Oh my naivety! I re-read my last post & am embarassed that I must post this confession . . . vacation was harder than I thought it would be.
We arrived around 1 am into Miami and headed to a hotel right by the airport. Despite being drop-dead tired, we set our alarm to get up so we wouldn't miss the highly-praised free breakfast buffet. I ignored the enticing wafts of bacon and pancakes and headed to the made-to-order omelette line, where I ordered an egg white veggie omelette. Yum! Then I hit up the oatmeal and stirred in a little cinnamon and vanilla. I did have a bite of bacon because it was the overcooked super-crispy kind, just the way I like it. (The hubby likes it fattier and limp-- gross!) So far, so good.
We had some time to kill before we could check into the condo in Weston, so we drove to downtown Miami and went to the Bayside shops. My one rule for vacation was (besides the McDonald's at the airport) no eating at chain restaurants, or at least no restaurant we can eat at in Utah. So for lunch we opted for Bubba Gump. We didn't want to carry any leftovers, so Ryan and I split a shrimp avocado salsa and chips (yes, carbs!) and shrimp and veggie skewers. Not perfect, but pretty good choices. Except for the drink. Can I just say, Florida in July is exactly what I anticipated-- sticky hot & humid as a bikram studio! Those specialty lemonades sure looked like the solution!
After that, we headed to Weston but made a stop at a local Super Walmart we drove by accidentally. This ended up to be a big mistake. Apparently, everyone in Florida shops at Walmart on Friday. And they don't just get a few items. They FILL their carts. They fill multiple carts. And yes, the checkouts in Florida are just as slow and understaffed as the ones in Utah. But in Utah, no one FILLS their cart at Walmart. That's what Costco is for. I thought I could just run in, grab a few essential groceries, and be out in 20-30 minutes. The kids were asleep in the car, so Ryan waited. As I stood in the checkout for 10, 15, 20 minutes, I could feel Ryan's impatience. I wondered if I should just leave my cart & go, but I had come too far to turn back. Plus, the couple behind me in line were very nice & I enjoyed learning their entire life stories while they berated Walmart lines. This would never happen in Utah, this instant story-sharing amongst strangers. In the 20 minutes we were in line, I learned about the husband's horrific customer service experience in McDonald's just a few days before (another reason to avoid the symbol of American eating), that he had a good friend in Lindon, UT, that his wife survived a brain aneurism at age 17 and had a metal plate in her head, that she left her church after her first husband cheated on her multiple times and her ecclesiastical leaders advised her to forgive and forget. Yeah, the guy was a talker, but I appreciated the distraction. When I finally got rung up, I raced to the car, waved good-bye to my new friends, & completely ignored the fact that I had to pee after drinking all that yummy, sugary lemonade. The hubby was too annoyed to let me go back in and pee, so the ride to Weston was torture.
Long story short, I had accomplished my next move in my healthy vacation: healthy groceries. I stocked our fridge with broccoli, blueberries, sliced turkey, chicken, salmon, salad greens, spinach, egg whites. In the pantry was my oatmeal and peanut butter and bread for the rest of the fam. Needless to say, the hubby went to the store later to get sodas and other various drinks & chips.
Also with the best of intentions, I had packed several workout outfits. I checked out the fitness center when we arrived. It left much to be desired, but I figured I could also go running or work on Zumba choreography.
So those were my intentions . . . Now for reality.
I worked out twice. To my credit, I did go running & survived about 3 miles. In July. In Florida. Mid-morning, because I stayed on Utah time. It was my first run post-surgery, and it felt pretty good, if you like running in a sauna. I also attempted to use the elliptical machine in the fitness center, but it was archaic and didn't work me out at all. I also tried the "weight" machine, one of those all-in-one pulley systems. I had to get pretty creative with it to work hamstrings, and it was impossible to do most upper body on it. I did a good 10 minutes of abs with both workouts I managed to squeeze in.
The rest of vacation was busy, filled with excursions, family time, swimming at the pool, shopping, eating. It was exhausting, and every morning when I weighed my options: set the alarm and get up early to workout, or sleep in because hallelujah the kids were still sleeping . . . well, I did what any mother of 3 on vacation in a king-size bed would do. I got up . . . to pee. Once or twice . . . and went back to bed! It was amazing to NOT have to be anywhere by 8 am.
Granted, our activities weren't lazy by any means. Even shopping was laborious, as we explored the labyrinthian Sawgrass Mills Mall, one of the country's largest outlet malls. It is endless. We only covered half of it in 3 hours (the hubby stayed behind to watch the World Cup finals and do laundry-- any excuse to NOT go shopping). Our feet and legs ached by the end. The kids were whiny, tired, and bored. You think I exaggerate, but I saw grown women, who were clearly not as in shape as I am, sitting atop those rental strollers, their sugar daddies pushing them along from store to store. No lie.
We also went snorkeling in Key Largo. With our 3 kids. Have you tried snorkeling with a frightened 10-year old clinging to your arm? It's a workout. (btw, that's my sis in the pic, not my 10-year-old!) We spent a day at Hollywood beach and swam out as far as we could, to the buoy that marks the no-swim zone. (The hubby was freaked out about the possibility of sharks, which made the swim that much more exciting.) There was no down-time, no lying in a chaise reading a book. Because it was too damn hot. You had to be in the water or in the air conditioning. So at the beach, we spent all 4 hours in the water, swimming and doggy paddling and wading. The white hubby was fried at the end of the day, despite 2 applications of spf 50.
Besides our active excursions, we were staying on the 7th floor, at the very end of the hall. Anytime we had to "go back to the room" from the pool--for forgotten sunglasses, a snack, whatever-- it was a major time-consuming ordeal, even with the elevator. Once I tried to take the stairs because I knew it'd be faster, but I was locked out of the building from the stairwell, had to jog all the way down and go around and take the elevator, & more than once I was so distracted by the humidity that I got off on whatever floor the elevator first stopped on (they all looked exactly alike upon stepping out), realizing as soon as the doors shut that I was NOT on floor 7 & I'd have to wait all over again for the elevator to come back to me. Seriously. I would have preferred the stairs.
The heat and humidity was so stifling that any movement you made outdoors felt like a workout. Which I guess is why I justified my consumption of gallons of Blue Bell ice cream! And the fact that you CANNOT get Blue Bell ice cream in Utah. I had wanted to get a few different flavors in pint sizes, but all the local Publix had in great variety were the gallon sized. I knew I had to have the Banana Pudding. Ooh, and the Pistachio Almond. Ohhhh, Tropical Paradise, doesn't that sound yummy? Coconut ice cream with pineapple and macadamia nuts. And yes, yes, yes Groom's Cake to satisfy the chocolate craving! I figured we could share with all the relatives; it'd be gone in no time. However, they were all stored in MY freezer. Guess who ate most of the Banana Pudding, straight out of the carton?? In the moment, I didn't even care that I'm mildly lactose-intolerant and ice cream makes me bloated until I look 6 months pregnant. No, no. I lived in the moment, with no regard for 10 minutes in the future. That cold, gooey banana ice cream with whipped cream swirls and nilla wafer chunks was worth the stomach pains and gas baby I would inevitably incur, or so I thought in the moment.
It was disgusting, in the bad way. Needless to say, I put on a couple pounds on vacation. This was NOT what I needed after my post-surgery hiatus. I am back to square one with my weight, though I attribute a couple pounds to boobage and a little to muscle. I have a lot of work to do. But I know I can do it. Because I've done it before. I hit the gym yesterday, the real one. Taught my cycle class (and was dying-- did I really acclimate to sea level that quickly because this altitude was killing me!) then tested myself on all my usual weight exercises. Sadly, it was obvious I had lost some strength. I had to drop weight on everything. Still can't do lats or pull-up machine post-surgery either.
But I'm staying positive. On the bright side, my body should really respond to my workouts & diet now. And I have no plans in the near future to visit any state that sells Blue Bell ice cream :)
