Nothing like a vacation to sabotage your diet.
I recently returned from a trip to London. While I didn’t try to eat everything in sight, I didn’t refuse to taste the local cuisine (read: "chips," better known to us as french fries). And I was known to quaff a pint or two at the area pubs. How can you not!
What was different about my week was the amount of exercise I did. No, I wasn’t in the local gym; matter of fact, I can’t recall one billboard showing hot, toned, not-an-ounce-fat English bodies, but there were weight-loss ads in the Tube (The Underground - their subway). While we road the Tube into central London and to various spots, you still had to walk to the station, which was 5 minutes from our bed and breakfast. And there were steps and stairs everywhere — in and out of the Underground, places we visited, etc. Our B&B room was on the second floor; no lift (elevator) there!
And this was a good thing. All the food temptations I gave into were somewhat tempered by expending those extra calories. And it brought home one of my weaknesses.
I have bad knees - mostly osteoarthritis, which isn’t helped by carrying a lot of extra weight. I will talk myself out of going to the gym or taking a walk because my knees will hurt. What a weenie! But put me on vacation and I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit in a room all day and not see the sights because "my knees might hurt." And my traveling companions weren’t too keen on wheeling me around in a wheelchair. I wasn’t the fastest walker (Londoners move at a very brisk pace, but they know where they are going) and I did take a lot of breaks (look, a chair!). So I walked and walked and took stairs and died every night when I went to bed. I yearned for a bathtub to soak in (only a shower in our room). So I made do with some stretching exercises and a lot of ibuprofen.
Once I returned I knew I couldn’t use my "excuses" any more. Why would I be so willing to wander through London and not step outside my own front door? It makes a difference when you want to explore the Tower of London or check out the Warhols and Monets in a museum. So I’ve got to make exercise more enjoyable, maybe even fun. That’s where I’ve taken to walks around my neighborhood, admiring the bedding plants that are appearing, watching for the buds on the trees and seeing what new things I can find among my neighbors’ dwelling. Or I could head to the park about a mile away (maybe even walk there) to stroll and people watch. As for the gym, taking my favorite music along could help or finding a workout buddy would be even better — someone to commiserate with when the treadmill seems incredibly boring. I know that working out with others is a lot more enjoyable as I look forward to my weekly yoga class because I’m among friends.
No more excuses — I’m moving on!
