Back From the Cruise

I am posting a picture of me and my daughter-in-law, here. My son took this picture on our second night on the trip.

So, while on this wonderful trip of culinary delights how did I do on on my low carb lifestyle? I did pretty good. Only gained one pound which is probably more fluid retention than anything.

I did have a few cheats on the days when we were off the boat in Tulum looking at the Mayan ruins and while we were on shore in Belize. While it would have probably been fine to eat meaty foods in those ports I didn't feel comfortable with it and opted one day to select a piece of pound cake and a cookie; another day I chose to eat nachos. I also drank a few apple martinis (not all at one time!).

But, here's the thing...I found that I desired to continue low carb eating and working on my goals more than I desired to eat sweets. The last night I went to dinner alone by choice. I had vegetable broth and greens because that was the only thing that appealed to me.

It's all in what you WANT for your life. I want a healthy body...a body that allows me to walk for miles without huffing and puffing--which I did on my cruise. I want to feel youthful, to have skin on my legs which isn't dry and cracking from daily sugar overload. I want to be able to tie my shoes without effort, to clean my house without having to take numerous breaks. I want to feel good about myself.

I want to feel in control of my choices and not to be driven by addiction to a momentary pleasure derived from tasting something sweet, or starchy. I want to comfort myself rather than to be comforted by foods.

It felt wonderful to come back to my desk at the office with a little bit of a tan, and not feeling a "too snug" feeling around my waist, or a too-full feeling in my hands and feet puffed up by intake of too much toxic sugar.

I looked in the mirror when I came home and loved what I saw. Each day I look a little more like that "vision" I captured for myself back in February 2007.

Life is what you make it. When I began my low carb journey I had a pretty bleak outlook on things. Since I have captured the menace of food overload I have gained energy, vitality, and a will to live a fuller life than I had. I'm doing it.

50 pounds gone, friends. I want to lose 20 more. I will. Mid-May is my next goal post. My son will graduate from the university he attends with a master's degree in May. (I never finished my under grad degree so this is huge for me!) I look forward to the vision I have when I greet our guests for the after-party. I will be two sizes smaller from my current size 12 status. I will have slightly longer hair...streaks of gray I embrace rather than cover up. I will have a slight tan and glow with health, and I will be almost 50 years old and more vibrant than I have ever been in my life. And, more than anything I will know the lesson I have taught my son by example on that special day. It's never too late to realize personal goals, to improve yourself, to find ways to enjoy life more fully. He'll never forget that on that special day two years earlier his mother nearly waddled up to her seat at his wedding but realizing the error of her ways she corrected it and chose life. If I can do that with so little to work with, he'll know he can do anything he chooses with so much to work with and so many opportunities that his education has opened up for him.

(Here is a picture of that boy I am so proud of.)

Now, I realize that this might sound like it is all about me, but it is not. Early on my son expressed his concern about my weight and whether or not I'd be around and feel like being a good grandmother to his children. He dredded taking care of a fat, depressed, aging parent. Realizing that my penchant for ice cream and cake was killing me and killing his hope for part of the happiness of his own future was another reason for me to care about my own life and goals.

Refusal to embrace weight loss and healthy body maintenance can overshadow the lives of our children. Refusal to take control of our own destinies can be a burden to those we love.

Grab a vision and make it happen...even while crusing the Caribbean. Nothing, nothing, nothing tastes as good as successfully re-creating a thinner life feels. Nothing!