Off the wagon

The Wellness Wagon, that is. Not surprisingly, I strayed from my superb eating patterns and exercise regimen when I started my annual summer vacation a few weeks ago. I had high hopes for myself, as I always do, which means I set myself up for failure before I even landed in P-Town. I should have had no expectations so if I did anything remotely related to eating well or exercising, it would have been something to celebrate. Instead, I packed loads of workout garb, my yoga mat, a medicine ball, exercise bands, a Yoga DVD, my iPod, and two pairs of sneakers. Prior to my vacation, I was running 3-5 miles PER DAY. On my two-week vacation, I ran a paltry 2 miles, and walked a total of maybe 5 miles. Of course, my "walks" were toward breakfast or a snack, so I'm guessing that if you're snarfing French toast or a chocolate chip muffin after a leisurely 1.5-mile walk where you only broke a sweat because it was hot out, you've canceled out any potential benefit the aforementioned exercise might have provided. Okay, so I avoided exercise while on vacation. But in my defense, running on the beach is really hard. And running on the two-lane highway near our cottage is life-threatening. So I may be a bit chubbier than when I left for my trip, but at least I'm alive.

On a positive note, I managed to stick to good food for the first week. Unfortunately by the time the second week rolled around, I was grabbing Oreos and Chip Ahoys like there was no tomorrow and washing them down with Margaritas. I've been home for almost a week and finally had the courage to stand on the scale yesterday. I've been hiding the damage under big tees since I came home, so it's not like I was unprepared for the number, but it's such a disappointment that it takes a month or more to drop a measly 5 pounds and a tiny vacation on the Cape to bring it all back in its squishy glory.