Happy and rested :)

Yay! I am pleased to say I lost 2.5 pounds this week - I'm now at 154.5! That's an overall weight loss of more than 40 pounds!

I'm celebrating a win this week, but I'm not claiming victory over the plateau yet. This happened last month too - and the following week saw gain. But, overall, my graph is still going down - and that is what matters!!!

Kevin had been begging me for weeks - or maybe I was begging him - for a break from our lives and I gave him the following rules: No tents and no forced physical activity. Honestly, I wanted to sit on my butt and look at something pretty :-) Hiking and walking places - well, I get enough of that right now!

Kevin found a quaint little RV park with cabins that allowed dogs in the Mark Twain National Forest so we headed south to Bull Shoals Lake - with a Missouri address, but on Arkansas' side of the state line.

The place was perfect - tacky southwestern decor, a tiny gas stove (like the one I had in Mussel Shoals, California!), a full-sized fridge, two twin beds pushed together to make a king, a lake-side vista and a pool. Heaven on Earth, my friends.

What really made it great, however, was the fact that I was able to cook my meals. I know, that's a strange thing to enjoy on vacation, but I didn't have to worry about picking the right things off a menu. Cooking is less stress for me these days. We made special "vacation" foods - pasta salad (with Balsamic vinegar), strawberry pie, bacon-wrapped steaks and venison roast - and I knew everything that went into each dish. Also, we loaded the cooler with healthy snack foods.

On the first day, Kevin went hiking and I stayed in the cabin catching up on magazines - I literally had a stack of more than a dozen I needed to read through (I got through 5)! I clipped work out tricks and recipes, design ideas and gardening tips. I was lazily productive and loved every minute of it.

I didn't feel guilty for not joining Kevin on his hike. First of all, I walked 45 miles last week - 18 Saturday and 15 Sunday - then, Sunday afternoon found me driving to our wilderness retreat! Secondly, Mondays are my day of rest. Since our vacation was Sunday - Tuesday, and Sunday was driving day, his hike fell on the right day for me.



And finally, I NEEDED couch time! This summer has been so busy that I've been near insanity for awhile. But Friday was my last final and the weekend walks were the last long ones that remained on my training regimen. Plus, I planned to go hiking on Tuesday - to coincide with a 4-mile training walk.

I wasn't a complete bum, by the way. That evening, Kevin and I strolled down to the lake with the dogs and then went swimming for a bit so I got some activity in, but it was nice to do it for fun - not for training, or for weight loss.

Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away