Days 58-69: Back from vacation

We got back from our vacation last Wednesday, and last Thursday was my first weigh-in at home on my regular scale in almost four weeks. I had a gain of about 2.6 pounds. Then, we took our youngest to Disneyland Paris over the weekend during the HOTTEST TWO DAYS OF 2012.

I sweated and walked off that whole 2.6 lbs. Talk about losing weight the hard way, that heat wave was hell. We still had fun at Disney but just didn't do as many things as we ideally wanted to do; the heat made it impossible to fit everything in without taking frequent breaks to cool off.

Although I would have liked to have lost more on this vacation over the past month, the fact is that I'm probably lucky I didn't gain 10 lbs. We were with my sister-in-law for 3 weeks and 3 days of our time away, and she just got out of the hospital (hip replacement) and since she's actually under-weight, she needed some fattening up to improve her health. My husband took on this challenge and consequently there was a lot of beef, potatoes and other good things cooked and served without weight-LOSS in mind at all. I did my best to get in some activity every day, but there were a few super-hot days where it just made more sense to lay low in an air-conditioned room. I don't deal with extreme heat very well. On the upside, I was very pleased that I had ZERO mobility problems on this trip: walking, swimming and moving around in general was easy, natural and NORMAL. After a rough winter and spring where I had increasing issues with joint pain and found out I have arthritis in my ankles and knees, it feels good to just be able to get around without pain again!

Now that we're home, the vacation is over (and the heatwave is nearly done, I think), I can get back to basics. My husband and I tend to get lazy about meals when we're on our own without any kids to feed, and we'll have more days on our own now that the holidays are winding down, so this is a challenge.

So... lots of fresh salads, chicken and fish will be on the menu, I think. I want to cut back on the red meat and potatoes and fried stuff for a couple of weeks. Also the sweets: vacation was an excuse to eat bonbons (what the French call all sorts of candies like gummy bears, etc.) and ice cream.

In the past, if I had overdone things on a holiday, I might come back and just give up altogether. What I am choosing to do differently this time is to NOT let my success or lack of success at vacation weight loss derail me from my long-term goal: to be fit, slim and healthy in my 50s and beyond!