Weekly WI: The Dreaded Post-Vacation Gain

I checked in on the scale between my return from Girls Weekend in Portland and leaving for Girls Weekend in Spokane (trip recaps still to come).  I was up over seven pounds on the home scale…gulp!  

I am really good at one thing: gaining weight on vacation.

I didn’t want this gain to overshadow all the plans Dawny and I had made and I wanted to enjoy all the fun.  I planned to check in again on the home scale but skip the official WW scale.  I lost about a pound of the weight I had gained and was thankful I didn’t put on anymore and/or I’d taken that excess off between Thursday and Tuesday.  My monthly total for September spiked up a lot.

This is just feedback.  While there are so many decisions I could have made differently, I just didn’t want to.  Vacation for me is a break from the stressors of my real life and if that bring a weight gain with it, so be it!  I will weigh-in for October next week on the WW official scale, although I don’t expect my entire gain to to be gone.  It will take some time and I am committed to putting in the work.

I have been back on track since my return and I’m working to set my upcoming week up for success as well.  It is 17 weeks until our group cruse and while I plan to have weight spike again, I’ll be spending these next several weeks working hard to get the scale to go down.

It is also officially one year since I have been working for WW.  What an amazing and exhausting first year it has been.  I want to spend time properly putting together a recap of the last year so I’ll be back with more in the near future.

Girls Weekend Portland: Day 1 & 2

 Girls Weekend Portland: Day 1

With Phoenix and Wanda in the passenger seat of my car, we set out on our 6-ish hour drive towards Portland, Oregon.  Our first stop was a lunch break at Roosters Country Kitchen in Pendleton.  The food was excellent and was just what we craved for a quick stop before getting back on the road.

Our next stop was in The Dalles to try a brewery, which we also spotted a winery when we exited.  The Sunshine Mill Winery has such cute charm in this old style building that is full if antiques.  We selected a cute spot to enjoy our tasting flights that also made for a fun photo op.

We enjoyed the beer flight at Freebridge Brewing and the pretzel bites were out of this world!  They were amazing.  I would love if this little brewery was closer to home.  

Every trip west should include a stop at Multnomah Falls and with Phoenix directing us on her Google Maps, it routed us in through the national park path which had some smaller surprise waterfalls we wished we had stopped and snapped a photo.  Phoenix and I hiked to the top part of the bridge/waterfall, which I don’t think I’ve done on previous trips.  The falls are more majestic from the lower viewing area.

We arrived in Portland and added Patty to our group before heading to a tiki bar called The Alibi.  The ambiance was so fun but the drinks were not discounted for happy hour and the happy hour food, as well as the service, left a lot to be desired.  Sadly, we would not go back.

Girls Weekend Portland: Day 2 

Our mornings started each day with coffee, yogurt, and girl talk before heading out to explore.  On this day, we stated at Washington Park wandering through what was left of the rose garden.  I can only imagine how amazing it is during the height of blooms.

As you wander in the park, you come upon the Holocaust Memorial.  

We rode the train to downtown Portland setting off on foot where we stopped into Rogue Brewing Hall, Powell’s Bookstore, NOLA Doughnuts, and Deschutes Portland Public House. 

NOLA Doughnuts were AH-mazing.  It is a mix between and donut and a croissant and left us all wanting more.  We squeezed in just before closing and enjoy every bite of our delicious treat.

It was time to head back to the car and while waiting for our return train, we encountered a very friendly houseless friend “Tom” whom created some entertainment and gave us a laugh the rest of the trip.  If I see you in person, remind me to share the story.  

Our final stop of the day before returning to our townhouse for the weekend was Hopworks Urban Brewery for another shared flight of Portland brew.  

More fun to come…

Short Layover

 Good Morning and Happy Monday.

After enjoying the cool Falls temperatures in Portland, I’m back in Boise with 80 degree weather.  But, it is just a short layover as I am headed to Spokane tomorrow to have another quick girls weekend with my best out-of-town gal pal.

We had the best time in Portland I have tons of photos coming you way with my recaps.  I need to get myself caught up and organized so I’ll leave you with the teaser of my 19th travel mug I added to my collection along with the coffee creamer I’ve not been able to find in my area yet.  I had success finding it in St. Helens and loaded up my shopping cart.

It was a whirlwind of a day on Sunday arriving home in time to pick up The Hubs and head to pizza to celebrate my Dad’s 70th and Emma’s 12th birthdays.  

After what felt like such a long drive home, I am very happy with my decision a month ago to book flights to Spokane vs. make another six hour drive.  I also booked the early flight to give us more time to have even more fun!

Vacation Mode

 The countdown is complete.  Vacation officially started after my WW workshop this morning and Girls Weekend officially kicks off tomorrow.

The weather has taken a nice fall-like dip in temps.  It has changed up what we planned to pack/wear and I know I’ve overpacked!  I’m going to see if I can whittle it down some in the morning as I’ve packed too many shirts.  

We rented an AirBnB with a hot tub so the cooler temps will be great for enjoying an evening in with some adult beverages, girl talk, and a soak in the tub under the stars.  We have planned so many fun things and really are just looking forward to trying all the local food and drinks.

I did my Weekly Weigh In on Monday thinking I was missing my opportunity to weigh on Tuesday, but that is next Tuesday that I am out of town, not this Tuesday.  Either way, I was a maintain on the home scale and showed a loss of 0.4 pounds on the WW scale.  I’ve not been as on track as I had planned and slipped into vacation mode early.  I have to keep reminding myself this is a marathon, not a sprint.  I need to pace myself or I’ll be dealing with a huge gain.

I’ll pop in next week and share more on our trip.  Until then, excuse the absence.

Weekly WI: A Much Needed Loss

 I meant to check in sooner…and yet here we are another week has come and gone and I just can’t ever keep up.  

Let’s just say it’s been a week for sure.

My Weekly Weigh-In came with a nice size loss.  I was happy to be down what I “gained” last week and started may month off on the right foot.  

I have one more opportunity to weight in before Girls Weekend so getting it on record for my employee weigh-in was great timing!

I also stated my birthday countdown.  We are now less than 50 days but you get the idea.

I was able to snag two days off in a row and am enjoying the last of day two.  I have four work shifts left, one staff meeting, and one WW meeting until I’m officially on vacation for nine days.  It will be glorious.  I have been burning the candle at both ends so I look forward to this break from real life.

With that…see you when I see you.

Weekly WI: An Unexpected Gain

It has been crazy busy the last few days working a dayshift on Wednesday and Thursday and then rolling into my regular night shift starting Friday.  I am on for a long stretch this week so I can pocket some extra cash.

 

It is still 1,000 degrees but boy am I ready for Fall.  Starbucks Pumpkin Spice is finally here and if that doesn’t scream Fall, I don’t know what does.

 

I’m about to start the birthday countdown and we are just two weeks away from Girls Weekend.  I am stoked for all the fun planned both in Portland and in Spokane.

 

My Weekly Weigh-In did not go as I had hoped, and I found myself up the 1.2 pounds I lost last week.  I am going to guess it is hormonal so trying to just keep plugging away.  I struggled a bit on Tuesday and Wednesday with high point days that were not tracked but I managed to rein it back in starting Thursday.  I’m feeling a bit bloated though so that has been rough.

 

I am ending the month of August lower than July, which is exactly what I was hoping for and exactly what I’ve been working towards.