Monday 14 September 2015

Coming home with unwanted luggage

I heaved my wheelie backpack onto the scales at the request of the airline hostess... 47.2 blinked on the screen! 'Holy shit' was my first reaction until I remembered I was in North America and that was pounds. Not smart enough to do the calculations in my head I waited until I passed through several forms of security before asking Google to do the conversion on my behalf... 21.4kg.. My bag had put on around 8 kilograms in the 86 days I travelled through the United States and Canada and as my tummy jiggled a little more than usual as we bounced down the runway on the first leg of my trip home, I must confess I knew it wasn't the only thing that was coming home a little heavier. 



There are many different types of people in this world.. That really goes without saying. One of those groups of people are those who are genetically blessed and given a powerful metabolism, who can eat and eat and never gain weight... I am not one of those people.

Another group of those people are those who somehow manage to maintain a healthy diet and routine exercise program whilst travelling... I am not one of those people.



I wish I was the type of person who boarded the plane with their own yoga mat (yep... totally just saw that at the airport!) but I'm not... And now I have to deal with it! 

I tried to convince myself that I was doing a buttload of walking and so it didn't really matter, and some days I was. There was one point where I was averaging around 15,000 steps a day.. And then there were days when I was lucky to crack 3000 steps.



I even messaged friends back home telling them of my horror hoping that somehow they would give me a kick up the butt and tell me to make better choices, but they didn't, they encouraged to me lap it up and enjoy it while I could. So I did. And really I shouldn't have been reliant on anyone else to make better choices, this was something that only I could control. 

Ahhh.. The United States of America... Land of the free and home of the brave, and the super sized everything. I knew the food was going to be good, I knew the portions were going to be way bigger than I was used to... But I also knew that my willpower is a muscle that I don't use anywhere near enough and is way to weak to resist the countless buffets, treats, desserts and deep fried goodness that America has to offer. Heck I even wrote a whole post on the food I ate just while in New York City


Don't get me wrong, sitting on the plane to fly home was not the first indication that my bag wasn't the only thing that had put on weight. I had noticed things getting a little lumpier, things were no longer as flat as they once were. Clothes that fit me at the start of the trip had long been sent home, or banished to the bottom of the wheelie backpack and had been replaced with new clothes purchased along the way, and don't even get me started on having to be weighed before my helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon. 

Gaining weight is soooo easy! Eat and drink your way through endless days of hotel/pub/restaurant/cafe/fast food/food truck meals and with very little exercise and it's easily done. 


If only losing it was just as easy. It's hard enough to loose weight and get in shape at the best of times but I have read somewhere that it's even harder once you hit 30, and given that also on this trip I reached an age that if it were part of a rounding lesson in year 3 maths we'd be going up to 40 instead of down to 30... I know I have plenty of hard work ahead of me. 

Regular readers of the blog will know that a few years ago I did Michelle Bridges 12wbt and managed to achieve my goal weight, well now I am about 11 kilograms off my goal weight but I am determined to get back there! 

So what am I going to do about? Well I have to eat better, drink more water and move more! Sounds easy right?! I need to make it that easy, because if I let my mind take over that it's going to be too hard or overthink it too much, then I will not succeed. I have to work on my mindset and become one of those people.

I've been back just over a week and I have already increased my water intake and ensuring I drink at least 2L a day. I am walking every morning and will increase this and add back in weight training and more cardio this week. I am watching what I eat and am eating as gluten and diary free as possible as I notice this also has a significant impact in the state of my skin. And the good news is I am already almost a kilo lighter after just one week of being home.

I can do this!

Linking up with My Home Truths for I Must Confess and One Mother Hen for Open Slather




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