I am about two weeks back from a wonderful vacation; Puerto Rico and 7-day southern Caribbean cruise. This wasn't my first cruise, but the expectation of eating great food and engaging in some physical activity were things I had on my agenda. Yes, I packed work out gear!
I had lots of challenges getting to Puerto Rico, so the most I did there was sleep and eat. I didn't see many of the sights or enjoy the mufungo that I looked so forward to having. I was bummed...Oh well....my goal was to get on the ship at that point....As mentioned, I had lots of challenges getting to Puerto Rico.
Huge sigh and lots of smiles, I am on Serenade of the Seas, ready to get my grub, drink, and lay by the pool ON! As I walk into the Windjammer for lunch, I am seriously overwhelmed with all of the food stations. There was a salad bar, fruit bar, American grill section, gluten free section, and ethnic food areas. It was a lot of food and too much of it as far as I was concerned.
Keeping my healthy goals in mind, I wanted to indulge, but in moderation. I also made a deal with myself to eat my fruit, first before every meal and to drink one-liter of water or more/day. Well, let me be honest...12 liters of water were ordered in advanced and I'm not a fan of waste; hence the drinking of water.
Once my first meal was over, I wanted to survey the gym and know the hours of operation because I packed my workout gear, so I wanted to use them. In addition to the gym, there was a small track on board (6 x's around the track = 1 mile). The gym also offered morning stretch, spin, and yoga classes. I opted to walk the track, but rather than try to count how many times I went around, I opted to walk for 45 minutes and than do the morning stretch at the gym.
I also opted to take the stairs (up and down) most times in an effort to keep the pounds at bay. I was eating foods I didn't normally eat on this ship, for example, fro-yo after most lunches, cakes, fried foods, and ordering two entrees at dinner-just because I could.
When selecting excursions, I wanted a mix of laying out by the beach, catamaran rides, and activity.
Itinerary of activities:
St. Croix: jet-skiing and laying out by the beach. I got an awesome bug bite that didn't seem to get better, so that sent me to the ships medical services for some benedryl; for purchase, of course.
Barbados: 7-mile bike ride through the most scenic route I could imagine. The ride was mostly down hill, but there were some moments of fatigue and walking that bike. The most important thing is that I didn't get on the 'sag wag'. Lots of fun and an alternative to swimming with the turtles as was previous selected.
St. Lucia: laying out by the beach-awesome!
St. John: hiking up the rainforest to zip line runs. I completed 5 of 12 lines and will NEVER do this again!
St. Maarten: ATV riding through the dutch and french towns of the city to the beautiful Orient Beach. Lots of beach walking...on the nude side. I assure you readers, I was in my bathing suit! But I was talking to a very handsome naked man. Fanning myself...I'm glad he was in the water....
There was lots of dancing on this vacation, too. 70s night was a blast!
At the end of the week, I had no regrets of my indulgences. I knew once back home, I would get back on my fitness track to undo the damage I had done the week prior. I kept my annual physical appointment with my doctor, too. Each year, I want to show my doctor that I'm making progress in the weight loss area.
Of all of my travel partners, I gained the least amount of weight of 4lbs. I've had a slow start, but I'm back on the fitness track of my zumba classes, I have a half marathon in October, so I will really be stepping up my game, and signing up for September boot camp.
Until the next vacation.....
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