Last week, I landed at JFK with mixed emotions.
Happy to be home and getting back to some sort of regular routine (and back to my DOG!); sad to end a fun vacation.
And cold because I didn’t want to carry a heavy winter coat so I was wearing yoga pants and a leather jacket in 30-something degree weather.
Winter coat, this is not.
Toward the end of the week, I started feeling disgustingly bloated. Where I started the week feeling mildly self-conscious in a bikini, I ended it feeling entirely self-conscious of the spare tire I felt around my midsection.
I got home and all I wanted to do was hot yoga. I wanted to sweat out a week’s worth of beer and fish tacos. I wanted a bit more meditative time before I hopped back into real life.
In what may be my dumbest move of my life, I stepped gingerly onto the scale. I saw the highest number I’ve seen in years and jumped right back off. The last time I saw this number was on the way down.
This is my third “real vacation” since starting to lose weight. (Real vacation=a trip for the sole purpose of relaxing, laying in the sun and drinking fruity drinks; everything else is just a trip.)
My first vacation, I was still very much in the middle of my weight loss journey.
I remember trying to practice some moderation, but I also remember lots of cocktails and French fries. I also ran on the beach a few times and did a few workouts in the little hotel gym, and I came home the exact same weight.
Real Vacation #2, I visited my college BFF Lindsay in Hawaii. (Linds, I’m really glad you’re back on the East Coast and all…but I miss having someone to visit in Hawaii.)
She’s also a runner, and we were both training for marathons at the time, so we ran several times that week. She lived there at the time, so I stayed with her and her husband. We split our time going out to eat and eating at their house, but since I was on the only one “on vacation,” I was the only one with vacation mentality and seeing them make healthy or moderate choices helped me do the same.
St. Croix? Well, Ashley and I ran once? (Together; she ran once more on her own.) It was really hot and really hilly and really hard. I love running and I love vacation, but running on vacation? Meh. I also did two workouts Jess had written out for me that I could do with just bodyweight.
Oh, and I played some tennis. New Balance also has tennis shoes, but I brought my Minimuses, and their flat soles ended up being fine for the lateral movement, but I would probably wear a more supportive shoe to play for a long time.
If I could do vacation over, would I drink less beer and exercise more? No.
It’s just fueling my motivation to work out and eat healthy these days. Nothing crazy, just getting back into my normal routine, and I’m already down a few pounds water weight.
Lessons learned:
Maybe pack a heavier coat when coming back to winter from a warm vacation.
Calories do actually count on vacation.
But if you get back to your normal routine soon, you will probably shed some water weight.
Do you work out on vacation? How do you get back on track after vacation?
Oh…and my Cosmo story about losing weight is now online!
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Vacations are hard. I always feel like everyone else can eat whatever they want on vacation with no side effects, and I come home 10 lbs heavier. I came home in August after a summer of working away from home, and then a week long trip to Hawaii. I worked out the entire time, and I still came back well over my normal weight. The thing is, within two weeks of being in my normal routine, my weight was back to normal, so it may seem like a big deal at first, but I promise that before you know it you'll be back to where you were before you left. Just trust in your body, and try not to let it get you down. Vacations are for having fun. At least you didn't come back with a tattoo you don't remember getting or a weird disease ;)
I worked out on vacation once, it wasn't bad. I worked out in the hotel gym. I didn't wok out during my recent vacation. I actually took about a month off from working out and now I have to play catch-up. But, I think I needed the rest.
your cosmo story is so great theo!!
Congrats on the cosmo story!!! I like to workout on vacation, but I still typically manage to outeat that lol
I received my February Cosmo in the mail yesterday. I usually let those site on my desk for a whole month but picked it right up to flip to your article. How cool! I have a habit of reading my magazines from cover to cover, in order, so I haven't made it to your article yet, but I'm close! Have a good night!
I just got back from a short vacation yesterday. I ran 7.5 miles the first day I was there but discovered how icy the roads and sidewalks are around there. It then snowed the rest of the time I was there and I was not prepared for that so that was the only run I did there. To get back on track I forced myself up at my normal 4:30am wake-up call this morning to get in a run. I am tired but I will make it and hopefully it will help get me back into the swing of things.
I hear you on the vacation thing. We were in Puerto Rico at the same time you were away, and there were a bunch of pictures taken of me at the end of the trip in a bikini that I was LESS than pleased with. But I'm already feeling better being back on track!
I do stick to working out on vacation and actually work out more because I have more time.
Love your nail color in the top picture - what is it?
@Nicole: I don't remember :-/ That pic is a few months old.
Yiu were the first blog I followed and I read it every day or with every new post. It is refreshing you share with is the great aspects of your life but also your frustrations. On so many blogs it seems so far removed from my life. But I always can relate in some way to you. You will do great and be back at it. Always feels good especially beginning the new year! You will do great and thanks for all you do!
@Jenny: Thanks!! My life is not perfect, so I'm not going to pretend it is.
@Theodora: also today I have my first phone call with Jess can't wait. And you have inspired me to eat at home and make my own food. I know the food is the big key even more than working out for me. Thanks for everything!
Just read your story on Cosmo's website. You did a great job. Congrats!