Hi everyone.
We just returned from our family vacation in "cottage country", about 5 hrs. north of where we live. (Near Huntsville, if that means anything to anyone.) We rented 3 cottages together on a lovely lake for the week. We had already reserved a second one for our son's family, and then at the last minute, booked a third for my in-laws, including my s-i-l and her baby. Talk about the sandwich generation -- my s-i-l has not only the baby, but her parents who aren't very mobile either. f-i-l requires oxygen and tube feedings, and m-i-l along with heart disease, is having a lot of arthritis pain, so it was a major event just to get them all down to the beach for an hour or so every day or two. They seemed to quite enjoy it, especially just all being together, dropping in on one another throughout the day. My poor m-i-l though is terrified of any critters, large or small. Unfortunately, we seemed to share the cottages with a family of chipmunks that could come and go through multiple entry points throughout the cottages, and so she didn't seem to sleep very soundly, always afraid that there'd be a little animal there to greet her. Anyway, it was a wonderful week for making memories, and we had a great time.
As for my program, I went into town one day to Curves for a work-out, and most other days did 20 - 25 min. of interval walking/running. (Usually 4 min. walking to 1 min. running -- one day I did 3 to 2, the day that hubby didn't join me. I didn't want to push him too hard. LOL) Seriously though, for all of our married life, he could always out-run me, but now I can keep up with him no problem, and I definitely can outlast him for the long haul. I find that quite amazing! Now, as for food, it's probably a good thing that we were only gone one week because the longer the vacation stretched, the more permission I gave myself for treats. I made some good choices, but I also over-indulged other times. All in all I survived, and I'm up one pound. Hubby's up 3, so I guess it could have been worse. (The IE definitely helped.)
I picked up a new book that I was reading through the week, "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano. Has anyone else read it? I heard her interviewed on TV a while ago, and I thought she was quite interesting. Born in France, she spent her senior highschool year in the US on an exchange program, and returned something like 15 or 20 lbs. heavier. With the help of some re-training in the French approach to food, she returned to her former weight and now living in the US, loves to pass on helpful tips to other women. So much is about portion control, and quality vs. quantity. But they have a whole mind-set that looks at food in an almost reverend way -- to be enjoyed and savoured, not devoured in the mindless way that often gets us into trouble. They're not afraid of a little butter and sugar because it's used minimally. They don't seem to have the "all or nothing" problems that deprivation dieting often brings on. I'm not sure how realistic this is in our society of super-sized grocery stores, but she talks about chosing the freshest of seasonal produce from the local market, and building your menus around the best of the season. It seems a bit of a fantacy, but it's got me thinking about the quality of food that I buy. An interesting read, for sure.
Well, back to my unpacking. I'll try to respond to other posts next time I get on. Take care everyone.
Brenda.
