Another NSV

Yesterday my husband and I took a chartered bus trip to Chicago (2-1/2 hour trip each way) for a day of shopping and sight-seeing.  It was a fun way to spend a December Friday! My husband spent over 38 years working in retail jewelry where the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was all about work and definitely no play, so the fact that we're now self-employed and he was able to spend a day in December just having fun made the trip extra-special. 

The bus dropped us off near Michigan Avenue (the "Magnificent Mile") and we had 6-1/2 hours to do whatever we wanted.  I grew up in Chicago and spent two summers and an entire year working in the downtown "Loop", so we headed to one of my favorite stores that was a little over a mile away (for those who are familiar with Chicago, the store is now Macy's and located in the historic Marshall Field's building on State Street).  We spent quite a bit of time there and had a lovely lean & green meal in the Walnut Room at the top of the building.  After lunch, we walked back to the Magnificent Mile for more shopping and browsing, then had dessert and coffee at a restaurant before heading back to the bus for the trip home.  My BodyBugg recorded almost 13,000 steps yesterday and over 2,000 calories burned :-). 

My husband and I brought several Medifast meals with us, so other than our lean & green and our dessert (we're in maintenance, remember??), we ate our MF food every 2-1/2 or 3 hours and kept ourselves fueled, with the nutrition we needed.  When we got on the bus yesterday morning, a number of people were eating a fast-food breakfast, then munched on cookies on the way to Chicago.  On our way home, the bus stopped at a fast-food restaurant and a lot of the individuals bought food there for the bus ride home.  My husband and I chose to save our money (and calories) for a good meal and a bit of a splurge with dessert.

Several years ago I spent a day shopping in the Chicago Loop, but it was such a different story.  I was at or near my top weight of 268, so walking all over downtown Chicago was exhausting.  I remember wondering if I'd be able to take another step because my feet and back ached.  I ended up taking a couple of cabs that day because I got to the point where I just couldn't walk any farther. 

Life at a healthy weight is SO much better!  I'm several years older than I was the last time I spent a day shopping in Chicago, but there is no comparison with the energy I had then versus the energy I have now!  I was able to have a great day shopping and sight-seeing, do a lot of walking and had energy to spare when we got on the bus for the ride home.  Yesterday's shopping trip was about a lot more than just Christmas shopping in my favorite city.  It was another opportunity to celebrate the new life I have this side of goal.  The NSVs (non-scale victories) still keep coming!  The choices I began making 3-1/2 years ago when I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast are still reaping rewards for me.  I'm not only still healthy and still wearing size 6's, but I'm able to enjoy doing fun things I wouldn't have had the energy to enjoy at 268 pounds. 

The choices you're making today will reap rewards tomorrow and the day after that . . . choose wisely :-)