This week I found myself in one of those situations. I went out to a camp for a few days to serve as the waterfront director for a local school. It was a BEAUTIFUL location and I welcomed the opportunity to get out of town for a few days. I honestly had a great time; everyone stayed safe the the kids really had a lot of fun.
What I did not prepare for when I was out at camp was the food choices. There was one lady in the kitchen that was responsible for cooking for about 75 people, so as you can imagine we weren't given many (if any) alternative options. Our meals consisted of things like hot-dogs, french fries, french toast, sausage smothered with grease... almost no healthy options. There were a few meals where they did put out some celery and carrots, but for the most part I was struggling. On top of the meals they had a ton of cookies and candies that they served as snacks, and of course what's camp without s'mores! They even had a special cabinet of 'goodies' for the counselors and staff. I have a major sugar addiction and at home I am able to fight it some by keeping 'treats' out of the house, but at camp.... things didn't go so well on that front. To make matters worse I didn't have service on my phone so I couldn't even use MyFitnessPal app to see how bad things actually were.
I think was surprised me the most was how my body felt. Even though I was eating more than I had in months, I was constantly hungry. My energy levels were super low, so even when I tried to get moving and do some light exercise the motivation dwindled quickly. I stopped craving my yogurt and protein shakes while my mind turned toward that next cookie or candy bar. Bluntly, I felt like s***. I have can't believe I used to live like that all the time with that much sugar in my body. It was truly a wake up call and a great reinforcement that I am moving in the right direction with my health.
At camp, life was not in my favor. It wasn't the ideal environment that I had set up for myself at home and I struggled. I gained weight, felt like crap, and I've moved on. It's time to put all of that behind me and continue with my journey towards health and fitness.
So what have I learned from this whole experience? First of all I need to think ahead. I need to remember that most places I go will not be set up for WLS patients. I had the ability to pack and bring food from home if I would have thought about it. Also reflecting back I realized that exercise was always an option. No matter where you are all you have to do is keep moving. I am confident that next time adventure strikes I will be prepared with better food and exercise options. :-)
NSV (non-scale victory) of the week: I now fit in my husbands jacket!
I hope all of you are doing well! Enjoy your memorial day weekend!
That is so good that you noticed how different you felt. One thing that I find helps me is when I do a daily journal of my thoughts and how my overall day went. I started to see a clear pattern of how food affects me both mentally and physically. That really helps when I am craving something sweet, because I know it's not something that I can exercise off. I feel emotionally and physically bla. I tried for a long time to say, "no, for just your imagination, but the patterns after reading my journal were clear. Katie Couric, a very well respected journalist just made a documentary called, Fed Up and it looks really good. I think it won an award at the Sundance Film Festival. It's about sugar addiction and how the food industry has been adding extra sugar to everything. The ad for the film is on YouTube, but it d look like it is coming to Michigan. In any event... You are looking great and more importantly FEELiNG great, so keep up the good fight. You CAN do it!
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