I wrote this post twice. When I first wrote it, I was taking it day by day and was way too descriptive. I put myself to sleep so I knew that anyone else reading would have a snooze fest too. I decided to rewrite it as a summary of how the vacation went as far as my training and nutrition, rather than the detailed novel it became. I also decided to go with a rating system for each day. This is something I do in my training log everyday at home. I generally rate each meal a 1-5 with 1 being the cleanest of meals and 5 being the all out naughty sugar carb filled meals. Then I give each day a summary number. It just forces me to be honest with myself in how well I did at the end of the week. I’m not rating each meal from vacation, since I eat consistently throughout the day when doing so much activity, so I am just going with a daily number. If I had to rate the last vacation overall, I would probably give it a 5 since I completely fell off the wagon daily. This vacation, I intended to do much better. I definitely intended some “loosy goosy” meals because it is a vacation, and I wanted to have those little moments that I love like sharing a pretzel with my little guy. I also intended to hit the gym or run as much as I could depending on what we had planned. I certainly didn’t want to hold up any of the fun on my account.
After an early morning workout, we headed to Disney World on Saturday (Day 1). We dropped Hera off at the Disney kennel, and I immediately missed her like crazy. We decided to head to the Magic Kingdom. Until you restrict yourself, you really don’t realize what the smells in that place can do to you! I got in line for Frappuccino. It is vacation after all, and I did say I was going to have a couple indulgences. After a few minutes of self shaming, I got back out of said line and we moved on. I did really well considering the limited options. I was really proud at the conclusion of Day 1 in the parks. We headed back to the hotel and I decided to have some milk to settle the stomach a little and I really wanted it. That is when I discovered that even milk has sugar in it! Really? Are you kidding me? Milk!? – Yaaas. Unfortunately, even milk has sugar in it. No wonder I crave it from time to time… and here I thought it was an ok filling beverage now and again. Geez, now I have to work that out too. After vacation. I was glad to be in bed before 10!
Rating for Day 1: 2
On Sunday, I got up at 4:30 and headed to the gym. They had a speed cycle, so I was thrilled. I strapped my feet in and churned for 20 minutes and then went from machine to machine pushing and pulling as much weight as I could for about 5-10 reps. It was a great start to the day! I would have preferred a high protein breakfast with maybe a few carbs, but that is just not what is offered at most hotel food stops. I had a croissant which had an egg and cheese omelet inside with bacon. Not horrible and far fewer carbs than say, Mickey Waffles! For the first time in forever (see what I did there? Frozen? – moving along…) I packed water and snacks for the park. I was SO glad I did! After paying $12 for 3 water bottles yesterday, I was really glad to have saved that much at least twice over and having my own snacks (jerky, protein bars, dark chocolate for those moments) made it much easier to avoid wanting something totally naughty. We left Universal and headed to Epcot where we discovered that the Food and Wine Festival was going on. There are small stops in the various countries where you can have a mini portion of the native food for a few dollars. We decided to go for it! Darin and I would split the mini portions so, we basically grazed the evening away for dinner. It was great! We had: Chicken gyro from Greece (one bit of pita for me), Grilled beef skewer with chimichurri and boniato purée from Patagonia (by far my favorite), Kalua pork sliders with pineapple chutney Hawaii (no bun bites for me), Grilled sweet and spicy bush berry shrimp from Australia (second favorite!), Chicken pot stickers from China (D2’s favorite), Buttered chicken with naan from Africa (had to have some naan, I love naan, but only had a few bites). Then we hit America, where the staple is funnel cake, apparently. I am proud to say I refrained and just tried to look away while my boys covered themselves in powdered sugar. Day 2 was another success and we were in bed by 10!
Rating for Day 2: 2
Monday was a rest day, which I was glad for. My body was pretty tired from the last few days. I packed the snacks and water again, which works really well for me. We stopped at a hotdog place and I had a foot long chili cheese dog! Oh yeah I did…. Well sort of. I didn’t eat the bun, I used a fork and knife. I don’t usually eat chili because I don’t do lentils but they aren’t horrible for you, they just don’t always sit well so I like life a lot better without. Today, I was all in!…and there weren’t many in the little bit of chili on the dog. I was a nice protein packed meal, even thought I am sure it was processed out the wazoo. That evening, we decided to close with the Epcot again, because Food. It was awesome! I planned to let myself indulge this time. I was going to also sample the sweet stuff and I really enjoyed it. They were small portions, so even after Belgian waffles with berry puree, chocolate baklava and carrot cake, I probably had the equivalent of a single serving dessert (maybe not even). The thing is, that because you go such a long way between but are stopping to eat at each station, it feels like so much more! It was excellent and we all really enjoyed stamping our food passports and sampling things from around the world. Another amazing vacation day that was fun filled but still got me in bed by 10.
Rating for Day 3: 4
Tuesday was our 14 Year Wedding anniversary!!!! And one of our favorite things to do, the Very Merry Christmas Party!!! I was so excited, and I have to say, a little nervous. How the heck was I going to stay up past midnight!!?? I got up at 4:30 and planned a 5k for the morning run. I was feeling great when I headed out. It was 59 degrees and the air was clear. I headed out determines to get my 5k in and post all kinds of fun picks. That was until I got to a little over a mile and a half and the bottom started to drop out….literally. Apparently all those countries I had sampled the night before were at war, in my stomach. I will spare you the details, but anyone who has run before shares one of my greatest fears called… the trots (use your imagination and you are probably spot on). The thing is, that I am stubborn and almost didn’t head back to the room. I really, really wanted to hit 5k! I decided that it was better to just let it go (yeah, another frozen reference – what do you want from me? I am at Disney!) and headed back to the room. Oh well, 2.2 miles instead of 3.1 would have to do. Thankfully, the countries made peace and all was well in the gut. I had a Frappuccino in the afternoon right before a short nap. Thankfully, those two things helped me stay awake the entire party. I had two Christmas cookies that were not on the plan, but I needed a little something half way through and that was about all there was available. Like how I just made it seem that cookies were the absolutely only sustenance available on the planet at that moment? Me too, I am going with it. Oh, that and hot chocolate. It’s a Disney Christmas party for crying out loud! Not my best day, but I had a blast!
Rating for Day 4: 5
Wednesday was planned rest day, because I knew I would be up so late. I didn’t sleep well and was feeling like a blob. I did a much better job with my food intake. I was determined to be back in compliance. I had the usual breakfast and for lunch a “power salad” which was really good considering lettuce and I don’t usually get along very well. I snacked on jerky, protein bars and bananas. We had beef and fried rice for an early dinner. I watched D2 have ice cream and really wanted in on that fun, but didn’t partake which I was really proud of. It was a great day. Oh, and I wore my Vibrams the entire day (and part of the day before). I can’t believe how much better my feet felt in them than in sneakers walking a Disney park! I am definitely going to get a couple more pairs and intend on wearing them as much as I can. I was shocked and pleased at how great they were.
Rating for Day 5: 2
Our last full day started out with a gym session for me and Darin. We let D2 stay in bed in the hotel room. It was really weird but he was totally fine with it, and had Darin’s phone just in case he wanted to call. It felt really good to get moving in the morning again. Part of me could not wait to get back home and back to normal training and sleep, but part of me was sad to see it all pass by so quickly! I discovered a new breakfast item, a spinach and egg Florentine wrap which was perfect and my new favorite. I did really well again with nutrition considering the options available. I wore my Vibrams again and was really glad I did. I could feel all sorts of little muscles in my feet getting their workout, but the soreness was nothing like how my feet hurt in the sneakers towards the end of the day. I could flex and stretch my toes and the different textured walkways felt like mini foot massages all day. It was an excellent day, but bittersweet in that we knew we had to go home the next morning. We decided to change our clothes and head to Disney Springs for dinner at the movies. We watched Dr. Strange, which was way better than I expected, but unfortunately the only real food selections were bar type snack foods. My nutrition suffered a bit in that I had some of Darin’s pretzel bites when my mouth was on fire because of my spicy chicken wrap! It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, so I was pleased.
Rating for Day 6: 3
We slept in a bit and had some breakfast before starting to pack up. I absolutely could not wait to get Hera. We picked her up at the Disney boarding facility and let her get some energy out in the dog park before hitting the road. I did well as far as healthy snacks on the drive and we had a late lunch at the wings place. It was awesome to have a nice home cooked steak for dinner.
Rating for Day 7: 2
Overall, I think this vacation was a success as far as my nutrition and training. I will say, it was much harder to be consistent in training than I expected, but that’s what happens when schedules are all off. I certainly didn’t want to inconvenience the family by making them turn in for bed early or anything simply so I could get a workout in the next morning. As I write this, I am also discovering that it may have been a little too much on my body. I came down with a terrible cold the day after we got home. It hit me harder than any cold has in a long time and I was laid up for a couple days. Maybe by next time, my body will be more used to a higher level of training, or I may be better at fueling for the activities involved. It’s hard to view walking around a theme park as a workout, but it definitely can be. As far as nutrition goes, I averaged about a 3 on that 1-5 scale, which is a vast improvement from last time. Now, to just get better and get ready for that Turkey Tri next week! Yikes!!
