Water Fun

I mentioned on my last post that I'll be going on vacation in August. We're heading to a resort that has tons of opportunities for water sports. My husband can't wait to try the jet skies. I love to swim. And we're planning on renting a boat one day as well.

But I'm so self-conscious that I don't always have much fun when it comes to summertime. I spend most of my time indoors instead of in the water where I'd rather be. I wish I felt differently. I wish I was as empowered as some of the women commenting on this post, which couldn't have come at a better time for me.

I just don't feel comfortable with my body. I'm embarrassed. And I feel like everyone stares at the fat girl. That's why I love The Fat Girl's Guide to Living blog. They've covered some topics that I've always wondered about. Like going to an amusement or water park, riding a horse or a bicycle. Can I do it? The resort we're staying at has a weight limit of 260 for the horseback riding, so in this case, the answer is no.

Even with their encouragement, I still can't get over my self-consciousness. It seems prideful really, to think that everyone is paying attention to me when they have better things to do, i.e. have fun! In the rational part of my brain, I know that everyone has their own worries about their bodies and they're not paying me any attention. The irrational part of my brain has control though.

Reading the posts on the FGG do make me feel better about myself, especially while reading them, but I still haven't figured out how to adapt their advice to the real world.

Hiking

I've been meaning to write this post all week, but I kept getting distracted by other things. Mostly, I've been spending a lot of time on Tumblr. Here's the link to my tumblr if you're interested.

Over the weekend, my husband and I went hiking for the first time in a LONG time. He had been asking me to go and I kept putting it off. "It's too hot!" was my main reason. And it is hot. 90 degrees, even at 9pm! So we've been working out in the house, where's there's air conditioning.

But something inspired me Sunday morning so at 7am, I woke up and said, "Okay, let's go hiking right now!" So we did. We had to drive a little ways to get to the trail he wanted to hike. It's a 1.2 mile stretch and it took us about 40 minutes. Give or take a few minutes because we took pictures.

I know our time isn't great, but I have several excuses. =) First, we did take pictures, though our camera battery died about 1/3 of the way into the hike. Second, it was our first hike in a long time, so we went slower than we used to. Third, the place is called Hemlock Cliffs. It wasn't a flat trail by any means. For example, here's what part of the trail looks like.



I tried to get some pretty pictures, though I kept having to turn the camera off and on because of the battery. We only ended up with about 30 pictures, most of which I'd be happy to delete. But I got a few I like.





These steps were steeper than they look in the photo. This area was probably the hardest part of the trail. You really have to take your time or you could get hurt.




Plus, it had rained the previous day, so the rocks were slippery. But because the rain was so recent, there were waterfalls where there normally wouldn't be. It was so pretty!




We're planning on going back with a full camera battery so we can get more photos!

March Recap

If you would have asked me yesterday morning what the theme of my March recap post was going to be, I would have told you it was FAILURE!  It was a lousy month. I ate out a whole bunch. I had some emotional stuff to deal with and we went on vacation.

Before vacation, I made sure to weigh myself, so when we got back, I could know just how much weight I'd gained. Great positive thinking, right?  But I didn't want to fool myself. Sure, we were going to be doing a lot of walking. But, eating out every meal makes it hard to stick to plan.

I didn't even come close to sticking to a low carb diet on our vacation. I had french toast one morning! Oh, but it was the best french toast ever! It was at Flapjacks (never been there before) and it was cinnamon and apple french toast. Oh my goodness.....heaven on a plate! Not to mention the sweet potato with brown sugar butter on it that I got on 2 different nights. Whoops!

I'm glad that we had such a good time on our trip. And it was nice not worrying about every little calorie for a few days. So I was willing to pay the price when we got back home. But I couldn't. When we got back, we found our scale had died. Assuming it was just the battery since it had never been replaced, we bought a new one at the store and brought it home to find it wasn't just the battery. That was a bummer. I liked that scale and we haven't had it all that long.

The trouble with the scale delayed my after trip weigh-in and I couldn't have been happier! I didn't have to see that high number. I was actually afraid that I was back in the 300's. I shudder to think about gaining that much weight! Yesterday afternoon, we got a new scale and I couldn't put the weigh-in off any longer. So this morning I stepped on the new scale for the first time and was thrilled with the results!

Camping Difficulties

Being fat makes every day tasks difficult, especially everyday tasks while camping. Sometimes things were so hard that it left me feeling so frustrated I could cry.

For example, taking a shower was a dreaded task. The shower stalls at the campground were tiny and you aren't given much room to maneuver. Showering itself was okay, but having to get dressed in such a small space was difficult, to say the least. I don't know what most people do after a shower, but I hate putting clothes on right away. I like to stay wrapped in a towel or a bathrobe until I'm fully dry, then get dressed. That wasn't possible while camping.

The other major pain was getting in and out of the boat. For a fat girl like me, balance is an issue. You have to walk this narrow little board that is wobbling the whole time. It makes a little ramp that allows you to crawl up onto the boat. To get off the boat you have to maneuver the little ramp backwards. Fun times.

Probably the worst thing this week was trying to get onto the inter-tube. It is a heavy duty one that can be pulled by the speed boat, kinda like a water skier. You have to get on it from the boat beacause it's too big to get into from the water. That means launching yourself at it from the boat. Plopping yourself on it, as my father-in-law told me. The first time, my foot slipped off the boat and I fell into the water. Not too bad, just a little embarrassing. I'd get it the second time. I really threw myself at the tube, only to over-shoot it and crash into the water. It startled me and I swallowed a ton of water. That hurt my pride, but I convinced myself to try again. Thankfully, I made it the third time.

I forced myself to try the inter-tube because everyone else did and it looked like fun. And it was. But I had a heck of a time getting on because of my weight. It made it more difficult for me. Just like showering was more difficult and getting into and out of the boat.

A fat girl has it hard for sure.


-- Post From My iPhone

Vacation

At approximately 3:30 today, we'll be leaving for vacation. I'm still not feeling great, but we've been planning this trip since early this year and I don't want to miss it. It took me awhile, but I got my bags packed and I think we're about ready to hit the road.

We're going camping at a nearby lake. We'll be staying in the RV, riding around in the boat, swimming and cooking food on the grill. It's easy to overeat on vacation, especially camping. It seems like all you do is eat and then plan and prepare the next meal.

But I'm hoping to get a lot of exercise too. So if I'm careful, I won't have a gain to report next weekend. I'm taking my tennis shoes and my swimsuit, so exercise will be had. I don't want to be in a bathing suit in front of my family, but I'm not going to miss being in the water. That is, if the water isn't freezing!

I do have a post scheduled for Wednesday so be sure to check back!