Did She or Didn't She?

Lake Champlain from our Colchester, Vermont cabin - May 16, 2012

On May 27th, I posted a blog entry titled, "Will She or Won't She?"   The question asked was whether or not I would reach goal weight while traveling for seven weeks in New England.  Today, just over seven weeks later, I can tell you that I did not.  But I am also very happy to report that I am a whole lot closer than I was.  From the morning I left home bound for Dulles, Virginia to the morning after I arrived back at home, I lost exactly five pounds.  I am thrilled with that because rest assured, I enjoyed the food we ate along with some extras along the way.  To the best of my knowledge, I remained white flour and white sugar free, although in the interest of complete disclosure, there were a couple of times that might have been slightly questionable.   I strongly suspect that a whole wheat wrap I ordered somewhere did have some percentage of white flour and I'm fairly certain that a salad or two I ate had some sugar in the dressing.  How did I know?  I can pretty quickly detect sugar because I've been away from it for so long that anything with regular sugar in it overwhelms me with that sickeningly sweet taste.  

Did I suffer?   On the few occasions we chose not to prepare our own meals, was I deprived or left with tasteless choices?   Is this the face of someone being "forced" to eat something with which they are unhappy?   I DON'T THINK SO!

Beal's Lobster Pound - Southwest Harbor, Maine

June 12, 2012

I am one of those odd souls who enjoys seeking out new and different things rather than relying on the familiar.   When we travel, we like to patronize local grocery stores, health food stores or markets.  Once thing we failed to anticipate, was how far behind New England would be from the south with respect to fresh fruit and produce.  At the beginning of our trip, most farmers markets had not yet opened for the season.   Those that had were very limited in the available choices.   The familiarity of Sam's Club was quite welcome a couple of times since I am so familiar with the fruit and vegetable options found there consistently.  

For the most part, our cottages/cabins were well equipped, each had excellent grills and we thoroughly enjoyed preparing yummy meals along the way.  This is consistent with the way we always eat on our Summer Adventures in order to keep on budget and stay true to our healthy eating habits.   

I was thrilled to find a blender in  FIVE of the six places we stayed (not counting the four Marriott's).  Truthfully, in all these years of traveling, I've never really LOOKED for a blender before as there was no need for one.  But I've become quite attached to my afternoon "smoothie" and had no idea whether rental properties considered a blender an essential kitchen item or not.   On a humorous note, wish I'd taken a photo of each of these blenders as they ranged from the ridiculous to the deluxe with the ridiculous being very similar to the one I received as a wedding gift 35 years ago.   But you know what???   It worked!!  And that's all I needed it to do - who cares what it looks like?   Most afternoons, while Bill was eating his ice cream, I was dreaming of what smoothie variation I was going to create and knew without a shadow of a doubt, it would taste better to me than anything I could possibly buy.

Another thing I was happy to see is the fact that most every ice cream shop had at least one low fat frozen yogurt option.   Most had multiple choices and a few even had a generous selection of fat-free AND sugar-free ice cream or yogurt.  Can't say I've paid much attention to that in past years, but I'm hoping it's a trend that will continue to grow.

We did get a lot of exercise mostly in the form of walking and biking.  There was not as much hiking as I'd hoped, mostly because of time.  Many of the areas we visited were new to us and there was much to see and do.  As much as I'd enjoy hiking every day, it needed to be balanced with other must-see activities in the area.   I am happy to say that there were very few days in which my pedometer registered less than my required 10,000 steps and those days were usually travel days.  

So where do I go from here?  I am within four pounds of goal.   I am also at a bit of a plateau.  No surprise there - it happens about every 10-12 pounds and with so little left to lose, a plateau becomes even more of a challenge.  My immediate plan is to return to Cycle 1 of the 17 Day Diet for the number of days it takes me to break the plateau and lose the four pounds.  I don't think it will take the full 17 days.  I'm hoping for 7-10.

Now that I am back in my own kitchen, I am thoroughly enjoying planning meals and getting my cupboards restocked.   I can hardly wait for Saturday morning when I can finally head to my local farmer's market!  We have a brand new Kroger Marketplace grocery store that opened Wednesday morning that is much closer to me than the other Marketplace location in our town.  These are fabulous grocery stores with amazing options.  Our Trader Joe's is set to open July 4th and our first Publix will open soon if it hasn't already.   Both Whole Foods and Costco are under construction and will be open by year end.  Will I shop consistently at ALL these places?  Probably not, but I love having all the options as I think this much competition forces EVERYONE to be better. 

With predicted temps of  100+ the next four days (107 for Friday and Saturday), what can one do besides stay home alternating between cooking and reading?   Thankfully, my bookmarked recipes can start to be culled and those three books that were waiting at the library can get read. 

I wanted to say a word of thanks to all of you who have faithfully continued to read as I integrated my travel blog in with this one.  This is, and will continue to be, about Life Through My Eyes.  It's a reflection of who I am and a constant reminder to me the importance of being true to that!   I appreciate every single person who reads and those who take time to leave comments.   Approaching the maintenance aspect of healthy living adds a whole new dimension of things about which to write and I am really excited about the future of Gains and Losses: Life Through Sharon's Eyes!

P.S.  I think this is going to be my "at-goal" picture.   You may have already seen it on an earlier post, but in case you didn't, wanted to know what you thought.   It's already posted on my picture tab, so check it out for progress pics.   Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with it!

June 14, 2012

Total Pounds Lost Since 11/25/2011 - 29.2

Total Pounds Lost From Highest Known Weight - 53.8