Coming back to reality after my cruise vacation (with pictures)
I was so afraid before I left that staying on plan would be difficult, and although I did give in to several temptations on my trip away, for the most part I think I did OK.
Foodwise I attempted to stay low carb and did so with all three meals of the day plus snacks (bringing the package of LF cheese sticks on the cruise really helped-- I was able to bring a couple with me off the ship at each port of call so I wouldn't go crazy with hunger and the poor snack choices available there). I did have dessert most nights, but I kept each one to two spoons or less and often didn't even bother if it wasn't something special that I'd not likely get to try again.
I'd brought packets of crystal lite but didn't need them as I filled and sipped from my Nalgene bottle all day/night with ice water with lemon. I definitely stayed hydrated during the week and on-plan with my fluid intake.
I was very pleased with myself that I made it to the gym 4 times during the 7 night cruise, and ran/jogged/walked at least 5k every time. Once I made it up to 6.5k!! The rest of the time I took advantage of the long ship decks and walked walked walked, as well as spending lots of time off the ship walking. I also went to two dance parties and really shook my groove thing for at least an hour and a half both times. I really wanted to do well on the exercise front and I'm proud to say that I did!
The end of the vacation was a bit rocky because of hurricaine Rina-- my flights home to NY were cancelled 2 days in a row and they couldn't book me on anything earlier so I spent an extra couple of rainy days in Florida which made me anxious and upset (I had to be out of my apartment by the 31st at midnight but didn't get home until 11am on the 31st and still had much more moving to do!) but I used that energy and went to the gym to run another 5k in the hotel!
When I got to the airport and weighed my checked luggage to check if it was under 50lbs, I decided to hop onto the scale myself and was dumbstruck to see that I was almost 10lbs up! But now after having been home for a couple of days all the weight is gone and I realize that it was water retention from all of the salt they used in the cooking on the cruise and in the takeout I had to eat waiting for my flights back. This morning I was back down to my pre-cruise weight.
All in all it was a great trip and I won't be as afraid whenever the opportunity arrises for me to do it again.
Two things that struck me though that I wanted to share-- before the trip when I was weighing myself with my bag on my bathroom scale and then subtracting my weight to see how much the bag weighed I realized how difficult it was to hold onto a 50lb giant blob... and saw that even with the giant suitcase, I still weighed less than I did when I'd first started this jouney! Also, during the trip, everything was just so much easier from walking to staying active-- I could literally feel the weight of it all lifted off of me from the last time I'd been on a vacation/cruise. What a wonderful feeling!
Here are a couple of pictures which I think really show how my trip was:
This one is from the first day and I'm wearing a swimsuit that I hadn't fit into in ages
This one is from the first of two formal nights and I'm wearing my high school senior prom dress (it actually fits me better now than it did back in the 90's!)
Fooling around with coconuts in Turks and Caicos, which we were redirected to after the hurricaine prevented us from going to Grand Cayman
Before dinner one night towards the end of the cruise-- I think you can tell from my smile that I was having a blast and feeling wonderful!
Foodwise I attempted to stay low carb and did so with all three meals of the day plus snacks (bringing the package of LF cheese sticks on the cruise really helped-- I was able to bring a couple with me off the ship at each port of call so I wouldn't go crazy with hunger and the poor snack choices available there). I did have dessert most nights, but I kept each one to two spoons or less and often didn't even bother if it wasn't something special that I'd not likely get to try again.
I'd brought packets of crystal lite but didn't need them as I filled and sipped from my Nalgene bottle all day/night with ice water with lemon. I definitely stayed hydrated during the week and on-plan with my fluid intake.
I was very pleased with myself that I made it to the gym 4 times during the 7 night cruise, and ran/jogged/walked at least 5k every time. Once I made it up to 6.5k!! The rest of the time I took advantage of the long ship decks and walked walked walked, as well as spending lots of time off the ship walking. I also went to two dance parties and really shook my groove thing for at least an hour and a half both times. I really wanted to do well on the exercise front and I'm proud to say that I did!
The end of the vacation was a bit rocky because of hurricaine Rina-- my flights home to NY were cancelled 2 days in a row and they couldn't book me on anything earlier so I spent an extra couple of rainy days in Florida which made me anxious and upset (I had to be out of my apartment by the 31st at midnight but didn't get home until 11am on the 31st and still had much more moving to do!) but I used that energy and went to the gym to run another 5k in the hotel!
When I got to the airport and weighed my checked luggage to check if it was under 50lbs, I decided to hop onto the scale myself and was dumbstruck to see that I was almost 10lbs up! But now after having been home for a couple of days all the weight is gone and I realize that it was water retention from all of the salt they used in the cooking on the cruise and in the takeout I had to eat waiting for my flights back. This morning I was back down to my pre-cruise weight.
All in all it was a great trip and I won't be as afraid whenever the opportunity arrises for me to do it again.
Two things that struck me though that I wanted to share-- before the trip when I was weighing myself with my bag on my bathroom scale and then subtracting my weight to see how much the bag weighed I realized how difficult it was to hold onto a 50lb giant blob... and saw that even with the giant suitcase, I still weighed less than I did when I'd first started this jouney! Also, during the trip, everything was just so much easier from walking to staying active-- I could literally feel the weight of it all lifted off of me from the last time I'd been on a vacation/cruise. What a wonderful feeling!
Here are a couple of pictures which I think really show how my trip was:
This one is from the first day and I'm wearing a swimsuit that I hadn't fit into in ages
This one is from the first of two formal nights and I'm wearing my high school senior prom dress (it actually fits me better now than it did back in the 90's!)
Fooling around with coconuts in Turks and Caicos, which we were redirected to after the hurricaine prevented us from going to Grand Cayman
Before dinner one night towards the end of the cruise-- I think you can tell from my smile that I was having a blast and feeling wonderful!
~~Emily~~
It was a fairly rocky cruise with the hurricaine-- we had rain for one full 24 hour period and A LOT of waves while the captain was steering us around the hurricaine and out of harm's way. I didn't not have any nausea, but I was wearing a Scopolamine patch behind my ear most of the time. You can ask your doctor for a prescription-- they're tiny time-release patches that last 72 hours and you keep behind one ear from just before you get on the ship to after you get off if you're prone to sea sickness. Mine fell off a day and a half before the cruise ended though and I still didn't have any issues.
As far as suggestions, just stick with your plan and you might want to bring a shaker bottle with some dry protein powder, or some other go-to meal/snack replacement. I was able to eat eggs and cheese every day for breakfast, and fish every day for lunch and dinner so it was ok, but you'll want to be prepared just in case with the protein, and better safe than sorry. Also, bringing a big bottle and refilling the water *really* helped me stay hydrated. You can even bring a case of water onto the ship if you want, though that's quite heavy to carry. Call the cruiseline in advance to see if your stateroom will have a fridge-- that helped me a lot too!
Good luck to you! I never would have been able to handle a cruise at 9 weeks postop due to my own head with control issues surrounding cooking, eating and exercise, but if your doctor approves the travel then go for it and enjoy!
As far as suggestions, just stick with your plan and you might want to bring a shaker bottle with some dry protein powder, or some other go-to meal/snack replacement. I was able to eat eggs and cheese every day for breakfast, and fish every day for lunch and dinner so it was ok, but you'll want to be prepared just in case with the protein, and better safe than sorry. Also, bringing a big bottle and refilling the water *really* helped me stay hydrated. You can even bring a case of water onto the ship if you want, though that's quite heavy to carry. Call the cruiseline in advance to see if your stateroom will have a fridge-- that helped me a lot too!
Good luck to you! I never would have been able to handle a cruise at 9 weeks postop due to my own head with control issues surrounding cooking, eating and exercise, but if your doctor approves the travel then go for it and enjoy!
~~Emily~~
You look terrific! Glad you had fun! Sounds like you did an awesome job of staying active and eating right even while on a cruise.
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