I got a couple of weeks ahead on this blog and then took off for a rip-roaring vacation in the Pacific Northwest. I planned to write a few posts while I was goofing off, but I wound up underestimating my own laziness.So as it turns out, I got nothing in the pantry for you today… no silly songs or Gettysburg Addresses, no TV show rewrites or hilarious jokey jokes for you. Check back tomorrow when we should have some fresh goodies back in the case.
So today I think I’ll just yak…
I thought that going on long hikes through Glacier National Park would lead to big, stirring thoughts about this journey we’re all on together. Would lead to some stunning new revelations, some breathtakingly fresh ideas.
Instead, I rewrote all the John Denver songs in my head with new lyrics (but to my credit, I immediately threw them all away…).
What actually happened was that I got away from my obsession with healthy living and exercise and dieting and blogging for a bit. I took a deep, cleansing breath of fresh mountain air and I enjoyed the magnificence of Nature with a capital “N”. This part of the world is too big, too majestic, too magnificent for any lower-case descriptions.
I quit thinking about what and how much I was putting in my mouth and tried to just not go ape-sh*t crazy with the choices. Oh, I ate too much, drank too much and didn’t really give any of it much of a thought in the process. I can’t say I was as good as I should have been, but I definitely enjoyed myself.
This is a lifelong journey for us, and a lifetime’s a helluva long time. That’s my takeaway from the past week anyway.
There will be solid weeks and bad weeks, all kinds of highs, all sorts of lows.
But we’ll keep moving forward.
We’ll keep pushing and pushing and pushing…
It occurs to me that this is the point in the program where I usually start my inexplicable, out-of-control ascent back to obesity. This is generally the point where all the good work I’ve put in goes out the window.
Not this time.
Not this time.
Not this time.
I backslid a little this past week, of that I’m quite certain. I drank coffee most mornings and enjoyed desserts most evenings. I had some tempura sushi (what?) and picked up a few items in the most decadent chocolate shop I’ve ever stepped foot inside.
I even drank a $7 lukewarm beer on the flight home and enjoyed every drop.
But tomorrow’s a new day.
A brand new day.
And I’m looking forward to it.
Welcome home and welcome to the brand new day! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post. "Lifetime's a helluva long time" True!
ReplyDeleteI need to get to that point, where I can enjoy little treats without guilt.
ReplyDeleteGood attitude, welcome back.
ReplyDeleteAh vacations. They are nice but it's also nice to get home to routine to sometimes. Welcome back.
ReplyDeleteYou enjoyed a lukewarm beer??
Mmmm, lukewarm overpriced airplane beer, mmmm.
ReplyDeleteWelcome home, Jack. Welcome home.
Jack, coffee is a health food, and so is chocolate, so you did great (if you had some wine, even better). Glad you got to spend some time in Nature.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a pretty perfect vacay to me.
ReplyDeleteNo regrets and onward! Good for you!
ReplyDeleteLove me some pacific northwest mountain air! Gorgeous part of this country with a capital G. I love it that you enjoyed yourself...isn't that why we're doing this anyway, to be able to live longer to experience more? Nice to see you back. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post, because I think that many times in this journey that many of us are on..we forget to live.
ReplyDeleteNo regrets is the best way to live your life :) Glad you had fun!
ReplyDeleteYeah! For moderation in everything! When I went on vacation to Texas earlier this month, I went on a serious enchilada tour of San Antonio and it did NOT disappoint. But just as I saved money to go on that trip. I saved calories too. And when I got home, I had to start saving money for my next trip and saving up good healthy living to go along with it.
ReplyDeleteKeep on keeping on!
Back on the wagon, I like it.
ReplyDeleteNot this time! Excellent!
ReplyDeleteLove this post, learning to live with your choices and then moving on, instead of sliding back... Brilliant! Welcome back!
ReplyDeleteWelcome home Jack...now get back to plan will ya! I'm sure your direct coach Jen will have some choice words for ya too!
ReplyDeleteLearn from PVS: Why do we have such a wide spread between our everyday lives and our vacations?
ReplyDeleteHow can we narrow the gap and find balance? I've been working on this... and continue to work. It helps that I actually moved to the Pacific Northwest after a vacation a few years ago!
Thanks for your obsession with blogging - welcome back.
Good post. That's what it's all about - realism. We are human when all is said and done, and we do err. And we have to forgive ourselves, because there is NOTHING WRONG with enjoying food and tastes. We should indulge - because after all, we aren't saints who'll never, ever again eat chocolate. I am really glad you enjoyed your time away Jack, and the food you ate and the beers you swigged. It's good to 'enjoy'. It's also good to just appreciate what we have around us..and stop obsessing with whether we are eating properly or not. (I do this - think too much, beat myself up too much.) I think the trick is to be aware that bad choices LONG TERM are going to damage us. Being aware and knowing that we can control our eating and that a few days of indulgence is not wrong or 'bad' are what it's all about. We learn this as we lose weight. Tomorrow is another day and you know what you have to do. Those great days away are stored in your memory bank too :) Win-win.
ReplyDeleteNope. Not "tomorrow's a brand new day" but TODAY. THIS MINUTE.
ReplyDeleteDrop an' give me 20!
Ok... I'll do them too.
Vee at http://veegettinghealthy.blogspot.com
I have visiting Chocolate Man next week on my calendar. :D What is life we don't celebrate nature with a capital N or achievements with a capital A and chocolate? Capital N nature makes me feel small and my issues trivial. I love that. Glad you had a great vacation.
ReplyDeleteI believe that everyone needs some time to relax with their choices along their journey, and as long as you get back on track soon enough, no real harm comes of it. :)
ReplyDeleteGood post. Yes you ate a little bad but really.. You were on VACATION! haha isnt that time you let your hair down and do crazy things? Enjoy it and Get back to life when you get home. I'm glad you had fun
ReplyDeleteYou missed visiting the Pacific Northwest by at least one whole state. Technically it's Idaho, Washington and Oregon but we don't really even consider Idaho. Those nutbags (except for people in Boise, they're okay) on their own, dammit. It's like visiting Chicago and saying you went to the east coast.
ReplyDeleteSo now you have to take another vacation -- right now!!! -- in order to do it right. Go on, get going!! Tell the boss I said so.
Jack this was a really powerful post for me. Just because I am at the point where I usually begin my ascent back into fatness too. But reading this inspired me- if you can stay the course, I can try to stay the course for another day too. :) Thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteTHIS is the difference between every other time and THIS time, Jack. Your lifestyle isn't just about losing weight - it's about living healthy for ever. Perfection isn't required; getting back to your normal, healthy lifestyle after a two week vacation IS. You've got this, and so do I!
ReplyDeleteI totally believe in having two or three high calorie days a month...in case of special occasion, or a dinner out with family. If you keep your intake at a certain threshhold and workout at least on track 80 percent of the time, you will maintain. the other 20 percent is flexible. Nobody should eat wheat grass all the time (or from my point of view anytime). There should be times when you can just go and enjoy yourself. Because life is short.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Jack. Glad you enjoyed your time and let it go..
I love it when you just let your biz hang out like that Jack! :) I was just writing about the same thing as I just had 3 weeks of being off track due to my Dad's passing and managed to get right back on the wagon when it was all over instead of what I used to do which was let it all backslide until I'd gained a bunch of weight back. It's realizing that this is a LIFESTYLE now, that we can keep up PERMANENTLY that is so dang exciting! Because those are REAL changes. And we rock, because of them. Hooray for us!
ReplyDeleteThe important thing is that you get back to it... some never do. Life is for enjoying. Some just enjoy on vacation, others, like me, take a more modest approach, but we are all different & do what we know is right for us.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest take away is that you get back to it & that you will, no doubt!