Surviving My Beach Weekend

Hello Beautiful People,

Well I would love to be able to tell you how my Fitness Assessment went today, but it was postponed :-(  Too many people were unable to make it today so it will be rescheduled until after the Holiday.  So the bad news is that I am Tired!  Am I going to make it?  The good news is that I will be stretched before and should be refreshed.  It also gives me time to work on my push ups. 

So this means I can finally tell you about my beach weekend.

Friday started off great.  I had taken the whole day off so that I would hit the gym before Carol arrived and we could depart.  I was able to switch my oil change to that morning too so as soon as it was over I was at the gym.  I figured I would be hitting the treadmill the next day so I went all out on the weights.  I started with my cardio and then moved to Back, Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Biceps, and then abs.  Since I didn't know when I would be working them again I wanted to get them all in.

Carol hit some traffic and arrived later than we had hoped.  Needless to say, I was STARVING when she got there.  The plan was to hit q'doba for our favorite salad before hitting the road.  I ate a second protein bar to hold me over.  When we got there they could not make the salad fast enough: Lettuce, Cilantro-Lime dressing, chicken, and mango salsa!  YUM.  And again I had it naked.  It's so filling that I don't even mind the naked part :-)  Carol did not get hers naked and it was hard to not stare at the shell the whole time.  I did take one bite of it and that was good enough.  ahhh.

So on the ride down we stopped at walmart to pick up some protein bars for the weekend and then some goldfish pretzels to take to the pool.  While we were there we got caught in a monsoon and had to wait out some of the rain.  It gave us time to really sit and talk.  She hadn't really gotten to look at my body because we had been in a rush to get on the road when she got there.  "I have thigh envy!  Look at you!  Not an ounce of fat."  Awww...I heart her! 

I would love to say that I could take a compliment.  Sadly, when she said that all I thought of and said was "You haven't seen my belly yet!"  Bah!  What is wrong with me?  Why do I do that?

We finally arrived at my dad's and soon after we were heading over to neighbor Cheryl's for dinner.  Dinner was salad, pasta salad, and sausage and peppers.  I took a large bowl of salad, a small portion of pasta salad, and one small roll with the sausage. It's all about the portions sometimes.

So now you need to know that on the kitchen counter was a plate full of goodness.  There was a stack of these little bite size chocolate caramel cookies.  I would be in the middle of a conversation and my eyes would drift over and I would find myself staring like Tony Stewart had just walked in the door.  I made it out of there having eaten only one.  Go me! PS. Tony Stewart Call Me!

Saturday monring we headed straight to the fitness center.  I put in some time on the bike and then the treadmill.  I wanted to do more time, but it sucks to be on the treadmill while looking through the window at the pool.  There were kids running around and splashing in the pool.  It's very hard to stay focused.

I had asked Carol what bathing suits she brought.  The answer: a tankini and a bikini. She was hesitant to get out the bikini. She had a baby a year ago and she's self concious.  She put it on though and I believe what came out of my mouth was "I hate you!  I can't even talk to you!"  Seriously, she looked so cute.  I wish I was that tiny. 

Even though we were at the beach, we went to the pool.  Carol needs an umbrella so we had to pool it up.  We packed a couple of sandwiches and about a hundred bottles of water and headed over.   So once we got there we ate and it was time to bare it all.  If you were on the East Coast and experienced a blinding flash of light, fear not.  It was just the sun reflecting off of my white belly.

It was a Hot HOT day.  And I forgot my spray water bottle.  So that meant that I had to get in the pool a lot.  I forgot to mention that the table with the umbrella that we got was by the back fence.  Thus, I needed to walk all of the way around the pool to get in.  That requires some major sucking in.  I finally let out my breath when I got in the water.  So um when you don't love your big white belly, the pool is the last place to go.  Do NOT look down!  Your body is all distorted through the clear moving water.  Ick!

Even with that though, I was pretty confident that I wasn't scaring small children as I was laying on my back soaking up some sun.  I did make sure to re-apply suntan lotion (I had gone done in SPF since last week in an attempt to get some belly color).  By the time I flipped over I was slick with sweat.  And that was with drinking bottle after bottle of water and leaping in to the pool every chance possible.  I didn't last that long on my belly, but I needed to make sure the tan was even. 

When the water ran out it was time to go home.  I'll spare you the suspense: the belly is still white!  WHAT THE?????  My SPF was not THAT high.  My legs, chest, arms, and face all tanned.  My belly appears to be repelling the sun.  I look silly.  I might as well wear the tankini at this point.  Bah!

Saturday night we had the neighbors over for Burgers.  I've given a shoutout to my dad in the past, but he really does make the best ones!  It was a late dinner for me though and I could not control myself around the appetizers while we waited.  Between the morning workout and the day in the sun, I was starving.  Once again though, I mad at what I ate, but the portions compared to what the Former Fat Girl ate are completely different. 

The first plate I saw had special soft pretzels.  There was a cheesesteak filled soft pretzel and a pepperoni pizza soft pretzel.  They were cut up into bite sized pieces.  I had 4 pieces.  Alert the authorities!  I hated that I ate them, but I was starving.  And the Former Fat Girl would have kept picking at that plate when no one was looking.

Soon after Miss Dana arrived with a fantastic Anti-pasta platter: Provolone, ham, pepperoni, tuna, spinach, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, sweet peppers, and roasted red peppers.  I picked at that for a bit until it was time for dinner.  And I had one burger.  The former fat girl would have had two or one and a couple hot dogs.

OMG I almost forgot!  The Skinny Girl Peach Margarita!  Oh heck yeah that was awesome!  I want more!  At 37 calories per serving I am a happy happy camper!

After dinner we kidnapped young Devan and took her to play miniature golf.  Apparantly I have a reputation.  Carol and my cousin Randy decided that they would gang up on me because I take my game too seriously. haha.  Luckily Little Devan is a ringer and she was on my side!  We had a lot of fun, but you can't play without ice cream. 

In the past I would buy a half gallon of ice cream every week.  And it would be gone by the following week. If I can keep my ice cream to special occasions then I'm happy.  And what's more special than a Miniature Golf Victory!  Well, technically Devan beat me by one stroke, but I beat Carol and Randy and that's what really matters!  haha.

Sunday I had hoped to go to the gym before church, but alas I was afraid to sweat.  I didn't have sunburn really, but I had this funky sunburn rash thing on my chest.  It burned and hurt so I didn't really want to aggrivate it (It was much better and almost gone the next day).  After church we had plans to go to Seacrets...ahhh...my favorite bar in the whole wide world!

Seacrets is a Jamaican bar on the Bay in Ocean City, MD.  I can't afford a real trip to Jamiaca, but I can indulge in a little Jamaican fantasy world.  Palm trees.  Reggae music.  Jamaican food. Jamaican drinks.  My treat for the day was going to be my drinks.  My favorite drink is the Dirty Banana.  Now, in the past I could pound these puppies like water.  But, my limit now is 2.  Not because I can't handle it, but because it is choc full of calories.

So knowing this is my treat I needed to be wise about my lunch.  The place was packed so we knew that we would have a little wait before our food came.  So we ordered the Veggie munchie platter. It came on one plate with a few cucumbers, celery, carrots, 3 kinds of cheeses, broccoli, and crackers. Normally I would freak about the price considering the small portions, but I had to weigh the healthy choice factor.  I was much happier with that food than I would have been if we had ordered something fried or heavy. However, in the future, I might just pack a ziplock bag with the same food for a much lower price :-O  Now for my main meal,  I would normally have the Caribbean Quesadilla...mmm..but, quesadillas are rarely healthy options.  So instead I ordered the Baja Chicken Salad: lettuce, corn, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, tortilla strips, grilled chicken, and a cilantro chili dressing.  Now the dressing was a creamy dressing, but it was used sparingly.  It was such a good meal.  I loved the avocado. It was like it was hidden and I would take a bite and get all excited. lol.

Now Seacrets is a place that you can go and hang out in your bathing suit on the rafts in the bay.  It's always a fun time, but that was not the plan for the day, and I was okay with that.  That is way public for the bikini.  I don't know that I would have done that just yet...but I can't wait until I am ready!  I have done that plenty of times in a one piece and that was stressful enough...maybe next year.

We were tired when we got home and quickly made the decision to spend another night.  We would just get up early and get on the road (I had the morning off from work anyway).  Time for a little rest and then we needed to figure out dinner.  Miss Dana (Devan's mom) usually hosts Sunday night dinner, but I hadn't really spent any personal time with my dad on the trip so we decided to go out to dinner as a family...plus Carol :-)  When he picked Matteos I just about died.  That was where I went with Heather on Cinco De Mayo.  Incredibly delicious and equally packed with temptations.  Crap!  I had already had my Dirty Bananas so a margarita was out.  I looked at their fit and skinny menu and there were a couple of things that I could get, but I knew I would still be hungry. So I decided on the chicken fajitas. 

Chicken fajitas are South Beach friendly and as long as you don't indulge in the extras you are fine.  So when it came to building my fajitas I did not add the rice or the sour cream.  My 3 mini fajitas consisted of: black beans, salsa, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and chicken. I was stuffed, but I still had a platter full of peppers, onions, and tomatoes.  So I got a to go container and had them the following night with a Jennie-O turkey burger.  YUM!

I was full after dinner and my belly was letting me know it.  I had gotten a new shirt at Seacrets that looked great on me when I put it on, but after dinner I looked bloated/pregnant.   Instead of lounging around and moaning about feeling stuffed, Carol and I grabbed some water bottles and went for a 45 minute walk around the neighborhood.  By the time we came back and I peed, my belly was back to normal.  I was very glad we did that.

Monday morning came very quickly and I needed caffeine if I was going to drive home.  I like Starbucks, but Carol is a Dunkin Donuts girl.  So we passed by the Bucks and headed towards DD.  And then we kept driving because the drive thru line came out the side entrance.  I couldn't even get in to park.  So we had to wait 45 minutes until the next one.  By then I was dying for something to wake me up.  I ordered a small coffee coolatta...with skim milk.  It is still full of sugar, but not cream.  I'll take burnging sugar over cream any day. And the good news is that it woke me up....Finally!

I had just a wonderful weekend.  Vacations are tough though.  It's very hard to make the whole trip healthy.   The key to survival is the planning ahead and the portions.  You can't let every single meal be a cheat meal, but you can indulge if you plan around it. You can't let your vacation be an excuse to be lazy.  Were my choices perfect?  No.  But, I thought about every little move I was making and I chose way better than I had in the past.  I exercised and I ate well most of the time.  And when I didn't I limited my portions.  I'm happy with it.  I knew that I would be hitting the gym all week and back to my usual eating schedule.  I like to think that this is my practice run for a real trip to Jamaica....Someone take me!

****Please note****
  
If you feel like you are alone on your journey and you just need some encouragement I am here for you!  Shoot me an email and I will do my best to check in on you or give you the words of support you need several times a week.  The journey is so much easier if you have support.


jhendersonfit@gmail.com