Good and Bad

Statistically a person gains one pound for every cruise day. I gained four pounds on a seven-day cruise last week so – yay me! Right?

I enjoyed all the food on the ship and chose items I rarely eat or have never eaten. It was a fun carefree week of food exploration. But now it's back to reality and back to my low-carb diet.

Prior to the cruise, it took me five weeks to lose five pounds by eliminating 80% of carbs from my diet and counting calories. Hopefully it'll happen that quickly again. Time will tell and I'll keep you posted.

(During the cruise, we encountered extreme fog, rain, and severely rough seas due to hurricane Jose. We even had to abort one port-of-call due to such severe weather. So there wasn't a lot of opportunity for destination photos, but some are posted on my FaceBook page. Just click here. This photo of me and hubby is one of my favorites. I took it in our stateroom before we left to tackle a rainy Boston.)

Goal!

This morning I reached my pre-trip weight goal. Truly amazes me since I've had so much trouble losing weight after turning 60 six years ago. Low carb appears to be the "name of the game" for me.

After entering "Today's Weight" in my LoseIt! app, my daily intake was increased 500 calories. That sounds fantastic, but I'm nervous about eating more. After you've been on ~1400 calories a day for so long, I think it's normal to feel you'll certainly gain weight on ~1900 calories a day.

No matter what I do, however, odds are strong I'll gain a few pounds on our upcoming cruise. But at least now I know my "game plan" for post cruise.

Bon voyage!

Too Much

All weekend it was hard for me to pull myself away from the weather channel. There are no words to describe the full impact Irma has had and will have on most Americans. The damage will cripple the economy of the entire nation for a very long time.

Florida is a vacation destination not just for many Americans but also for tourists worldwide. For our family, Orlando and Sanibel Island are annual destinations. As Disney Vacation Club members, my daughter's family visits the parks 2-3 times a year. And my husband and I spend a week on Sanibel Island every summer with my daughter's family.

Needless to say, I was extremely relieved this morning to learn Irma had suddenly gone inland at the point it was previously expected to slam Sanibel Island. What I've been able to uncover so far is the island sustained minimal damage, most of which was downed trees. The causeway was inspected and cleared this morning and will reopen tomorrow.

Unfortunately, however, Irma's turn caused a direct hit on Orlando. The full extent of the damage has not yet been revealed. But at least Orlando will not have to worry about storm surge since it's a land-locked city.

Frankly I just don't know how to process all the recent natural disasters, the fires out west, the earthquake in Mexico, and the hurricanes in the south. It's all just too much.

6 Pounds Down; 1 From Goal

I just did my weekly weigh-in and found I dropped another pound. That's a six pound lose over 25 days. Amazing!

I'm not working any formal plan. I'm just eating fewer carbs and consuming more protein. For example, instead of grabbing a piece of fruit for a snack, I eat a cheese stick. Instead of using regular pasta, I use a high-protein brand. I also pass on the bread basket whenever we eat out. And, of course, I seldom have a sugary treat. When I do, I only need a couple bites to satisfy a craving.

I've also been using my trusted app LoseIt! to record my calories. LoseIt! also determines how many calories I should consume to reach my goal of losing a pound a week. As of this morning that goal is 1419 calories, because it drops every time I log a weight lose. It's like, "Good for you! Now you get to eat even less!" 😡

My original goal was to lose seven pounds, but I'd really like to lose 10. That would put me at a weight I haven't seen in three years and give me a buffer for our upcoming cruise later this month.

On average cruise passengers gain a pound a day. But I believe my awareness and determination will help me stay the course. And, worst case, at least I now finally know what works for my body and can get back on that program when we return.

So, today, the scale is my friend and I'm feeling extremely accomplished. Yay me!