Well, we're back from our gorgeous week in the Caribbean. We left the day after Thanksgiving and spent the last week reading, lounging, and, well, eating.
I did, though, have a few rules. First, we always took the stairs unless we were wearing heels. That meant an average of 40-50 flights a day (all the main entertainment stuff was on deck 4, we were on deck 11, and the spa/gym/pool were on 12-14). Second, if we could, we walked while in port. We walked 4 miles from the pier to 7 Mile Beach in Grand Cayman, another 4 back from downtown Cozumel to the port, and the big one, a 3.5 mile hiking excursion in Honduras (and it was STEEP...so steep, you needed a walking stick just to help you balance and keep from slipping...weight limit: 250 lbs, so I couldn't have done it before). So there was a LOT of exercise going on in the ports, just to avoid cabs and to see the non-touristy areas.
I also went to the gym twice, on sea days. There is something so incredibly cool about lifting weights or being on the elliptical while watching the sea roll by outside giant picture windows. And they had so much good equipment that I can't access at home - wanted to take advantage! In fact, I lifted the day before we left, which ended up being a bad decision...note to self, don't lift if you're going to be sitting for hours on a plane the next day. Your muscles will get stiff and you'll have trouble getting back up.
Our room came with daily fresh fruit, bottled water, and herbal tea, so we had hydration and easy snacks available. Our assigned restaurant was a specialty restaurant that featured lighter and healthier foods...they had the most AMAZING soups I'd ever had, all made of vegetable purees, perfectly seasoned, with no cream or excess butter. There was also a little spa cafe with lovely light breads, fruit, yogurt parfaits, and egg white omelets. Everything we ate was unbelievably amazing. When we needed a quick lunch from the buffet, there was a massive salad bar, so we took full advantage, filling our plates with at least 2/3 salad before taking a little bit of something else we'd want to try.
I'm not in any way going to imply sainthood. I had ice cream 4 times during the trip, and we had cookies and tea before bed twice. We took a cooking class in Cozumel, and you can bet I tried the guacamole, tamales, and quesadillas we made in the class. In Costa Maya, we reserved an all-inclusive beach resort, where we drank (margaritas and mai tais and Corona...oh my!) and were fed until stuffed by our host. I would say I ate something with sugar every day, and I ate every chocolate that they left on my pillow. In airports, we didn't have a ton of time between flights, so we had some convenience foods and snack items going on. And of course, the alcohol...cocktails, wine with dinner, etc.
I didn't deny myself things I wanted. I also didn't eat very much of anything heavy, having little tastes but not overdoing it.
The end result? My scale is .4 lbs LIGHTER than when I left, and still well below redline. And I think I might go a bit lower, given all the airport food/sodium/etc that still needs to work itself out.
So that was what my vacation looked like - so happy to have found balance and maintained while still having a really, really good time.
I attached a photo of me at the top of my hike in Honduras.