Success! Two weeks of not tracking on a dream holiday

Prior to leaving for our once-in-a-lifetime-Griswold-trip-to-Italy, I had lost about 20 of the 30 lbs. on my radar. I had successfully tracked all my food the 122 days prior to leaving, but decided that taking our family (myself, hubs and 3 boys ages 14, 13 and 12) to Italy for 11 days would be about the experience, not the limitations. Then, I would rejoin the site 2 weeks later.

And, I did it. Here I am.

What I learned:

- my portion size changes 'stuck' and were actually in-line with what other countries (not USA) eat.
- walking an average of 6-8 miles per day helped me keep off the pasta and wine calories
- traveling sometimes means you don't get to choose what or where you eat ... so you make due best you can just don't use it as a sign that you should throw it all away.
- Cooking for our family at the apartments we rented provided us some great discourse about food in general. The kids noted that "healthy" foods were cheaper, the frozen food aisle was almost non-existent and people naturally walked more for necessities.
- I didn't go "all in" on my holiday as I have in the past. Prior, a vacation would be a great way to be derailed or just completely overeat as much as possible. But, this time...I didn't set myself up with a time period to get my body back to being healthy. Truly making it a lifestyle change and, after these boards, understanding that you never really 'leave' even in maintenance saw this vacation as part of my life, not my diet.

We ate out one meal a day plus had a gelato break and we all still managed to be more 'tired' than 'stuffed'. And, I can't tell you how exhilarating it is to know that any weight gained (1 lb!) will come off in time as will other pounds. This trip wasn't an exception to life's rule...it's life. I planned for it and I succeeded. And, that's pretty darn awesome.