When Commitment Takes a Vacation

Last week was Spring Break for us, and we decided to go visit my parents in Reston, Virginia which is right outside of Washington D.C.  I was pretty excited because, having grown up a military brat, I've been all around the world- I've seen Rome and Germany and Greece, castles and relics and really old art.... but I've been to very few historically meaningful U.S. locations.

So, if you're keeping track, I also committed to going all-out hard-core balls-to-the-wall for the goal of qualifying just a mere three weeks ago.  You may be wondering (or not) how my vacation affected my commitment.

We left on Friday night, meeting up with my sister in law from NM in Dallas.  We were catching an early morning flight on Saturday, me and her and the kids.  The hubs didn't get as much time off, so he would be flying out to join us on Wednesday.

We ate at PF Changs on Friday night and I managed to hit my macros.  I ordered based on what I needed and and ate what I calculated I should in MFP (My FitnessPal henceforth and forevermore).  I thought, MacrosShmacros, I can keep this up for a week!!

Hah.

Every day of vacation started with good intentions to keep up with MFP.  But by Wednesday, I gave up on keeping track altogether.  I mean, how are you supposed to report homemade pop-tarts at Ted's, Braised Beef at District Commons with carrot grits and kale (but you tried your son's duck and your hubby's steak and you had a few bites of the amazing pretzel bread and hot mustard butter and then you did top that off with a homemade vanilla bean ice cream float made with Coney Island Hard Root Beer).  I mean, some things just can't be weighed and measured.  Then there was the Chicago style Supreme Pizza at Pi... I still made better choices than I every used to while on vacation, I didn't feel compelled to eat just for the sake of eating and I enjoyed al of the meals my family shared without stuffing myself. I genuinely enjoyed them.  It was a good balance.

I think sometimes progress doesn't feel like progress.  Sometimes, I think, you have to go back further in that personal history book and realize that some of your successes are a positive but subtle change in habit.  I can't think of a vacation taken recently where I kept up with early morning workouts- this is a huge change for me.  On the days I woke up early to work out, I had much more energy and felt far less exhausted by the end of our touring than I did on days I skipped.  In the past, being on vacation meant I didn't need to keep up the workout routine at all- I was always happy to skip it.  So the fact that I didn't- progress.

I also used to come home from vacation feeling like my panda friend here-  with a food and drink hangover and usually a few extra pounds.  I didn't lose any weight last week, but I didn't gain any either, so I call that a win.

As far as the vacation- WOW.  We walked and walked and rode the metro and walked some more.  I logged, including my workouts,  a total of 60.33 miles for the week.

My favorite things were the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, Arlington Cemetery and Smithsonian Art Museum.

I like to do things I've never done before when I take a vacation.  In the past this has included jumping off buildings and running long distances.  This time, I opted for some pampering and tried a blow-out.  This was fun, relaxing, interesting... but I don't understand how people keep the results for a week.  Even with dry shampoo.  Hair gets dirty.

This was a great experience for my family and was an excellent opportunity for me to prove to myself that I can live the life I've envisioned with physical and nutrition goals that make sense, are attainable, and don't make me give up living, or feeling like I failed because I went on vacation.  Here's to balance in all things.