Fluffy. Full. Guilty.Just a few words to describe my post vacation week feelings!! But also relaxed, refreshed, grateful and full of LOVE!
We had an AMAZING week OFF! It was much needed and much deserved. We got sleep -- but were in bed early most nights so we wouldn't be tempted to sleep "in"! We spent at 3-5 hours on the beach everyday (if I'm not that tan .. it's because I don't want skin cancer. I wore 30/50 spf all week), saw the Mayan Ruins, ate fresh seafood, went to some really neat restaurants, got a massage, went to my fave bar there (they have swings for seats and I describe it as the "cheers" of Playa because we have never been and not met new friends), visited nearby Tulum (where they shoot the Corona ads. It is literally the most beautiful beach I've ever seen), watched a beach sunrise together for the first time and laid in bed at night falling asleep to episodes of Modern Family on Netflix! Here are a few pics to recap our week :)
The day before I left .. I met my fitness goal. I won my height class at the Tn State Championships and then went on to win overall! I GOT A SWORD, lol!! That is all I have been talking about since I started competing in the NPC, lol!!! I worked hard to get in the best shape of my life, so I had the best intentions before we left for Mexico. I didn't want to lose it all just for the sake of temporary satisfaction -- i.e. food. I wanted to enjoy some things I wouldn't normally .. but still try to have at least a healthy breakfast and lunch. Well .... that didn't exactly happen. LOL! But I sure made an effort!
The place we stayed (a really cool boutique hotel on the main strip) had a tiny fridge that barely kept a water cold and NO microwave. The starbucks in Mexico don't have oatmeal. So there went my original plan of oats with protein powder in the morning or buying egg whites at a store and making my regular egg white and oats. The place our hotel offered a free breakfast of fresh fruit, coffee and toast. Fruit was great, coffee even better (ha)... but I don't eat toast (not only would I not .. I can't because of Celiac). They had food on the menu there ... but it was ALL bad. They gladly made me "only whites" with veggies .. but even that was drenched/cooked in oil. I eventually found 2 healthy places to have breakfast. One was expensive .. and they still cook everything in oil. I also discovered after ordering a banana isn't just a banana there .. it is cooked in syrup and sugar, lol! The second place was great. Lots of healthy omelets. But we didn't discover it until the day we left .. and it was on the FAR end of town.
As for lunch ..we knew we would always be on the beach during "lunch time". To get beds/nice chairs you have to spend money .. so taking lunch would have been pointless even if we would have had a fridge/kitchen to prepare something and take it in my 6pack bag. Overall I did well for lunch everyday. I had flank steak kabobs and rice one day and fresh ceviche almost every other day. But the ceviche is served fried tortilla chips. As much as I tried not to eat them (I requested 2 fresh corn tortillas each time) .. they were looking at me all crispy and crunchy. So I always had a handful :( Looking back .. the solution would have been to tell them NOT to bring chips!! But that wasn't really fair to my husband who didn't care as much as I did, haha!
Dinner was always going to be my splurge. That was the plan from day one. Playa Del Carmen has some of the best places to eat in the world and I wasn't going to miss out on that. I still tried to be mindful. Portions were not huge there, so that was good and I limited appetizers of guac and chips to only a couple of times. I also would always only have a couple corn tortillas instead of the basket full that came with the meal. So I did TRY!
I indulged in ice cream one afternoon, sugar free gelato one evening and some yogurt another afternoon. I had a few cocktails on the beach here and there and we had one tequila filled evening. We agreed that if we drank during the day ... we wouldn't at night and we always limited it to no more than 3 drinks.
As for workouts. A week off to rest my muscles would NOT have killed me. In fact it's good to do that from time to time. But with all the eating I was doing I felt the need to get to a gym. I was craving it to be honest! BUT .. the gym wasn't free and was a little bit of a walk. So we spent about 2 hours there twice during our trip. We did one "push" day and one "pull" day. The only thing I would change is I wish I had done a day of Plyos on my own for a little cardio and extra legs. But to be honest ... it was just hard to want to be working out when the sun as shining and we had such little time there to begin with! Had we stayed at a resort with 24 hour gym access .. we probably would have gone almost everyday. But we aren't really resort people. I like being in the town, experiencing all the restaurants, etc.
Sooo .. all that said ... what would I change if I could go back?! I mean .. it was vacation. The entire idea is to take a week and splurge. Was it worth it?? 100% YES ... but there are things I wish I had done.
I mentioned a few above ... but to recap:
First ... I will never stay in a place again if they don't have a kitchen or at least a microwave and better fridge. We did this the first year we went to Playa. The grocery store visit was a challenge (lol) but it was worth it. We could at least make a healthy breakfast this way and could have made lunch and put it in my six pack bag ((assuming we didn't rent a bed as mentioned above)).
Second .. Ask for NO CHIPS when ordering Ceviche, lol! Ceviche is good alone ... without chips or if you need some carbs ... fresh corn tortillas. If those little bites of crunchy heaven hadn't been there ... I wouldn't have eaten them. THAT SIMPLE!
Honestly .. everything else I think I would have kept the same. I can't do anything about the fact they cook in oil and I was going to enjoy the foods there and I was going to have "treats" a few nights.... I WORKED HARD and DESERVED it!!!
I think the bottom line is that the harder you work the more addictive it is to want to be healthy, so as great as the thought of eating a french fries and drinking margaritas on the beach everyday sounds ... gorging for a week will make even the mot fit person a bit nervous!! The good news is when you are consistent year round, you can certainly get away with an entire week "off" without too many negative effects. That said ... there is a big "but" here. You can't expect to crash diet to get your beach bod, or be a yo-yo "dieter" all year and then go gorge on vacation and not gain your weight back -- often double it. Yet another perk of year round work and wellness and NOT crash dieting!
I tried to take a daily "ab picture". That is hard to do because lighting varied each day. But they honesty didn't change much. Just got a little fluffier coating on them as the week progressed. Laying down they were much better than standing, lol! I didn't mind though .. by day 7 I still looked better than I did on day 1 of any of my prior vacations. I also have severe stomach problems .. so .. some days my stomach bloated pretty bad. I think it was a mix of post competition (my stomach always is bipolar during competition wkd), gluten cross contamination (I have celiac) and just not eating what I am used to. Top pic is day one .. then left to right is day 2, 3, 4, 5.
As for "did you gain any weight". Well ... I don't really check my weight often. But of course I was curious. My weight doesn't change much from a typical week to a "competition wkd". But it appears I gained about 2 pounds from my average weight. My coach said much of that was probably water weight. Speaking of .. I was SO swollen everyday!!!! I don't each much sodium on a regular basis and EVERYTHING there was high in it. My rings barely moved because my fingers were so swollen! So I'm sure she is right. Actually I know she is .. 4 days of "normal" and my body not only feels stronger during my workouts (and sore afterwards .. so so sore, lol) ... my weight is back to show/regular weight and it's pretty much looking the same as it did a couple weeks pre-show!
So all in all .. not much damage done!! Yay! Proof that our bodies have amazing "muscle memory" and are capable of bouncing back rather quickly IF you treat them the right way year round (I'll preach it again and again .... never deprive yourself, deplete yourself, don't take silly fat burners, thermogenics or diet pills, eat good carbs, eat healthy fats, don't yo yo, lift WEIGHT and don't overdo the cardio, etc).
Body For LIFE ... remember :)
Eat Clean. Train Mean.
Stacy
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