MIA - Social, Social, Social

I have been MIA and my social calendar has been packed!

If you’re an avid reader of this blog you know that there is a direct impact between the amount of social situation and my weight. 

 

More Social = Less Focused & Weight Gain

Less Social = More Focused & Weight Loss

 

Even my WW app knows this.  My Weight Heath Score dipped to an all-time low.

 

The closer we inch towards vacation, the harder it has been to stay on track.  One thing is for sure, there has been no lack of FUN!

 

July started with a RV trip to Hagerman with some Elk friends.  My cousin Debbie joined us.  We spent half a day kayaking on the river exploring Blue Heart Springs.  It was so much fun.  We finished off at the hot springs, which was not fully hot and felt so good on a day with 100+ degree temps!

 

The next weekend was the annual Owyhee Cattleman’s Association annual meeting in Silver City.  Phoenix and Stacey joined us along with my parents, sister, sister’s friend, niece, and her boyfriend.  It was an enjoyable weekend and once again…HOT!  That has been the theme of July, and our fire season is off to a blazing start with much of Idaho and surrounding states rapidly burning.

 

This last week was a triple fun but very busy weekend.  Thursday, we attended a baseball game at the Hawks Memorial Stadium.  We stayed through the 7^th inning to try and win a cooler.  I was two numbers away.  It was half priced beer day so that was a WIN for sure, plus our Boise Hawks were winning the game.

 

Friday was Banana Ball.  The Party Animals vs. the Texas Tailgaters.  Wow, what an interesting and very cult-like experience.  Did I mention yet it was HOT!  So…so…so hot and our seats were in direct sun for 2 hours.  We left early after we just couldn’t take the heat anymore.  I don’t think I’d do another BB game, but it was an interesting concept.

 

Saturday, we celebrated Phoenix and Stacey at their wedding shower.  I think you can sense the theme…it was HOT!  But oh so much fun.  It is making me super excited for the wedding cruise in September.

Whew, that is a lot of social.  And that isn’t even all of it.  This last week has been extra filled with fun.  When we return form vacation, I will for sure be looking forward to getting back to healthy habits.  

Low Calorie/Low Point Festive Recipes

Right before Thanksgiving, Facebook Memories brought up these great low calorie/low point holiday favorites.  

I love beer but I also enjoy a yummy cocktail.  When I first heard of mixing ginger beer with peppermint, I wasn’t so sure.  But give this one a try.  You’ll thank me!

While you may not be serving cranberry sauce at Christmas, this was really good added to non-fat yogurt as a snack for some added protein.

 

Weekly WI: Power Moves

 The technique this week in workshops is identifying your Power Moves - the behaviors that feel comfortable, you enjoy, and they are relatively easy for you to get back to.

 

I decided today when tracking food for my unexpected overtime coverage day at work that I would hone into my a relatively easy Power Move…not track my Zero Point Foods.  With the addition to macros in the WW app, I’ve been weighing and measuring my ZPF.  The thing is, I’ve lost my mojo.  I am just not feeling all the good WW feels and I need one small step to get me headed back in the right direction.  So, today I went back to basics and tracked all my food except for the ZPFs.

 

My November Apple Watch Activity Goal is to log a walking workout of at least 5 minutes eight times this month.  Day 1 was completed yesterday.  I’ll complete Day 2 tomorrow.

 

I’ve been away from the Internet space for a bit.  It was a busy couple of weeks as we ended my favorite month.  Here is a snippet of what I’ve been up to:

 

Where’s Waldo for Halloween at ISP. 

 

My pumpkin for the decorating contest.

 

Attended The Witches and The Black Afternoon Tea event at Chateau de Flores with Wanda.

 

The Elks Winter Convention was held in Mountain Home over my birthday weekend. 

 

We took the RV on the last trip of the season to Elko, NV where we lost a lot of money at several casinos.

Lots of birthday goodies were consumed!

Weekend #4 Of FUN: Nampa Elks Lodge Oktoberfest

My September wrapped up with one more Weekend of Fun, Oktoberfest at the Nampa Elks Lodge!

 

Sadly, our Oktoberfest wasn’t well attended.  I think this was due to the early time (2-5pm) as the Boise State game started at 5:30pm.  Since I had planned to be at the lodge, I signed up as bar tender during the game.  I always enjoy working at the bar and boy is it a workout!  My whole body was sore the next day.

 

In addition to Oktoberfest food and drink, we had a Harvest table with goodies for sale.

                             

The volunteers manned the food booths, including my Mom & Dad. 

 

We had a costume contest and a stein holding contest.  Both were so fun.

 

We had a silent auction and danced the Chicken Dance.

 

It was a great time, and I had so much fun.  I really wish we’d brought in more members for the fun.

Weekend #3 Of FUN - Oktoberfest & Sip Idaho

I thought I had checked in earlier this week.  It has been a doozie…last week I worked a 63.8-hour work week and this week I am finishing a 48-hour work week.  It has been a lot and exhausting.  I am hanging in there and looking forward to Saturday off (for more fun…)

 

Pardon my absence.

 

Last weekend’s fun started on Thursday with an impromptu visit to Buffalo Wild Wings for their BOGO cheeseburgers for National Cheeseburger Day.  They had $10 Sam Adams Oktoberfest in their liter mugs, and you all know I am sucker for a big beer mug.  I was packed and we should have dined elsewhere the minute we walked in.  None-the-less, BWW is always delicious.

 

Friday night after work we attended the Sippin’ In The Sunset event at Huston Vineyards.  I had not been to their outdoor venue, and we had a great time.  The musician was good, but the wine selection was lacking.  They discouraged bringing your own food because they had a food truck, but I would have preferred to bring my own picnic. 

Saturday was packed with two events.  First up, Oktoberfest at Payette Brewing.  I got sucked into ordering two of their 20 oz beer mugs but only planned one beer token since I had the Sip Idaho Event a few hours later.  Their festive atmosphere was enjoyable as it always is and packed with large crowds.  They re-organized the event, which worked well.

 

That evening, I met Stacey for Sip Idaho.  This was our first year attending and while the $65 entry ticket is steep, it was fantastic!  We were at the Galaxy Event Center in one of the event rooms where you tasted unlimited samples of spirits, cocktail mixers, and canned cocktails.  There were appetizers, live music, and giveaways.  We had so much fun, and boy did those small bits of alcohol add up over the course of two and a half hours.  Thank goodness, for designated drivers!

 

I have one more weekend of fun to go…I promise I’ll also swing in with a weigh-in update as I did my scale check-in last Tuesday. 

Weekly WI: Down This Month. Yippie!

Hello and Happy Wednesday!  I am on my last swing overtime shift (4pm-2am shift) for the month of July and I’m super happy about that.  I signed up to help cover the abundance of overtime on the night shift team due to staffing issues.  Hopefully the month of August runs smoother.  I also didn’t sign up for any late overtime shifts next month.

 

Anyway…on to Weekly WI.  My commitment to my WW program paid off and I lost 2.2 pounds this week.  I am also lower than last month and down for the year.  Hallelujah!

 

With our overnight RV trip to Fort Hall and Idaho Falls, I would still like to keep the momentum going.  It will be a couple days of high point meals, and I am brainstorming ideas to help keep me somewhat in-check.  The biggest win will be balancing the high point days within the rest of my week.  Which is what I did last week.

 

My Friday, my planned high point day, I was in the negative for weekly points.  Not as high of a negative balance as the week prior.  I noticed that if I went over my daily points, since I didn’t have a weekly points budget to cover the overage, it showed me “out of budget” for the day.  While this did bother me a little since my goal was to be in budget more than out, when I look at my macros, I was happy with the daily results.

 

Here is Saturday’s points/macros.

 

Here is Sunday.

 

I was happy with where my total calories ended each day.  Sometimes you must look at different numbers to gain a different perspective.

 

On Tuesday evening, I met my friend Janet at Jaialdi in downtown Boise where she completed in the Pilota games.  It was fun to watch, and I wish the game had gone longer.  Since I am working overtime tonight, I will miss her game this evening.  The men’s team did amazing, and the game went so long.  

While I was on the Basque Block, I got a chorizo and an order of croquetas.  Mmmmm….

 

I am focused on the same goals as last week again this week:

·       Activity.

·       Water before coffee.

·       Meal planning/eat at home more.

December 2024 Travel: Galveston, TX

Our next vacation is about three weeks away which means I should probably recap our December 2024 vacation when we visited Galveston, TX and took our first Princess cruise.

 

In early December, Kenyon and I, along with our friends Wanda and Michael traveled to Texas to take part in Dickens on the Strand before we boarded the Regal Princes for a Western Caribbean cruise.  I’ve been to Texas but not to Galveston, which was a neat island, and I’d love to visit again.  Especially since we didn’t have favorable weather for Dickens on the Strand. 

 

Upon our arrival, we had dinner at Pappacito’s Cantina to meet Wanda’s friend Katherine.  The happy hour margaritas were delicious, and they have the best chips and salsa.  We loved our dinner.

 

No trip to TX is complete without a stop at Buc-ee’s and had we not just eaten, I would have gone for the brisket.  It is so hard to go to Buc-ee’s and not spend a fortune on all the fun stuff. 

 

It was late when we arrived at our AirB&B which made me excited to explore the following day so we could see all the sights.  Getting to our destination at night wasn’t the easiest but we found the location along with a possum sighting!  It freaked me out the remainder of the stay.

Our first full day in Galveston was exploring using the trolley.  We had good eats and drinks.  We visited the Sunflower Bakery & Café, Naked Iguana Brewery, Queen’s Bar-B-Q, Stuttgarden Tavern, and Shipley Donuts.  We also had THE BEST ice cream, Blue Bell, which we picked up several gallons at H.E.B. 

 

We toured the 1877 Tall Ship Elissa and rode along the waterfront on the trolley.

 

We were in town during the Mountain West Championship and needed a place to watch the football game while we cheered for our Boise State Broncos.  I called the Galveston Elks Lodge #126 who said we could watch the game.  OMG what hospitality!  They had great food and such friendly members not to mention an impressive lodge. 

 

Our second day in Galveston was Dickens on the Strand.  This is an annual Charles Dickens festival that has so much to see and do.  Our weather didn’t cooperate which impacted the amount of time we spent on The Strand.  A huge downpour started the day, and it stays overcast and chilly. 

We will have to make a repeat trip to try this festival again in the future.