AmandaJayne - back from cruise!

AmandaJayne

Trainee Maintainer
Yes, back and still slim!

Well, I figure I've put a bit on, but I will soon get rid of it:D! Everything still fits, although a bit tighter!

It was a great experience for me to go through - being exposed to all that temptation and to put into practice everything I'd learned at LL meetings. I did really well most of the time and am proud of myself for this achievement.

Yes, I had a go on the climbing wall, once wearing a dress (just after dinner), and got to ring the bell at the top!:D

Yes, I did the roller-blading too, and didn't fall over once!

Yes, I did the ice-skating, several times - wonderful experience. And yes, I did fall over a couple of times, but so did lots of other people so I was in good company!

Played crazy golf one evening wearing a mini-dress! Adrian kept taking pictures of my legs!!!

Joined in a game of adult dodgeball - discovered that I am rubbish at throwing. Hehehe!

Swam in the (bloomin' cold) pool, and lazed in the (bloomin' hot) jacuzzis. Ate low fat yoghurt ice creams most days (mmmm) to cool down.

Got comments like "you are lucky you can eat what you like, you're so slim" which caused me to smile and think 'if only you knew'. It also made me realise how much we judge people by appearances - and how wrong we can be.

All in all, had a wonderful time - well worth waiting 14 months for (I had booked this on 4th May last year).

Have to go, tea is now ready!

Please do ask me any questions or make any observations...
AmandaJaynre

p.s. photos will be downloaded shortly, once I get home.
 
Whered'ya go?, whatd'ya see?

(We are off on our cruise next Saturday and I can't wait!)
 
fetch.dll



Lovely to see you back and wonderful to hear you had a wonderful cruise!!!

Yes, I had a go on the climbing wall, once wearing a dress (just after dinner), and got to ring the bell at the top!:D

That is so impressive!!!:wow:
Absolutely wonderful to be so fit and up for it:D


What a brill achievement with all the food temptation on a cruise!!! Well done:clap:

Knowing you AmandaJayne you will have the weight you gained off in a blink of an eye!!!

Got comments like "you are lucky you can eat what you like, you're so slim" which caused me to smile and think 'if only you knew'. It also made me realize how much we judge people by appearances - and how wrong we can be

I bet it made you feel good someone saying this to you all the same:)

Love Mini xxx
 
"Whered'ya go?, whatd'ya see?

(We are off on our cruise next Saturday and I can't wait!)
"

Ooh Helen, I bet you'll have a wonderful time too!

Well, we went to Gibraltar (monkeys), then
Ibiza (no foam parties)
Cagliari
Civitavecchia
Lisbon
Vigo
Livorno
and somewhere else I'm sure. Everywhere we visited was HOT HOT HOT !!!

I am sure you already know this, but wear a broad brimmed hat to protect your face/ears/neck from the worst of the sun. I wore mine all the time outdoors and it was a real godsend (plus high factor sun protection). Last year I made the mistake of not protecting my face on the first full day at sea and got bad sunburn even though it didn't seem hot because of the wind on the deck. The pictures we have of that evening show a belisha beacon in a green dress - amusing for everyone except me!

Thanks for your lovely comments Sonkie!

Mini -
"I bet it made you feel good someone saying this to you all the same"

It certainly did, and it happened more than once too.
 
Hey Amanda. Sounds like a fab time. Wow. I am so impressed at your control with food!
Youarethewomanbow.gif
 
Welcome back AJ glad you enjoyed your cruise, was it your first one? I'm of on mine in September it will be a challenge with all the gorgeous food 24/7 and it will be the first time Iv been slim on board ship and not feel like moby dick LOL, are you going to book another one?
 
Welcome back AJ, glad you had a great time. Love that bit about you are lucky you can eat what you like, you're so slim - I look forward to hearing that one day! Maybe these "naturally slim" people really do have to try. However my younger son continues to inspire me - he went on a school trip and was genuinely horrified to observe an adult eating 3 bowls of leftover Angel Delight (yuk!) just to avoid "wasting" it. How often have I done that sort of thing in the past (but with nicer food than Angel Delight)? Now I know I'm not a dustbin!

A question for you: what strategies did you find most helpful for resisting the temptation of the constant availability of food? I'm sure lots of us would find your thoughts instructive.
 
Lottyferm - you've just got a couple of months until your cruise - lovely. Have you had a look at the cruisecritic.com website? It is an excellent source of information and advice.

Goombagirl. I actually found that, like your son said, watching other people stuff themselves made me vary aware of what I was eating. I was careful to have 'a bit' of this and that. If I did want any more, then I could go back and get it. However then I would ask myself 'are you hungry now?' 'Is this habit or need?'

Sometimes they had a variety of curries on offer at the buffet and I would try a bit of each one. I like curry but rarely order it for a meal because it may be too spicy for me.

At the dinner in the evening I would eat half of what I'd ordered, and leave the rest. This got easier with practice. Sometimes I didn't have a pud, or if I did it was the 'low fat' or 'sugar free' option, or sometimes it was gooey chocolate and cream!

For the first time since I started LL back in August I had a couple of slices of pizza! Now I'm back home, I won't be bothering with it again, but it was ok on holiday.

Got to go now. See you all soon.
 
Hi AmandaJane No I haven't seen that website but will check it out thanks:)
 
Hi AJ

Thanks for being so generous by offering to answer questions. I liked Goombagirl's dustbin comment! That struck a massive chord, particularly as I have binged on the strawberry foodpacks that are not unlike Angel Delight!

Anyway, I have a question...were you tempted to nibble with so much food on offer all the time? I think the best way to explain what I mean is what I call buffet breakfast mentality.

Whenever I stayed in a hotel, with breakfast included, I would often eat a lot of everything on offer - just...just because it was there and it was "free", if you know what I mean. I would graze my way through all the various options...and yes, I would roll out and get on with the day!

I am still struggling with my "see food and I want it" mentality and with the abundance of food available on a cruise, I would want to try it all - anytime! I remember the last day I was in New York (early on in foundation) and I felt madly excited by all the amazing food on offer. How was it for you when you weren't sitting down for meals? Were you too busy having fun?

Sorry to ask so many questions but holidays are a massive temptation and I wonder how you coped overall? Please feel free to answer ... when you have time.

Many thanks.

Mrs L xxxxx
 
Hia Mrs L,

"I have a question...were you tempted to nibble with so much food on offer all the time? I think the best way to explain what I mean is what I call buffet breakfast mentality."

That's a really good question and I was really worried that, faced with all the choices and vast amounts of lovely food on offer more or less 24 hours a day in some form or other, I would just gobble up everything in sight, all the time.

Fortunately I was (mostly) restrained and this was for a few reasons:-

1. I saw other people doing just that and it was not a pretty sight, I can tell you.
2. I am now aware that there is a consequence to everything I put in my body, and that helped me to make better choices.
3. I had such a lot to lose if I just indulged myself without thought of consequence (and such a lot (of weight) to gain too!)

This third point is an important one. When I weighed 100+lbs more than now, putting one a few lbs didn't mean very much. I was fat anyway, so what if I got a bit fatter. Now it is a very different matter. I don't want to sabotage my hard work of the past eleven months, and I definately don't want to return to a fat past.

There is no excuse to do so. If I do, the blame lies at my feet. I know from reading other members posts that returning to SSing with LL is much more difficult subsequent times, so hopefully I will continue to learn from their mistakes.

It is about a month until the first anniversary of starting LL. I intend to be at goal weight at that important time, then I'll look ahead to the next goal.

"Were you too busy having fun?"

Oh yes, that too! There was so much to do on the ship and I did lots of it! Using the stairs (all 13 floors of them) for the majority of the time was great exercise, plus walking everywhere when in port (no coach excursions). We kept active by playing crazy golf, shuffleboard or using the climbing wall after dinner and before the evening show. Maybe surprisingly I did not use the gym, although they did have classes and a huge variety of exercise machines. It just seemed an artificial way to exercise, and a bit boring.

Has anyone else been on the Navigator of the Seas? What did you think?
 
Hi AJ

Wow! Thank you. That is fascinating and offers real insight into the enormous change in you and your attitudes.

I shall remember this post.

Hope you still have a high from the holiday!!!

Mrs Lxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Welcome back AJ, I hope you don't find this question rude, but I wondered how much weight you did put on?
I'm going on holiday soon & hope to have an evening meal every day & possibly lunch occasionally, but I am very worried about the weight I will put on.
You sound like you had a great holiday & the comment about you eating what you want made me laugh.
 
Mornin' Cherry Plum,

I can't give you an official figure yet because I haven't been back to meeting yet, and won't be for another couple of weeks because I'm off on another holiday at the weekend! However, I did weigh myself this morning and I think I was 10.5 before the holiday, this morning I was 10.10, so that's about 5lb. What is alarming is that I checked my body fat percentage and that was 25% and is now 29%.

This tells me that I have been eating a lot more fat (like I didn't know!) so I'll be monitoring this particularly, as well as gradually losing the excess I've put on.

So it's great to be back home and I am trying to get into my usual routine and menus again. The summer holidays have made this a bit more difficult, but I like a challenge.

I had a 'blip' last night (what's a blip, is it some kind of new fruit?). No, what happened was that I was tired and gave in to temptation. It is perhaps not surprising that I was tired, because I hadn't actually been to bed the night before - to wound up, don't know why. Anyway, it all caught up with me and I was struggling to stay awake in the early evening. To keep myself awake I unpacked the rest of the suitcases and at the bottom found a wrapped bag. When I opened it, it contained two packs of Tunnocks bars which we'd taken on holiday. Obviously they were never used, but here they were and I wanted one, just one.

Did I have just one? Are you kidding! No, but I did stop after the first packet (of 8). When my inner voice whispered "do a thought record" I retorted "bog off I'm busy" (rebellious child). However, sense eventually reasserted itself and I threw the other packet in the bin.

So, today is another day. Hope this helps, Cherry Plum!
 
Sounds like you had a great time & sounds like you have learnt a lot from conselling.I enjoyed reading your thread.
 
Hia Eileen, nice to meet you!

I see you've lost 39lb so far, how far have you got to go?

Yeah, counselling has forced me to become aware of what I am doing, to take responsibility for my choices, and live with the consequences. I've also learned that it's ok to make mistakes, they are merely 'learning opportunities' and all I have to do is learn from them!

I don't know about you, but in the past when I dieted and made a mistake (ate something 'bad', or too much) I would think to myself ' oh you stupid fat cow you've failed again' and not surprisingly, I would fail again. Hmmm. After thirty years of this, one day I learned that there is another way. Phew, some people have to learn a lesson and learn it well, eh?!!?

I've had a good day today, back on track. After throwing away all the other Tunnocks bars (I found another 4 packs) in the bin, I made a fruit salad using mango, pineapple, pear and apple, with a few grapes thrown on top. I'll keep that in the fridge to dip into. I roasted (in foil) some chicken breasts stuffed with herbs and drizzled with honey and lemon. Even the kids liked them! Served them with a big mixed salad and baked sweet potato. Went to the cinema to see Shrek3 and took a box of blueberries, of raspberries and of blackberries. I shared them with the kids. Never had blueberries before - Mmmm they are delicious. The film was great, by the way.

Ta ta for now...
 
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