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Sunday 14 July 2013

12wbt vs Holiday

I wasn't sure which one would rule this battle at the start of the week, but now I've proven that 12wbt wins hands down over holidays!! What am I going on about, you may well ask... I've just spent a bit over a week away from the safety of home, work, gym etc where I can 'easily' follow the 12wbt program (as long as that inner teenager is locked in her room). But, is it possible to stick to 12wbt when on holidays?? YES! With a little bit of planning, thinking ahead, and a dose of JFDI, it is certainly possible. Here's how:

I printed off all of the week 9 exercise plans for both gym and outdoors, so there was no excuse for where I worked out. And then I promptly left it all on the backseat of my car at the airport! No worries, the iPad was my friend, I just had to use my memory a little when I was outdoors!

I chose to stay in a self contained apartment, so I had a small kitchen to be able to cook meals in when I wanted to. This also helps cut down food costs!

  • Breakfast - except for 1 day we ate breakfast in the apartment. I just went with one choice that I knew I loved and would keep me really full - apple cinnamon porridge!! Yummo!
  • Lunch - was often eaten out, but choices such as salads (dressing on the side), ham & salad sandwich (multigrain, no mayo, no butter thanks), and non creamy soups (no butter on the toast please), made those choices ok too. 
  • Dinner - this was a mixture of eating in and out, but when we cooked we had 12wbt pizza, or a lovely fresh chicken stir fry etc.
  • Snacks - I decided to really try and limit any snacking since I wasn't in control fully of all my meals, so it made it a little easier to think about eating extra calories in those meals I wasn't cooking. And not snacking meant I had a few extra cals up my sleeve for a glass of wine with dinner, I was on holidays after all! But, the purchase of some whole grain rice crackers meant I staved off some munchies pre-dinner some days.
Tighten-up-Tuesday was probably the thing that was hardest to control while away. I did get outside and exercise in the morning, even got a couple of cars tooting as I was doing burpees by the river in Noosa!! So glad no one knew me up there, I really do look a sight (terrible) doing burpees. My breakfast and dinner were clean. Only snacked on a few whole grain sakatas. BUT, I did have a coffee in the morning, a cup of tea in the arvo, and a glass of wine with dinner. But if that's what TuT looks like holiday style, it's probably not too bad. 

The rainy days got the better of me by the end of the week. I hate going out and exercising outdoors in the rain, I'm such a sook, and I know it's a poor excuse, but it is what it is! I suppose I could've found a gym nearby, but they're just so expensive for casual visits. So instead I chose to manage my eating to the best I could, making good choices, and just let it be!



Having said that, despite the rainy patches we did a lot of walking, around the streets, exploring, at the markets, through the national park...  None of it was at any great pace, but we were active and not sitting on our bums all day every day. That's gotta count for something! Even an SSS, of sorts, we wanted to walk around the headlands through the national park, and so Saturday morning was the time! 5.4km one way - uphill (stairs for the first bit from the beach up to the top), a bit of bushbashing on a partly imaginary path, across beaches, and finally onto a nice normal path down into Noosa. 1.5 hours, and 460 calories later we stopped for breakfast - and I chose a fabulous bircher with fresh strawberries and berry compote!! The original plan was to walk back to our car, but as we left the cafe and looked to the sky we saw looming grey/black rain clouds, and so decided against. Good decision since it was raining before the taxi dropped us back at our car! Here's some photos of the walk...





And so, after 10 days away from home, who's the winner of 12wbt vs holiday?? I'd say it's an even competition. The holiday was enjoyed, and I still maintained some progress on my 12wbt journey. Well just leave it up to weigh in Wednesday to see who the real victor was though :-)

Prior to heading up to Noosa I also sepnt some time with my parents, and introduced them to some 12wbt recipes. Mum was certainly impressed!!! Here's our 2 lunches - roast pumpkin & herbed ricotta open sandwich, and the smoked salmon, cottage cheese and capers sandwich.


 

3 comments:

  1. Oh good for you!! To have a holiday like that and come out on tops is terrific. And that photo of you, look at how happy you look. You look like you are enjoying yourself to the max. That berry Bircher muesli dish, OMG looks amazing! Muesli being one of my favourite things.

    Well I hope to take a leaf out of your book when I have three weeks away in November, although I'm not sure how I will fare with the delights of America before me!!

    Carol
    www.finding-carol.blogspot.com

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  2. Excellent work Sheridan, you're an inspiration and you're looking fab

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  3. You did so well! It's great that you were able to fit in some exercise and 12wbt cooking :) All of you photos look amazing as well!

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