(week 25). the voyage was very bon…

enjoying our first trip away at sea.

Wow, y’all, the cruise was amazing! We had a very lovely five days aboard the Carnival Ecstasy relaxing, resting, and of course... EATING! To truly celebrate my weight loss, I didn’t count a single point all week. I kept good eating choices in the back of my mind, but this was MY TIME to indulge, if I chose.

biggest indulgence: chocolate melting cake.

To offset that, I was going to use the on-board gym. Honestly—other than the initial tour—I never made it. (I got as far as the spa and then stopped, LOL!) BUT, we used the stairs A LOT (thanks mostly to annoying kids who pushed EVERY BUTTON) and walked the length of the ship often. During our excursion, we traipsed the grounds of Mayan ruins in 100 degrees, or plowed through sandy beaches (a workout in itself!). I more than got my 30 minutes of exercise each day, I think.

That’s probably a good thing, though, because the food could have really set me back. As our cruise director pointed out, you could have 14 meals a day, and it’d all be FREE! The buffet was always open, including a 24-hour pizzeria, the dining room had extended hours, and room service was always included! We tried it all.

lobster and shrimp. ooh la la.

Oh, and the drinks?! Wow. Very fruity, very fun, and very full of alcohol. I can see why Carnival calls themselves the party ships.

resting on the beach. in a bathing suit. GOAL!

Seriously, Alex and I had a fantastic vacation, and were so grateful for the break from it all. (Though we missed our little Noah terribly!)

the bares enjoying the last night of their vacation.

As soon as we hit Galveston, it was back to business as usual. I prepared myself for a gain this week, and was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the WW scale: I lost 3.2 pounds! Hello, 190!

The numbers are encouraging for sure, but the fact that people around me are noticing my shrinking self is awesome. I’ve really appreciated everyone’s kind words… THANK YOU!

(week 20). i'm not gonna lie...

I gained .06 over the past two weeks. No excuses here, I went on vacation to see my dad, only to come back and be icky sick for a week. Workouts have temporarily been halted, as I continue to cough a lung up (at least it feels that way!). While trying to stick to eating well, there were a few days that I allowed myself a “free pass”. Man, STL has some great food!

Mommy and Noah enjoying our vacation!

But I didn’t totally stray from it all (if I had, I can only IMAGINE the weight I’d have gained). For the most part, I chose sensible meal choices (I won’t mention the cream soda float with a mountain of ice cream, or the awesome ribs I had—TWICE!), opted for water or diet soda and made sure to keep active.

We took Noah to the zoo (he loved) and the Children’s museum (he L-O-V-E-D!), and chased him around the airport, of course.

Noah on his first carousel ride.

Now, being sick for a week now, I’ve really had to just bite the bullet and allow myself to get better. That means a lot of sitting/resting when I get home. No workouts, no over-doing it... Nothing but rest. I used to make fun of people who would complain when they couldn’t work out, but MAN, I’ve been feeling weird and achy without exercise!

I had also been getting super-comfortable with the WW program. So much so, that my food tracking became sporadic. With starting a new WW series today, I’m going back to basics—if it goes in my mouth, it gets jotted down! Here’s what the day has looked like so far:

I’ve been at this almost 5 months, and have lost ALMOST 25 pounds. I’m so proud of how far I’ve come, but am even more excited of where I can take this.

As my WW leader reminds us, we shouldn’t always look at what this week’s scale says, but at what you’ve accomplished so far. She’s so right. Big picture, people!

(NOTE: .06 is NOT bad!)