Does PINK and Vacation Mix? (The Saga Continues)

I'm back to continue the PINK vs. Vacation saga. If you missed part 1 check it out here. 
Now, where were we... ah hah! I gained 9 lbs on a 4-day vacation and needed a game plan to lose the weight. Michelle (the other PINK in the Pod) suggested that there was NO way I gained a true 9 lbs on a 4-day vacation. Some of it had to be water retention and maybe doing a 4-day RESET (as is required between the phases) and continuing on to phase 2 would be sufficient instead of starting from square 1. She also reminded me that I could use the PINK drink as a meal replacement for 2 meals if needed.

I pondered this (I was soooooo down in the dumps and pitiful about this weight gain) and decided it made a lot of sense. For more motivation, I listened to all of the live web chat recordings online to make sure I understood what could and couldn't be done on this plan. For example, I found out I could have air popped popcorn. It was bothering me ... not being able to have a snack ever again. This took the edge off at times. But organic air popped popcorn is not a tasty snack by far (FYI).

I lie to you NOT! The first day after I got back I didn't eat PINK or workout but I lost a couple pounds. The next few days I did RESET but with a shake for breakfast and dinner and a meal for lunch. I lost all 9 lbs and then some in 4 days. AMAZING!!! Seeing that scale go down and down again was motivation enough. I was back on track! But....

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Phase 2 came in like a bear! I hadn't worked out in almost a week and jumping up to 10 and 12 pound weight lifting routines (from 3-5 lbs) and this crazy cardio was kicking my butt! But I has to persist because soon I'd be leaving for another major vacation - a cruise to the Bahamas with a group of girlfriends. But this time I would be ready! I consulted an expert on the message boards for advice on how to handle things and prepared for my trip.

First I bought a magic bullet so that I could make my shakes for breakfast, I bought a smaller bag of my protein powder to travel with and purchased fiber powder because I found out on the web chat that Cynthia prefers the whey to have fiber in it (and mine doesn't). My plan was to purchase shelf-stable individual drink boxes of the unsweetened almond milk from a grocery in Miami before boarding the ship and to get strawberries from the breakfast buffet each day. Easy peasy!

Now, the mind is a beautiful/horrible place.... even with all this preparation, the same thing happened to my mind as it did before the other trip. I convinced myself that since I was going to be on vacation soon and off plan anyway, it was OK to cheat now. IT MAKES NO SENSE but I started getting extra here, extra there (extra = girl scout cookies from the freezer, cheese sticks, rice cakes, baked kettle chips, candy, etc.) The binging was growing and growing.

For me, travel will always be a part of my life so I had to figure out how to deal. The good news is, you can be PINK and go on vacation if you have your head on straight. On the cruise I gained only 5 lbs by making my shake and making better choices at meals and cutting down on the drinking and desserts. I also brought my tiny DVD player and my pink workouts. Some of my friends even joined me in the workouts. It was a little awkward plugging up and doing it but it was a crowd pleaser. We got compliments from others in the gym on how hard we were working out. I made sure to start my day with the workout and the PINK drink. The next trip I take will = no lbs gained. You watch!!

But OH LAWD, after ALL THAT, guess what happened when I got home...........................
dun dun duuuuuuuuuunnnnn... stay tuned...

La-Vie