently really started liking it now that he's bigger and heavier.

5. If you're gone for an extended period of time, say a week or more, pick a day or two to dial it back in. I did a protein day about half way through the cruise. I looked at it as it was just one day and I still ate awesome food. Omelet for breakfast, chicken for lunch, steak for dinner. Not bad, still a good day of eats and I felt so much better that next day.

6. Travel days. I try to be super good on travel days, especially the travel back home day. I feel like I get a jump start on getting back on track.

Half marathon update-- I'm still running but not at the milage I hopped to be at. I ran on the boat, 5 miles being the most I did at one time, thats 15 laps around the running deck. FIFTEEN. I thought it was going to suck, but with the boat moving it was like I was going somewhere and not just in circles.

The day I did 5 miles it was after dinner and most people were at the later dinner seating or a show so there was just me and one other person on the track. As I came around the corner about 4 miles into it I almost ran over Fantasia Mickey. He was waiting at the back door to one of the restaurants to make his grand entrance during the dinner show and it was the one and only time I saw a character without a handler. He stood there and just waved and blew me a kiss, well played Mickey, well played.

The scenery was also amazing and toward the end of the run I saw the most magnificent snow covered glacier with a waterfall. Crazy beautiful. It made me so glad that I had gone on that run and stuck it out to do my full five mile goal. Sorry no pic, I didn't have my phone on me. But here's a general scenery pic. Who wouldn't want to run with this to look at? Oh AND it was only 65 degrees.

  

Linkup!

LinkUp time again with Jake and Holly. I have to say these finish the sentence linkups are quite fun...

• If I had one extra hour in the day, I'd sleep so hard. I miss sleep. So much. 
• I wish my name was Megan. We moved to a new city when I was going into 5th grade and I almost told my new teachers that I preferred to go by Megan on the first day of school when they take roll and ask if you go by a nickname or anything. 
• I think anything chevron is something I want. I'm starting to loose interest, but still fight the urge to buy anything and everything that comes in chevron. And, if it comes in multiple colors, I want them all. 
• My last nightmare was just the other night. I dreamed I was being stung by bees. Lots and lots of bees. 
• Sometimes I want to fall asleep at my desk. Nap time should be the adult version of recess. 
• My last meal on earth would be at a frozen yogurt self service place. You know, the  place with 10+ flavors and a topping bar that you get to pile on yourself? Yeah, I'm all over that.
• I would much rather be on vacation than at work.  
• Mayonnaise is ok. I grew up on miracle whip and the first time I had mayonnaise at a friend's house I thought their miracle whip had gone bad and told them I suddenly wasn't hungry. 
• 10 years ago I didn't think I'd still be wondering what I wanted to be when I grew up. 
• Selfishly I want to be a socialite and do nothing but workout with personal trainer Tracy Anderson and go shopping. 
• My favorite show on TV right now is Real Housewife's of every single city. Miami is coming back on, get excited for those hot tempered ladies!
• And, George Zimmerman is a d-bag. What the f?

Reentry

Reentry to the real world is a B. Especially when you had the most amazing vacation you've ever been on and probably ever will go on in your entire life.

Tuesday morning was not fun, but the past 8 days before then were an absolute blast. They will forever be some of my favorite memories.

Alaska was the most amazing place. Ever. My aunt calls it God's art gallery and that is the most perfect way to describe it.

We (aunt, uncle, mom, brothers + families and family friends) took a 7 night Disney Alaska cruise. Rough life I live, I know. Lots of people helped make this trip financially possible, and I'm forever grateful for that. It truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity for us.

Group shot! TIP- drop off a photo mat at guest
services and ask all the characters to sign it.  

We went in and out of Vancouver, also a pretty amazing city. Flights were long, but Mr. Mister did really well. He was a trooper especially when it came to crazy time zone changes and sleeping in the dreaded pack-n-play for a week.

Here are a few photo highlights from the trip. None of these do it justice, in person it is breathtaking. Absolutely amazing.

I have to say the Disney cruise experience and service was top notch and if you're wanting to cruise with kids, the only way to go. My older nieces and nephews had a blast and there was still plenty to do for us older kids too.

I'll blog more about the trip and all the fun later in the week. Cell service was basically nonexistent even when in port so I've got 1,863,985,698,369 emails, FB & IG posts and blogs to catch up on. Not really, but it sure feels like it.


-A-

Holiday weigh-in

First, happy Independence Day 'merica! 

Hope you all are able to enjoy the day with loved ones and fun festivities. 

We are celebrating with a car show and steaks.  Nothing says 'merica like muscle cars and slabs of meat. 

Speaking of meat, I've been low carbing it in preparation or out next vacation coming up. We are leaving Sunday for and Alaskan cruise. Crazy, I know! This is with my side of the family and should be 8 glorious days of family time and fun with beautiful sceneries. 

This is the first cruise I've been on and all people can tell me about is the amount of food you can consume at any time of day or night. 

Ugh. Willpower will be tested to the max. So I'm trying to start this journey out the best I can and this morning was super excited to see 159! I hope to have another pound or two off before we leave. 

I've also been pretty good with my running this week. I knocked out 3 miles last night like a boss. I WILL be packing (and using) workout gear for the trip. I mean really I HAVE to, half is coming up! 

Have fun today and make wise food/drink decisions, you'll just regret it tomorrow if you don't. 

Brunch Bunch

It was Brunch Bunch weekend so I had lots of ladies and little ones over to the casa. Food was everywhere, but I did pretty good sticking to healthy eats.

It was of course July 4th themed-

And Mr. Mister and I dressed up in our red, white and blue. I put him in these hand me down overalls and not sure he's really and overall kid. He thought they were pretty funny, that face!

I stayed away from these...

And only had a bit of this delicious chicken salad. I ate it with cucumbers, not crackers.

Craisin make everything better. 

I did eat a few of these strawberry/angle food cake skewers. 

And a lot of this fresh fruit that was intended for the kids. They of course were more interested in those cookies.

I was exausted after it was all said and done. Having to prepare for guets, entertain said guests and the clean up is EXAUSING but you know what I did Saturday night??? I RAN FOUR - FOUR FREAKING MILES. Longest run so far. My legs still hurt today, but hey, I did it.

Sunday I drove down to the OBX (that's Outer Banks, NC for you non-locals) and helped a friend do some wedding planning. It was a drearey day with some rain here and there but it's still a georgous place. 

I stopped at the Wal-Mart on my way out of town to get a conversion kit so I could plug my pump in to the car and pump on my way home. Yeah, you read that right and I sure did. Gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I was the only one in that place not buying beer.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

PS - I won Holly's ab challenge. Not because I did it, because I pinned it.

However, after seeing Nerky's results (winner for actually doing the challenge), I wish I would have stuck to it!

Go check out Holly's blog, she's hilarious and doing another giveaway. This one is for $500!!!! I won a t-shirt. Humm.

PPS - If you are stopping by from Holly's blog - welcome!!!