A Little Vacation :-)

It's snowing and cold in West Michigan this morning, and there is more snow and colder temperatures on the way. All of this makes me particularly happy that we are leaving for Florida tomorrow, where we will spend almost a week warming up and soaking in some Vitamin D. We are flying free thanks to a flight voucher we have and we found a great deal for a hotel and rental car package, so we are doing Florida "on the cheap" :-).

We are also bringing a lot of Medifast pretzels, cheese puffs and crunch bars with us because, vacation or not, we will continue to eat 5-6 small meals a day and make wise choices. I am taking a vacation from winter weather, but not from healthy eating. This is a big change for me from my pre-Take Shape for Life/Medifast days!

In the past, vacations always - always - meant a food free-for-all. I pretty much ate with abandon when I was on vacation and the scale always reflected that fact when I returned home. Because I had an "all or nothing" mindset, if I wasn't going to be "good" when it came to my eating, I was bound and determined to cram in as much "bad food" as I could, while I could. While eating the "bad food", I would be thinking things like, "I know I shouldn't really be eating this, I know I'm eating too much, I know I'm gaining weight, but it tastes SO good and I'll be "good" again when I get home." There was always a tinge of guilt associated with my eating, and sometimes it was way more than just a tinge. Often I felt awful about knowing that I was pretty much out of control.

While we are looking forward to a wonderful time away, this will not be a vacation from healthy eating. I don't like the way I feel when I'm not eating healthy - I just feel better all the way around when I know I'm doing the right things for my body. We're looking forward to doing a lot of walking and I'm packing my workout clothes so I can use the hotel's fitness center. Between staying active and making wise choices with my meals, I know I won't come home with extra pounds.

I know the temptations will certainly be there to throw caution to the wind, because the healthy habits I'm incorporating into my life are still fledglings and my old habits are simmering just below the surface. I will do in Florida what I do in Michigan - plan each day what and when I'm going to eat, incorporate activity into my day, then have a good time. This side of goal, having a good time involves SO much more than just food, and it's so much better!

While I'm away, I won't be blogging. Have a wonderful and on-plan week and choose wisely :-)