I'm back...........

Actualy I got back Saturday night but with unpacking the trailer and a bit of a lazy day yesterday I didn't get around to posting. I was also hoping to get my pictures loaded to add into this post but we're having a heat wave this week and by the time I got home from work I just wasn't up to doing anything else.

Our holiday was wonderful! From a weight perspective I can't tell you how good it felt to have reached the goal I had set for myself and to not feel any hang-ups about my weight (even though I'm still not quite at my ideal weight).

We took our 35' 5th wheel RV and travelled with our 2 kids, who each brought a friend. Also my in-laws and one of my nieces travelled with us. Then a few days later friends of ours met up with us with their 15 yr old son (who is also my son's friend). We all had such a great time.


But let me tell you ..... 4 teenagers in one RV and all the crap that they can eat sure can be tempting from time to time.


We ended up leaving over 24 hours later than anticipated. Then with a few long stops to shop for groceries and such we ended up spending the first night in the parking lot of a Cabela's store (hunting/fishing, etc). They make these amazing sugary coated nuts and my husband bought 3 packs of them, plus I think the kids bought some as well. I had a couple of each type then I told them all that they were not to allow me to take anymore.


A long time ago I mentioned on here that once I got past 150 lbs I was going to buy myself a running skirt. So I had it all planned out to find a Running Room in Washington or Oregon and go buy one. Except ... I didn't realize that the Running Room is basically just a Canadian company with only a few US locations. Bummer! But then I saw on someone's blog that they got a running skirt from Target. So I made my husband pull into one on our way down. They didn't have a huge selection, but it was big enough that I had a hard time picking one out. I ended up with two, and a matching tank for the purple one. These things are SO comfy. I wore them quite a bit on the trip. Had a little bit of chafing one day on a particularly hot run, but I think a little Glide would fix that. I would totally wear these for casual wear, or biking.


Our first stay was in McMinnville, Oregon. We stayed at a very nice RV resort type place right next to the Evergreen Aviation Musuem that houses the original Spruce Goose. We've been in the museum before so didn't visit it, but it sure was a nice place to go for a jog. The resort had a pool but I didn't end up going in it.

My husband & I took a run into the nearby town the morning after we arrived. We ran about 8 Km then there was a little craft type festival being set up so we browsed around for a bit. When we went to run again the back of his knee was hurting pretty bad so we had to walk back. In total it was about 15Km, maybe more???

From there we headed out to Newport on the coast. This is a lovely little town. There is a bike shop in town and the owners are super friendly. I did alot of biking & running around the campsite and around town.

While in Newport my husband and I took a LONG run on the beach. It ended up being longer than we anticipated. 14 MILES of running (23 Km). I couldn't believe it - we did just over a half marathon!!!! I won't say it was easy. We ran from our campground to as far as we could go. Heading out was not bad, but coming back we were running into the wind and I hit a wall. I was DONE! We hadn't taken water (stupid!!!) and I was SOOO thirsty. It made me feel so fatigued, even though the distance we'd run at that point was still well within what I typically run. I think just knowing how far I had to go made it difficult. But after a few minutes walk we started up again and the determination in me kept me going to the end. My husband even tried to give me an out as we got closer and could have crossed over into the campground. But I refused and was determined to run the full distance. He said we was proud of me!

I was amazed that the next day I was only very mildly sore and after a day of rest and stretching I felt fine. We then went to Florence where there are some pretty big sand dunes. We took a hike out onto them and let me tell you ... you could make a kick ass boot camp out on those dunes. That steep, soft sand is so hard to climb. It was great.

Next we went to an area near the south end of the Oregon coast, maybe 25-30 miles from the California border. There I had big plans of long bike rides and our annual big hike that usually takes us about 3 hours. Unfortunately I caught a nasty, nasty cold and spent most of the next few days propped up praying for my nose to drain or the world to end. We did get in some walks and a mini version of our hike, but I'm sad to have missed out on the planned activity. We had one pretty hot day there that got me out in my bikini (I'm beyond caring that I don't have a perfect body, it's good enough for now).

Then we headed inland to warm up a bit. I just didn't realize how MUCH we were about to warm up. On the coast the typical temperature was about 55-60°F (13-16°C). When we stopped for groceries inland it was 99°F (37°C), maybe even a bit more.

When we arrived at our next campground at 7:30 at night it was 94°F (34°C). Thank goodness for A/C!


At this spot I got alot of running in, though shorter runs. I was still hacking up a lung from that cold, but I needed to move. It's hard to believe how I crave the exercise now. For the next few days I ran about 5-7Km every morning before it got too hot.

We also went up to visit Crater Lake. It's SO beautiful there and this time we were blessed with perfect weather. Barely a cloud in the bright, blue sky and 77°F (25°C). The first time we went there it was blowing wind like a madman and cold, cold, cold! The 2nd time it was even colder (slightly above freezing). So we were shocked it was so warm. The first time we visited Crater Lake my husband and son climbed up this trail to a place called The Watchman. The trail isn't long - 1 1/2 miles return - but it does climb up 413 feet. I (feeling horribly out of shape and just miserable in general) refused to go up with them and I sat in the truck. This time I was NOT going to miss out on the opportunity. I couldn't believe how easy the climb was for me. I could have run it - seriously!

I did find that as the days went by I was having a harder and harder time resisting all the treats/junk that was in the trailer and I did succumb to more of it than I intended. But I tried to keep myself aware of when I had too much and then I'd reduce something else. I never tracked once, I just tried to listen to my body and make as many smarter choices as I could.


I haven't really been drinking alcohol for quite some time. The last few times it's affected me way too much and it hasn't been worth it. One night I decided I was going to give it a try again and I had one Mike's Hard Lemonade. I tasted SO good going down, but I couldn't believe how quickly I was drunk. Like having a hard time concentrating on the card game drunk. I did stop at one though. All night my stomach churned, I had a blistering headache, heartburn. YUCK! So not worth it. I did try drinking a light beer the next week and had no reaction at all, but I don't really care for beer so I guess I'll just go without. Apparently my body does NOT like something in those types of drinks anymore.


Now ... for the AMAZING news!!!! The last few days of our trip my eating was starting to get a bit out of control. Not truly out of control, but not really in control either. I was beginning to feel a bit of that awful belly bloat. Though I had brought along a pair of shorts that were too tight for wearing, but I could do them up before we left, and at this point I could still do them up so I knew I was OK. But I knew at this point I had to be careful and that I should expect a little gain.


Imagine my suprise when I woke up the next morning to find I LOST weight on this trip. I ACTUALLY LOST WEIGHT ON A HOLIDAY!!!! I nearly fell over. That has never, EVER happened to me. Even when I'm super careful I typically gain 2-3 lbs. I actually lost 1.6 lbs while away on holidays. I still can't quite believe it.

I do realize that I very likely lost some muscle as I didn't do any weight bearing type stuff. So I'm actually looking at this more as a muscle loss/weight maintain thing. But still, I didn't gain and I couldn't be happier.

This week I'm back to tracking as I don't want to let things slide. And I'm back to lifting weights and burning those muscles. Even if it means a little weight gain, I don't want to lose that muscle. Muscle looks good and I love it!

I DID IT!!!!!

I finally broke 150 AND reached my pre-vacation goal weight. WAHOOOOO!!!!!

This morning I was 149.4 - yipppeeeeeee

I was so excited I ran back in the bedroom to grab my husband to show him. I dragged him into the bathroom saying "Look! Look!". I very carefully and gingerly tip toed onto the scale and it read 156.8 - WTF! I'm sure my eyes popped out of my head. It took me a moment to gather my thoughts, then I realized the big turd had stuck his toe on the scale behind me and given it an extra push. ARGH!!!!! That move almost cost him having to buy a new scale. He's lucky I didn't throw it (or better yet him!) out the window.

I'm a little extra proud because yesterday as I was on my way home from work my husband called and said we had to go down to Bellingham to meet up with his best friend. We had borrowed a trailer of his and he needed it back. He lives south of Seattle and with his new company getting off the ground he's only been home a total of 10 days since January. This was a rare day that he was home so we arranged to have both families meet up for dinner.

Was so nice seeing them, they're such wonderful people ♥. We went to Billy McHale's and the menu selection is not among the healthiest of fare. I had a bit of struggle picking something but then remembered something I told someone yesterday about remembering what was most important - the meal or the goal.

My husband chose a few appetizers .... Spinach Artichoke Dip, Chicken Wings with Potato Chips and Chicken Fajita Quesadilla. Oh I LOVE me some appys!!!! But, I stuck to one tablespoon of the dip with 5 nachos and 1/3 of a wed of Quesadilla.

For dinner I chose the Teriyaki Chicken. It was 2 thin chicken breasts topped with tomato, green onion, a pineapple slice and teriyaki sauce. It came with a HUGE twice baked potato - which I took one bite of and gave the rest to my daughter. Also came with cheese bread that I had just one small bite of (it wasn't good anyway), and a cob of corn sitting in probably a 1/4 c. of melter butter. That just looked disgusting. I ate a couple rows off the top that weren't dripping in butter (but must have had some on it). Basically I just stuck to the chicken and it was very satisfying.

This restuarant has an AMAZING selection of margaritas. Pretty much any flavour you could ever want. But I stuck to my resolve and had a Ruby Mist Herbal tea (mmm good, will have to look for this) and a big ol' glass of ice water.

Considering it was completely unexpected and I was absolutely STARVING when we got there, I'm really proud of how I did. Especially since everyone else was having big plates of ribs or burgers & fries.

Olive Garden Plan of Attack

Tomorrow is my last work day before vacation. My co-worker is retiring the day before I get back from holidays. So tomorrow is the last day she thinks that she'll see me (we have a surprise party planned for just after she's retired). I suggested to my boss that we do something sort of special tomorrow because I know she's not expecting ANYTHING at all, plus it just seems kind of weird for me to work all day then just say Bye, have a good life! The owner is away on business and it's just my boss, my co-worker & I (very small company).

He suggested we go to the Olive Garden. ACCK!!! I LOVE the Olive Garden, like too much. My favourite is their soup & salad special and I could easily eat a bowl of each type of soup and an entire large multi-serving bowl of salad to myself. Not to mention the breadsticks at 3 pts each! I know the salad is probably loaded with fat too. I'm not much of a pasta person, unless it's covered in a fatty cream sauce.

So I'm going to ban myself from breadsticks, not even one bite, it just leads to more. Also, no wasted calories on pop or drinks - it will be water and herbal tea. I'll have ONE bowl of minestrone soup and ONE bowl of salad. That's about what I eat for lunch normally and I have to stick to that. I'm so close to reaching my vacation goal and this one meal is not worth messing it up. Especially since the morning after I'll be doing my last weight check.

Be strong Heidi! Keep your eyes on the prize!

Annivery & Running Milestone, oh and a pretty good weigh in

Today is our 17th wedding anniversary. We were married July 4th, 1992 when I was 19. If you'd asked me on that day what I would be doing on my 17th anniversary I can guarantee you the answer would not have been - RUNNING 19.2 Km (12 miles).

Yep, that's what we did this morning!!!

I wanted to get my monthly weigh in done at weight watchers today before we go away. I got this crazy idea in my head that I would run to my meeting, then run/walk back home. It's 9.6Km each way - plus my driveway is about 400M, so call it 10K if you want (though we walked the driveway). My husband decided he'd come along with me.

We made it there in 55 minutes which means I've definitely improved on my pace. Especially since it was very easy running and I wasn't pushing for any speed records, this run was just about getting it done. Coming home was a little slower. It was getting HOT out and my muscles were trying to go on strike. We walked a couple short walks, especially up a steep hill, and took one water break at an old gas station. It took us 64 min to come home. So about 2 hours return.

This distance is just a bit short of a half marathon and I feel very confident that I can complete that. I also think that by fall (when I plan to do it) I can finish in about 2:15, probably even less. I admit it would be a dream to finish in under 2 hours.

WEIGH-IN

Also, I just might meet my goal before we leave on Thursday. This mornings weigh-in (at home before we left) was 150.8 ---- the lowest I've been on this journey. That's a loss of 1.2 for this week. I'm going to try my hardest for the next few days. Even if I don't make it, I know I have given it my everything and I'm proud of what I've done.

Some Bad Choices

Happy Canada Day!

Didn't do anything terribly special around here. My husband brought over a couple of his employees and they did some major clean-up around here. We're lining the edge of one of our ponds with large rocks. Here's a progress pic. My son is operating the smaller machine - he just turned 15 in May.

And some of our beautiful water lilies...

Also didn't do anything terribly active today either. No running, no weights, no biking. I did some housekeeping and ran some errands, but nothing I'd call exercise.

I did manage to stay within my points today ... but (huge BUT), I really did not make many healthy choices.

I've been reading about the health benefits of dark chocolate so decided to give it a try today. I'm not normally a dark chocolate person, but I want to try to have a piece here and there to see if it satisfies cravings.

I found this AMAZING chocolate today...

It was extremely, extremely good. I had 2 squares (which is about 100 calories). The spicy chili in it is a perfect touch. I will have to be careful with this to limit myself, but I think it's doable. For today though, I shared it with the family and it's all gone now - heeheee.

As the day progressed however, I just didn't feel like cooking or preparing food and I ended up having a bag of cheddar popcorn (really quite gross),

then a small bowl of chocolate ice cream with almond slivers. Just a half cup, so a reasonable portion. But I feel gross after having eaten this.

I actually can't wait until tomorrow so I can get back to some vegetables. Even if I have to be late for work tomorrow, I WILL pack a healthy lunch of healthy foods. It makes me feel SO much better.