Some Final Thoughts

Just wanted to share a few rambling thoughts.

This vacation is more than I could have ever imagined.  I'm so blessed and grateful that we were able to make this happen.  Thanks Babe.  I know it was expensive and way more than we'd ever spend on vacation.  But I can't think of a better way to celebrate being married to my best friend for 20 years....even if it was 2 years late ;)  It was worth waiting for.

I was very impressed with the crew.  Everybody we talked to was happy and friendly and we really enjoyed getting to know a few of them.  So many people told us how very much they love their job.  I didn't hear one complaint.  We did speak with a new crew member...a month with the company.  She expressed how much she loved her job, but how the transition to being gone so much from her family was difficult.  I can only imagine.  Especially for the ones that are married with families.  It really makes me appreciate that I see my husband every week.

So I talked a lot about food and weight so thought I'd update with that.  I was a little stressed about that part of the trip.  When we planned the trip I didn't care.  What happened happened and I'd lose it again eventually, ya know?  But in October I hired on with Weight Watchers and am in the middle of training to be a leader.  It was important to me to be at goal after this trip.  And I worked very hard to have a nice cushion.  I had 5.8 lbs. of wiggle room.  I also made a plan.  I mostly followed that plan.

I planned to only have 1 heavy egg breakfast, but ended up having 3.  I planned to have pastries for breakfast once, but that didn't last.  I planned to have oatmeal for breakfast most days, and I did.  I didn't overdo the pastries, but I did often have 1/2 a croissant and a small danish or 1/2 a danish.

I planned to always take the stairs.  It took the stairs 85% of the time.  I almost always went down the stairs no matter how many flights it was.  I generally went up the stairs but with this exception....if it was more than 4 decks AND I was wearing heels AND/OR the ship was really rocking....I took the elevators then.  I was more concerned with not touching the railings than taking the stairs.

I was only going to finish things that were excellent.  The majority of the time I ate 1/2 of something or even less and called it done.  I didn't eat until I was all the way stuffed.  I left over half of the desserts half finished...it had to be excellent to be worthwhile eating it all.  I did eat a LOT of cookies and drank as much as I wanted.  I tried to eat things I don't normally have and really enjoy the food and not just eat mindlessly.  I did pay attention to the WW good health guidelines and worked to meet those most days and was successful. I know I purposefully met the healthy oil guideline on the days we had salad in the main dining room.  I'm not sure about the other days not knowing how they prepare things.  I think the healthy oil is the hardest one to fulfill while traveling.  But I did great with the other things.  It is easy to find power foods on the ship!  And they have a vitality menu if I wanted to only eat health conscious things.

So how did I do?  Well, I gained 6 lbs. in the 12 days we were gone, although only 11 of those days was I off program.  I consider .2 lbs. over really being at goal.  And since my official WW weigh in on Tuesday, I've lost an additional 1.4 lbs. according to my scale.  I thought it would be more difficult getting back on plan.  But really it's been relatively easy.  I spent the first 3 days ONLY eating my 29 daily points.  I NEVER do that!  I almost always use weekly points daily.  Yesterday was the first day I ate more than 29.  I was having quite a hungry day.

So I'm confident these 4-6 lbs. will be gone in a few weeks, and then I can continue on to my goal, which is 4-9 more pounds to my happy goal.

What else.  Oh I was very concerned about wearing a swim suit and being uncomfortable.  I may have lost a lot of weight (94 lbs. before the trip), but I also realized that ideal body weight is not the same as ideal body image!!  But the first warm day on the pool deck I was observing people.  There were very few hot bod type ladies (or men for that matter) walking around in swim suits.  Mostly there were middle age and older ladies that had middle age or older bodies wearing tasteful suits and looking comfortable with their body.  That was very helpful to me, and I quickly let go of the self-consciousness of what I looked like in a swim suit.  I even donned the bikini on Orient Beach...my thinking was a bikini was really overdressed there ;)  I even have pictures and am not afraid to show them to people....even if I have a muffin top without clothes that are too tight.  Let me tell ya...hanging skin is not so pretty...but it sure beats 94 lbs. of fat!!  So it is what it is.

What else....I am hooked.  I'd love to do this again for our 25th anniversary in 3 years.  Heck, I'd love to do this twice a year LOL.  I really, really enjoyed being spoiled and pampered.  There were so many first; first time swimming in the ocean, snorkeling, leaving the country other than Canada which is 4 hours away, being on a ship.  I was in awe for most of the trip.  I walked around for 3 days saying, "I can't believe we're on this trip", over and over and over.  I think Doug had the most fun watching me.  For 22 years we've tent camped and spent weeks at the lake in Dad's lake house, which were great vacations, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.  It was what we could afford since we chose for me to stay home with the boys and to home school them, and I am very blessed that I was able to do that and would do it all over again.  But wow is it so different going on vacation and not taking my work with me.  I'll quickly be able to be used to that lol.

The very best part of the trip was being able to spend 12 entire days with my very best friend.  We really valued that time together.  It takes us 6 weeks to see each other than many days usually.  After talking with crew members whose wives, husbands and children are at home and they only see them every 7 months...I sure appreciate those 8 or 9 days a month we do see each other.  But I really, really loved being with Doug every day all day.  It was a precious precious trip and I'll cherish the memories forever.

We met some fabulous people!  I really appreciate the Cruise Critic forums.  I learned a lot that made this trip not as overwhelming as it would have been if I had no clue what I was doing.  And we made great friends.  Ya'll know who you are :)  And I have to say it is really fun to answer questions on the forum now instead of asking them.

So, I had a fabulous time and am hooked!  I'm also very appreciative and thankful of the fact that we were able to take this trip and will not take it for granted.  It was so very good for us.  It came at just the right time when we really, really needed to get away and reconnect.  And the weather was gorgeous!!  I did a lot of praying for good weather. I didn't want to spend lots of money for rain....we live with rain on a regular basis...and snow...and don't see a lot of the sun.  I soaked it all up and am thankful it was gorgeous weather.

And now I'll quit rambling and leave ya with a picture.  We took a lot of pictures (1200+) and had a lot taken (140) so we're all about pictures lol.  Wally from the CC forums was joking on the last day that if he went into the photo gallery, shut his eyes and threw a dart, he had a 1-3 chance of hitting our picture lol.  But we had great fun!  We had a great fabulous wonderful time and I'm so thankful.