Vacation Then vs Now

Since returning home from our mini-vacation to Las Vegas I wanted to write my thoughts on vacations then vs now. Despite seeing a gain on my home scale when we returned from vacation, I was really pleased with how I navigated my food, drinks, and desserts. As you have seen, there were many indulgences. I'm not convinced I could ever not gain on vacation. Maybe if I only ate salad but then that would be a very boring vacation!

• I really worked to control my sugar/desserts.

Prior to leaving for Las Vegas I knew I would be having cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory. It was what we do every time we visit. Plus, I had the $50 gift card to use. Since I knew I would be having cheesecake, which is very high in PPVs, I made the conscious decision not to have desserts at most of my other meals. I didn't feel deprived either. I just simply made a choice. The first night we went to the buffet I didn't even go look at the dessert case as to not be tempted! When I had lunch the next day they sat me right by the dessert case. That is the day I took a look and decided on the piece of biscotti with my coffee.

Having dessert the evening we met up with Kenyon's aunt and uncle for dinner was a harder choice. I didn't really need dessert but I also didn't want to appear to be such a stick in the mud either. I already knew I would be having some drinks before the show later and that alone should have been my “dessert budget” for the evening. When I found the sugar free ice cream it sounded like just the right choice for an extra dessert. I was happy with my decision and I didn't look at anything else in the dessert case. Again, choices.

• My alcohol consumption was so-so and could have been better.

I am a social drinker so alcohol has always fallen into the want category instead of the need category. I enjoy social drinking and I enjoy the taste of alcohol. I had planned to use two drink coupons on my flight but had already started to talk myself out of it. That would be 8 PPVs I would spending and did I really need to spend that many PPVs. I didn't have to use those free coupons but decided to. This thinking is similar for the 2 for 1 drinks at the hotel bar. Did I really need any drinks? And did I really need two? Of course not. Again, want vs need. And want won out every time. I guess I'll sum it up by saying, it could have been worse.

• The road trip home is probably the cleanest eating I've ever done.

I am 100% happy with how I navigated our road trip home. Being in a car for several longs hours is tough on me. We have driven to NM several times to visit my in-laws and that drive is 16 hours. I'm not very nice after 10 hours cooped up in a car. I also didn't plan any snacks for this drive, which is something I don't usually do. There just wasn't an opportunity to really stop at a store and I didn't need to buy in a bunch of snack stuff either. So we just decided to wing it.

I really had to rely on my hunger signals. Even though we would pass food signs along the freeway or have a quick stop at the gas stations/truck stops, I knew I wasn't hungry and so I didn't need to buy anything to munch on. I drink a lot of gas station coffee mixed with flavored cappuccino and that helped keep the sugar craving at bay. I bought a caramel Cadbury egg after my Costa Vida lunch. When the next sugar craving hit but I didn't want more coffee I bought a fruit cup from the truck stop. This cost $2.99 but was money well spent.

• Choosing the freeway route, while longer, had more restaurant options.

We had two routes we could drive home and we chose the longer freeway route for more stops. That in itself was great. When we drove to/from our Reno trip earlier this year, our food options were so limited that when we did stop for dinner it wasn't the best choices. I was so happy to find a Costa Vida along our trip. When dinner rolled around I knew the Arby's was up ahead and I really like the Market Fresh sandwiches. I was really happy with our food stops along our drive home.

Although I gained some weight on this mini-vacation, it wasn't nearly the amount I gained in Hawaii. So I'll consider this a win.