Just checking in while I have a few minutes. It has been a great weekend here so far. I am really enjoying myself. The challenge, however, is not having my normal routine and not having freedom to do as I please. At home, I don't have any kids or huge responsibilities at the moment (except work), so I can pretty much do as I please. When you are visiting someone else, you generally have to go along with their plan, more or less. My friend is awesome, don't get me wrong. I just am very independent and like things just so. It has been a little challenging for me these past few days, mostly with my eating. I will explain:
Thursday I brought pineapple and grapes with me for the 3 hour drive so that I would't be tempted to stop and buy junk. Worked well. When I arrived (8pm or so), my friend made me a turkey burger and put out some snacks (veggies and dip, chips and salsa). She meant well but I wouldn't have eaten that late if I were at home. Friday morning she made hardboiled eggs and set out fruit since she knows that's what I eat for breakfast usually. We ate out for lunch and I had a grilled chicken sandwich and a few french fries. I wish I had asked the waiter to substitute a salad instead of the fries. I did eat the chicken on a roll but I only ate half. No condiments or anything on it. For dinner, my friend and I made shrimp, green beans, corn on the cob, and salad (just lettuce and cucumbers). I didn't eat the corn. She used butter to cook the shrimp and that made me slightly uneasy. I certainly wasn't going to say anything but I try to stay away from butter. A while later, we went out for drinks with a friend and I ordered a vodka and club soda. Of course by that time I was hungry but restaurants don't exactly have man healthy options so I figured I would just be hungry for the night. My friend ordered soft pretzels and told me that I shouldn't feel tempted to eat any. Easier said than done, at that point anyway. I ended up only eating half of one, and that was enough for me. It was not filling and I could have eaten all four pretzels myself, but the half was enough to give me just a taste and take the edge off of the hunger.
Today we again had eggs and fruit for breakfast. We went to the lake and brought some snacks with us. I had the other half of my sandwich for lunch and then some fruit. Now we are going to make some dinner in a bit- teriyaki chicken and broccoli. As I'm typing this out now, I am realizing that the food I've been eating hasn't been bad. Of course the bread, half pretzel, and a few fries snuck in there, but the were in moderation. The rest of the food is fine. The hard part for me is that I am used to being able to eat every few hours and also being able to eat what I want. When I'm at someone else's house, I can't be demanding food every few hours so at each meal, I am tempted to eat more than I usually do. It is a tricky thing to navigate.
The good news is that I got some good exercise in yesterday. We went paddle boarding (standing up on a surf board- type thing while you paddle down the river). It was so fun and such a good workout. We did that for 2.5 hours and had a blast. It was also a beautiful day.
I have no idea where I am at with my weight but sometimes I feel great and then other times I feel like a whale. It will be interesting to see how much I weigh when I get home tomorrow evening. I currently feel like I have gained weight but it's been two days so I just need to relax. I need to remember how far I have come and enjoy that feeling. Like yesterday when we went paddle boarding and today when we went to the lake, I wore my bathing suit both times and did not feel nearly as self-conscious as I have in the last few summers. I was able to walk down to the water and not feel like all eyes were on me. I so desperately want to continue to lose weight and feel better about myself and I feel like sometimes these days away from home are challenges to see how dedicated I am. I think it is fairly easy to eat healthy and work out in my bubble at home, but outside of that it is HARD!
Tomorrow morning is our 5K race! Soon after that, I will head home so that I have time to get things together before work on Monday. I have a busy week ahead so it's important to me to get right back in my routine first thing when I get home. I am hoping that the scale is in the 130s when I get home, just so that can coincide with my first race. I will be disappointed if that is not the case, but then I will just fight even harder to get there.