My sweet husband and I spent 5 lovely days in San Diego, CA last week. It was so awesome - the weather was perfect (75+ and sunny). We had a ball walking around, visiting friends, shopping, eating in yummy restaurants. And I did a couple things that I would never considered doing before surgery.
First, I brought workout stuff and ACTUALLY USED IT. We stayed in a hotel that had a beautiful fitness room. Two very new treadmills and two new elliptical machines along with an array of free weights and a stability ball with two wall mounted TV's connected to all the cable channels. Being as we were on vacation without our children, I had no excuses NOT to carve out time for workouts a couple times on our trip. And it was actually fun. It's amazing what a new treadmill can do for a workout. I'm not sure if it was wider or what but it felt different and great. I also used the elliptical on another occasion and that too was a great workout. An hour of cardio and 15 minutes of abs/weights was a great way to complete my day while on vacation twice.
Second, we walked all over the frickin' place!!! There is so much to see and do in San Diego and we didn't waste an opportunity. Yes, we used public transportation and we rented a car for a couple days...but we also walked a lot and thanks to my trusty Fitbit, I know that on Friday, we walked 7.7 miles. That's around Old Towne several times, down by the Harbor and the aircraft carrier, around Seaport Village, and back up thru Gaslamp to our hotel. Then a break for a nap and back out for dinner in Gaslamp and back to the hotel. Now, this was extreme...we were feeling a bit tight in the legs on Saturday but it wasn't bad. It felt amazing to be able to say that we walked that far!! Our vacations just don't typically include a ton of activity - we're more of the 'park it on the beach in a chair' kind of vacationers. This was a fun experience to be on the move and enjoying it!!
Finally, I ate. I was so sad to think that food is a part of traveling I enjoy and if I had WLS, I would have to kiss that part of my life goodbye...but not the case!! I had an omlette with smoked salmon, I had sushi, I had grilled salmon, I had sea bass, I had huervos rancheros. I had wine. I didn't go overboard and I followed the rules of eating/drinking/protein first. I kept up with my water. And I didn't gain any weight. I didn't lose any either, so it's a good thing we were walking and I worked out...but I didn't gain any weight. This was a huge victory for me.
Flying home, I was sitting in my coach seat with my seatbelt fastened with plenty of room to spare with my legs crossed reading thinking how much my life has changed. I know I repeat this in every blog post but man, I'm so damn thankful to have been able to have this surgery. I am SO happy to be in this body now...this body that is responding and is finally working with me to be our healthiest self. I didn't realize how miserable I was for so long trapped under all that weight. I'm 45 pounds away from my goal weight and I couldn't be more excited to conquer it. I cannot wait to say "I did it!!!" and know in my heart that yes, I did it. No one else. Me. All me.
