climbing on and off the wagon

so this past month has been a bit of a coaster ride with the weight loss. i started out the summer doing pretty well, had gone below 200 and was maintaining around 195. unfortunately the many events post that kind of changed things a bit. as i have stated, traveling doesn't do well for a diet... and i have a tendency to not stick to things as well as i should to minimize the damage. i have never gained a great deal on any single trip, but let's face it any gain is a couple steps back.

in may i took my trip to the carolinas, in june i took a trip up to NY to see my sister, this past weekend i went on a weekend long float trip... all of these presented a bit of a set back. don't get me wrong, i would not trade any of these trips for anything. i had a great time on all of them and wouldn't change anything. i would also like to note that this was the first time i shimmied myself into a swimming suit in public in about 2.5 YEARS or longer!!! however, i am now back in the mode of "gotta get on track". i stepped on the scale after the float trip knowing it was going to be the worst i had seen it in a long time. let's face it, you can't expect to see a good number when for 2 days you consumed a great deal of alcohol and all sorts of food that was off plan. in fact, looking at my food intake from that weekend i don't think i ate much of anything that would be considered on plan. to make matters worse, i most definitely wasn't getting enough water in my system. oh and to make matters worse, right before i left on the canoe trip i got sick *with a form of strep i think* and i started taking some antibiotics. as i have talked about before, antibiotics will make you retain water as well.

me in my new swimming suit! i am actually a fan of it!

so the scale was tipping close to 205. my heart sank a little but instead of getting upset i just took it as some motivation. first thing was to start getting my water levels back up. i knew i was retaining water badly since my ring was fitting snugly, something it hasn't done in about 6 months. i also started taking my vitamins and getting back on track with supplements. finally i started getting better about the food i was eating. i am not saying great because i have had a few "off" meals. however, i am proud to report that when i stepped on the scale tonight the numbers came in at 199. gotta say, i am happy to be back down but i have to keep it that way.

the next few weekends are going to be a bit hard as well. this weekend i have a wedding to go to and i have no clue what is on the menu but i do know there will be some beverage consumption. this time it will be in moderation though! :o) next weekend, 4th of july, i will be heading up to omaha to see my aunt. again with the traveling, but i have faith that the trip won't be a complete wash on my diet accomplishments. after that life should settle back into a semi-normal routine and i can focus more on getting to goal.

final news is that i obtained a new "toy". my extreme dislike of working out in a crowded gym drove me to stop going to 24 hour fitness when the new years rush came in. since them i haven't really gone back. my membership expired last week and i chose not to renew it. instead i spent less money than i would have for the membership and i bought the tony little gazelle. i am pretty excited. now i just need to figure out where to set it up. i am thinking that i want to slowly start building up my own home fitness collection. dvds- check, gazelle- check, wish list... tread mill and maybe some sort of ab or arm machine. who knows where all of it will go but i think i can manage to make room down the road.

that's all for now. i will leave you with a picture. i took this tonight, some time soon i will work on doing another before and after comparison. until then... hope all is well in your worlds!