Adventures

As most of you know, Eli and I love to travel. We try to take at least two or three trips a year. We figure this is a luxury we won’t be able to enjoy as much once we have children. We budget for our vacations every year, and only have one rule: no financing. All trips must be paid for in full at the time of booking. One trip always includes the beach in another country and the other is usually a little closer to home. This year we got lucky and Dell (Eli’s work) paid for a trip to San Diego in April. The Gatlinburg trip (detailed below) was our second trip of the year. Next stops are Destin in July and a cruise in September. We <3 traveling.

Our third anniversary present to each other was a new Cannon Rebel T3i DSLR camera and a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS10 digital camera. The DSLR speaks for itself; better-quality pictures and we can finally take some awesome sunset photos at the beach. The Lumix is cool because it’s a 14.1-megapixel camera, waterproof to a depth of 10 feet, shockproof from falls up to 5 feet, freezeproof to 14 degrees and dustproof. I can take it snorkeling, rafting, drop it and bury it in the snow. Plus, it takes great pictures. This camera came in handy in Gatlinburg.

Gatlinburg was our adventure trip. This marks the first trip we’ve ever taken together that we didn’t plan on sleeping in and relaxing. We had action and adventure planned for most of our time there. It was awesome.

We stayed at the Fun & Games 53 cabin in the woods, courtesy of Alpine Chalet Rentals. It was clean, dog-friendly (Khalie was so happy to join us) and on the side of a mountain. It was a bit of a scary drive to get to it, but well worth the million times I had to remind my husband he was driving a little too close to the death drop.

After our drive in, it was a little too late to start a new adventure, so we headed to the Tanger Outlet Center in Sevierville. We managed to do a little damage at the Lenox (new silverware) and Under Armour (new workout wardrobes for both) stores. We headed to dinner at a familiar favorite, The Chop House, but it did NOT taste like the one in Murfreesboro. Huge disappointment.

We went Ziplining at Wahoo Ziplines, which was way better than Adventure Works in Kingston Springs. We definitely went completely hands-free and upside down on a couple of the highest lines.

Next up was the biggest fail of the trip … tubing down the Pigeon River. While the staff at River Rat was super nice, the tubing itself was very boring. The water was not deep enough and we kept getting stuck on rocks. The lazy river float is not our cup of tea at all.

We decided white water rafting was more our speed and headed to USA Raft. We had originally planned on rafting the Ocoee (thanks to a Groupon deal), but a technical error or their website made us think we were closer that we really were. We decided not to make the three-hour drive and stick close to Gatlinburg. We plan on using our Ocoee coupon soon, though. I know going down the Ocoee would be a lot more fun, but we had a blast on this 1 ½ hour rafting trip. It was a great beginner’s ride, and now I know what to expect next time.

A trip to the mountains didn’t seem complete without a little horseback riding at Smoky Mountain Riding Stables. We opted for the hour ride, and boy am I glad we didn’t sign up for two hours. If you’re not used to riding a horse, it can be, um, a little uncomfortable. It was a lot of fun, except I had a horse that moved kind of slow. Apparently, you’re supposed to kick them in the side to get them to speed up. I refused to do this, because I convinced myself Skippy was moving slow so I wouldn’t get mud splashed all over me.

We didn’t have a lot of time to fit in formal workouts, so one day we decided to hike up to Clingmans Dome. It’s a half-mile pretty much straight up. We saw bears and trees as we passed them, but not a lot more. It was very cloudy, so we didn’t get the million-dollar view promised online, but we got a small workout in just the same.

On our last night, we did a go-cart tour of Pigeon Forge. Basically, we paid $25 per person to ride at five of the best tracks on the strip. Eli and I both frequented the go-cart tracks when we went to Pigeon Forge as kids, so we were excited to battle each other. I would say we are about equal on the track. At least we didn’t get in a huge fight like two extreme rednecks we saw.

It was nice to get away for a few days and a great way to use up a few vacation days that expire in June!

No Turning Back Now

Updates: I’ve now lost 112lbs and am in a size 12. Not a lot of difference in pounds over the last two months, but I lost weight somewhere because I dropped a whole pant size! I try to keep in mind that I’m toning and won’t necessarily see results on the scale. The slow-down is normal at this point after surgery, but it’s still frustrating.

I still stick to my low-carb, high protein diet. I don’t really have (or need) cheat meals or days, but I do allow myself something sweet once a week. It’s usually frozen yogurt with fresh fruit on top. But, once a month, I eat something like cheesecake or carrot cake (my weakness). I still don’t ever eat bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. I keep myself fueled with lots of chicken, grilled fish and vegetables.

In other news, I’ve officially lost my mind. I was convinced to run a half marathon in October. Afterwards, I convinced Eli to join me. My motivation comes from a number of places:

1. I still need to lose 28lbs to be considered a healthy weight.

2. Thinking I can’t do it is not a good enough reason to not do it.

3. I’ve lost 112lbs in 10 months. If I can have enough willpower and discipline to do that, I can do anything.

4. Eli is going to train with me, not to mention about 10 coworkers. Only one of us has run a half-marathon. Only a few of us work out regularly.

So, how am I planning to do it? Lots of training.

I’ve been doing boot camp for about three months with Niki G's Fitness. I go four days a week (when I’m not traveling) at 5:15 a.m. I don’t know about you, but I give myself extra fit points just for getting out of bed at 4:45 a.m. I wish I could explain to you how physically insane these classes are. Have you ever crab-walked up several flights of stairs? How about run backwards up a big hill with weights above your head?  That’s just two examples of the beating I get from my amazing trainer, Whitney. I don’t remember the last time something wasn’t sore! If you’ve never taken a boot camp class, do it.

Eli and I are also running in the evenings after work. So far, we’ve been sticking to a couple of miles at a time, but we’re going to bump it up slowly.

Just to recap, my schedule is:

Monday: Morning boot camp, after work run

Tuesday: Morning boot camp

Wednesday: After work run

Thursday: Morning boot camp

Friday: Morning boot camp, after work run

Saturday: Longer run/walks (yet to be determined, but I’ll figure it out tomorrow)

Sunday: Off

So, this starts a new journey for me. Surgery seems like a million years ago, but I’ve come a long way as far as my health and the way I think about food.

I’ve disciplined myself to work out at least five or six days a week. I’ve proven I have willpower over food. All I have to do now is work a little harder each day toward my goal. Will I be able to run 13.1 miles in six months? Maybe not, but I’m not saying it’s impossible. What if I have to walk part of it? Well, then I think I’m still doing better than most people who never get any exercise. No matter what the outcome is, it’s going to be hard to be disappointed in myself for setting a goal and trying my best. 

Besides, I used to look like this:

And now I look Like this:

  

You’re support has meant the world to me over the last 10 months. I hope you will keep following my journey as I continue to strive towards being a healthy person.

Today

Today is the day I decided (with a lot of encouragement) to train for a half marathon in October. There's no turning back now. Maybe it will help me lose this last 30 lbs!

April 30, 2011 -- Exactly 10 months after surgery