Vacationing and Staying on Track

Let’s be honest-   Staying on track is hard!   Staying on track while on vacation is really really hard!   

This is my first vacation since I have attempted to live a more motified whole30 lifestyle and all in all it has been fairly successful!    

I decided to not give myself any rules prior to coming down to the beach with my friend Lindsay and her family for 5 days.  My plan going in was to approach every meal or temptation individually and decide what I really wanted to do in that moment.   I also had a rough idea of how I would remain active without my gym nearby.  

I knew coming into the trip there would be multiple opportunities to eat poorly, but I was not prepared for the sheer amount of sweets present in the house.   Sugar is my weakness and I was tempted with 3 different types of cake, cookies and ice cream!   

I can proudly say that in 5 days I ate 2 cookies and 1 small slice of cake.  This may sound like a lot, but trust me with the amount present and the fact that they came out multiple times a day I can calling this one a personal victory!   

Other meals-  I chose to put my fajitas on a salad instead of a tortilla.  I chose to eat a grilled chicken salad instead of chicken casserole.  I chose to eat all lunches whole30.  I chose a porkchop when eating out vs the pasta that I wanted.  

I also chose to eat the bacon for breakfast, a piece of toast one morning, drink some beers and to fully expect to try Britt’s  Dounuts tomorrow before we leave.  

I tried my best to stay as active as I would if I was at home.  I have walked multiple days on the beach (and home from the bar one night– that counts right?) 

What I am most impressed about is what happens when I was doing the workout that my trainer put together for me to do.   It consisted of a half mile, which I was told to run and/or walk.  He didn’t care as long as I finished it!   If you know me, you know I HATE RUNNING!   I especially hate running outside and even more so in the summer.   I honestly though he was crazy when he suggested I run outside in the summer at the beach!  

Luckily I conned Lindsay into running with me and we had a spunky 12 year old, Maggie, as our “coach.”   The three of us started off on our run and I told them there was no way that I could do this outside.  Sure enough when it got to the end of the half mile I was still running!   After completing the rest of the workout I looked on my phone and saw that the tempature outside was 90 degrees, but it felt like 101!  

Seriously!   I just ran a half mile outside, at the beach, in the summer with a heat index of 101!   It felt amazing to do, but I am fairly certain this one success is not going to turn me into a runner!   Regardless- BEST non scale victory in a long time!   
–Betty 

It is the END of the X’s

This post is so exciting for me to write!  I feel like I need to celebrate this week and I couldn’t think of a better way! 

It was over all a fairly good week overall!   

Monday- I did body flow for the first time in months and realized exactly how much stronger I have gotten 

Tuesday- I allowed myself to enjoy Mexican without feeling guilty that it wasn’t whole30! 

Wednesday- I finished 3 weeks of motified  whole30, weighed myself, lost 8 lbs for a grand total of 60 lbs and weighed less than I did when I started grad school 7 years ago!– it was a good day! 

Thursday- I allowed a comment to get to me and was down on myself!  Some one said to me “oh I love shopping at that Ross  they have such good clothes for big girls like us”– seriously!  When can I stop being considered a “big girl?”  

Friday- it took me 4 tries to find pants to wear this morning because all of the ones I put on were to big AND I officially feel like I am saying good by to the X’s! (Suck it big girl comment!!) 

Let me explain a bit-   After a full week of mornings like I had today and the growing stack of to big clothes I knew I was going to need a few more tops to get me through the summer. So I went shopping after work (thank you 4th of July sales!). 

clothes that are too big this week!

I browsed through the regular section and eyed everything that I wanted at Anthropolgie then made my way back to the sale section and started actually shopping.   After finding some great pieces (with an extra 30% off sale prices!) I made my way to the dressing room to start trying them on.  

Top one-  to big. I thought “oh it is a different cut that’s why”.  Top two- to big,   “Okay…” Top three- to big, “okay this is weird!”  The dress- to big!!! Finally I realized “holy shit Kathryn you might not be an XL at this store anymore.”

Second go round in the dressing room went something like this- this Large fits! This one too!  This Large dress fits! OMG!!!! I am wearing a size LARGE!   

This is the first time in I do not know how long that I have purchased clothing that does not have at least one X in it somewhere!   

Now I know that this is just one store (and 3 brands) and sizes run differently.  I am not going to get upset if I go to Loft or Banana next week and have to buy an XL.  But I still feel like it is the beginning of the end of the X’s in my life and I could not be more thrilled or proud of myself!   
–Betty